Write a review of a book you have read recently.
The points given are meant for your guidance: Name of the book, publisher, price — refer briefly to the author, his life, other books he may have written — the plot or subject matter of the book — anything particular about his approach, style or manner of presenting it — give instances — to whom will this book appeal? Why? Other observations.
The Bloom and the Canker (The Disintegration of a Bengalee Joint Family): by Asim Kumar Mukherjee; Published by Writers Workshop, Kolkata; PP-118, price: Flexiback Popular Edition: Rs. 80. published 1999.
As a maiden venture in fiction-writing the book is commendable. Its ‘Prologue’ in verse fairly outlines the book’s gist. It is a convenient mode to attract the reader, as a prose rendering might have been pedestrian/commonplace and boring. Although Abinash is the principal character, the novel bears an autobiographical touch. It is teeming with events that affect Abinash’s life and career, seemingly too numerous for the short period of the two decades of the author’s childhood. But the author has creditably acquitted himself of (= discharged his responsibility) the load by an intelligent arrangement of the episodes in the plot- construction.
Abinash finds himself born in a large Bengalee joint-family of Bihar of the 40-50’s. The family abounds in seven brothers and one sister, their old parents, children and grandchildren. It gives a bright picture of reminiscences; life amidst cousins, love of uncles, grandfather, grandmother; of an old-order culture; of living on two force: the andar mahal and the world of the seniors. It has absorbing personages like Darpahari, the family-tutor and interesting ones like Bagalacharan. The plot : The Mukujeya Paribar grows from the scratch through a chequered (= light-shaded) series of events. His seven sons- loyal and sacrificing – contribute their mite to the structure. The first half of Abinash is redolent of (= full of sweet association) joy and the pleasures of life. It is like a budding rose that slowly blooms into glory in the midst of heterogenous (= of diverse temperaments) culture of love, loyalty, envy or intrigue. The decline sets in with the growth of unmerited favour to a child. The cohesion (= unity) born of respect, honour, loyalty, sacrifice suffers under the vices of envy and underplot. It ends in an eviction (= driving out), not partition and complete separation.
The style is of the picaresque (= where events develop in a progressive style) model.
The author uses ‘dramatics’ of presentation. The conundrum (= puzzling note) in Anindita’s love letter to Abinash is a praiseworthy invention of the author, an interesting jugglery of words and their significance.
The author had, earlier, published a book ‘A Five-star Omnibus’, which includes five famous Bengali short stories translated into English.
The present book would appeal to those that would look back into the past, tradition-bound culture, that recedes into the past with the fast disappearance of family culture.
