Readers over the last two centuries have generally liked the bright and sparkling world of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, whereas Persuasion has often been described as “a departure from the rest of the novels, a turning away from the brilliant and public play of the mind for the deep and private truths of the heart” (Morgan 168).

They said, when it will be the darkest

Splashes of blue in the springtime green,

In the state of seige that we are living in across the world, or, like myself, in an Italy emerging from the pandemic battlefield, a riveting book is our best means of being transported beyond our confined horizons.

Like my long dead father’s face

“Mamaa, mama re! Would you like to munch on my toast and have a sip from my sugary milk tea?”

The twentieth century’s interactions with the popular revolutions, capitalist advent, authoritarianism, World Wars, repressive state-system paves the way for a frowning skepticism about the Enlightenment metanarrative and nuances the global literary firmament with dystopian motif.

On offer is a remarkably candid biography of Daphne du Maurier (1907-1989), the powerful story-teller of the twentieth century; highlighted by her singly recognised classic novel, Rebecca (1938). At the time,

Looking for exceptional reading a month after the coronavirus pandemic set in, I took up the Portuguese writer José Saramago’s 1995 novel Blindness, reckoning that a Nobel Prize winner’s work would be well worth spending time on in these quarantine days.

Now that we are fortunate enough to be left behind,

One year goes by in the blink of an eye But the memories remain as livid as ever.

Any pandemic is crushing. COVID-19 is no exception. It strains cognition and emotion. It tanks economies. It disrupts communication. It alters psychology. It breeds panic and paranoia.

Look! Look outside Behold the state of the world

Symbols divide us; symbols unite us.

Amid laughter, jokes and cheers, I hear Mr. Jefferson’s intellectual sneer. In “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” you bet! I put my money in the safety of my pocket.

[for Samuel on his 15th birthday]

I can never use the past tense verbs in your case

In the space of just a few months, Bangladesh has become a land of vanishing greatness.

Dear friend, are you sure you want to listen to this? I am a person with a harsh exterior and a soft heart. When you insist that I have to tell you my story, I feel very emotional and stressed out.

Kazi Nazrul Islam (1899-1976)—one of the greatest Bengali poets—has by now been fully assimilated into the literary canon and even into public discourse in Bangladesh.