Life, art and thoughts on the peaks
Abdul Hai Siddique is charmed by some Nobel tales
Nirbachito Nobel Bijoyer, Doshti Shakkhatkar, Translation Tusat Talukder, Dhrubapada
For a number of years, the translated books of interviews of Nobel Laureates have been published in Bangla by multifarious publishers with great enthusiasm in Bangladesh. However, not everyone can prove his/her efficiency in selecting interviews. Some translators can select interviews tactfully amidst eminent and influential authors. And Tusar Talukder is one among those translators, who has proven his capability of sorting out interviews amongst famous writers. His latest published book of translation entitled Nirbachito Nobel Bijoyeer Doshti Sakkhatkar (Selected Interviews of Ten Nobel Laureates) is an imperative collection of interviews. The collection is substantial in the sense that it juxtaposes the interviews of numerous writers who are remarkable in different genres. Tusar's selection may be personal but if we consider it from the perspective of substantiality, it is crystal clear that each and every interviewee litterateur is important. Some are important for their diction; again some are remarkable for their portrayal of stern reality in their works. Tusar has maintained compactness in translation. In addition, his facile and fat-free diction has helped him finish this project without any distortion. Therefore, eminent litterateur and storyteller Syed Manzoorul Islam has rightly said that no aspect of exaggeration is evident in his translation. Rather his language remains reader-friendly. In selecting the interviews, Tusar's own thoughts and exclusiveness are evident. The thoughts are pure. The interviews bear this testimony. There have been intermingled different issues like literature, politics and society in the interviews. The realization of life and art has been merged into one. It is my view that readers will feel the necessity of reading the literary works of the interviewee authors and poets after they go through the interviews. Since the art of translation can strengthen communication among different nations and cultures, it has innate and limitless power to transcend so many limitations. Language is a major ingredient in this boundless power. In case of translation, many a translator suffers from the difficulty of developing a reader friendly diction. It is tough to translate a language into other languages by maintaining the basic qualities of the original language. However, Tusar has brilliantly maintained the conversational tone of the writers while translating their interviews from English to Bengali. So this collection of interviews is a valuable and collectable one for Bengali speaking readers. The addition of footnotes at the very end of the interviews has added a new dimension to this collection because Bangladeshi collections of interviews of previous years had skipped this feature. Western collections of interviews bring the subject to light because those behind the compilations think footnotes can bridge the unknown and unexplored arenas of knowledge and information. From this perspective the present collection can be considered as being ahead of other existing interview collections in Bangladesh. This version has captured the interviews of those litterateurs who have massively contributed to world literature and intensified modern, post-modern, colonial or post-colonial movements or tendencies with their distinctive brilliance. Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Mario Vargas Ilosa, V. S. Naipaul, Orhan Pamuk, Herta Mueller, Nagib Mahfuz and Tomas Transtromer are remarkable for their bold and outspoken comments. Against a background of the life experiences of the authors, the collection is truly a living diary of the tales of different continents of the universe. Their frank discussions have brought out many facets of society and individuals. For instance, the interview of Pablo Neruda can be mentioned. Neruda never compromised with his ideals. Conversely, Marquez informed readers that the reality of Latin America may appear to the readers of other continents as magic. Pamuk and Transtromer, without an iota of hesitation, have confessed about the on-going regression and suppression in their societies. Even the internal conflicts prevailing among the authors have been dwelt upon through the interviews. It will not be out of place if I consider this collection to be a living diary of a shattering of humanity, restlessness in politics, on-going social and economic discrepancies, deterioration in moral values and so on. Overall, Tusar Talukder has proven his creativity and exclusiveness through this collection. I expect the book to find a large readership.
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