Brilliant stories brought down by a rigid formula
Rajiv Ashrafi is happy and disappointed reading a book
I had never read any Prativa Bose books before Pathey Holo Deri. I had heard a lot about her from my mother, which is why I was always interested in Bose's works. This book is a compilation of some of her best short stories, according to the editor Domoyonti Basu Singh, and they are all stories of love and redemption. Despite what the editor thinks about the book, I felt the compilation to be uneven. The stories are all built around the same formula: it works for some, but fails for the others. The main conceit in these stories is lost love. Almost all the stories start with or feature strong male characters who have somehow become estranged from their wives or lovers. They go through separation for yearssometimes decadesand then are reunited at the end under various circumstances. As I stated above, this formula is great in some stories, especially the titular short story, though it feels like a trite ritual by the end of the book. The best are the ones that break this rigid structure. “Amar Bondhu Christina†especially stood out to me; so did “Notun Pata†with its charming take on a coming-of-age story told from a teenage girl's point of view. These narratives offer alternative voices, thus offering a different, fresh take on a similar structure. They are driven by an undercurrent of sadness that forms the cruxes of the stories, though by the end we, as the readers, realize that the characters are satisfied and content with what they have in their lives. Male characters, meanwhile, have streaks of depression in them. Bose draws them as charming, sophisticated, smart, elegant, and successful men who are taken down by the lack of love in their lives. They have everythingmoney, talent, womenyet their existences are empty because they lack the right women by their sides. Women, on the other hand, depend on the men to define them even if they are successful in their own right. This division between the sexes is jarring and feels positively ancient in this day and age. Taking the age of the stories and Bengali society into account, however, this is understandable. Another major theme that Bose builds her stories upon is wealth and status. Almost all of her characters are from wealthy families or backgrounds, and there is an overwhelming emphasis on money being the source of all happiness. While most other authors focus on love not depending on material possessions or societal status, Bose uses those as tools to bolster her love stories. It is interesting to note the ways in which she uses these as plot devices, especially in the case of “Shonar Shikolâ€, which turns out to be an excellent horror story at the end. The latter stories of the compilation showcase the lives of Bengalis who live in America. These were, I felt, the most interesting not only because they broke the mold of her regular narrative structure, but also in the ways they displayed interracial love. Bose elegantly walks around 'taboo' topics such as sex in her writing, but she doesn't wholly avoid them either. She was clearly experimenting in these stories, and it works quite well. The various perspectives were pleasant to behold, and the ways in which romance developed was enchanting and fascinating. An area where I simply cannot complain is the quality of prose. Bose's writing is excellent, flowing smoothly from one word to the other. It's almost poetic at times, putting forward a sense of rhythm through wordplay and juxtaposition. Dialogue flows freely as well, giving the characters personality and a sense of belonging in the world. Moreover, Bose uses very descriptive language to paint a definite image of the people that inhabit her stories. It is not only physical, but also psychological in the sense that we know what these people love or hate; in fact, you get to know the 'people' so well that you can anticipate their next moves quite easily. This is a feat that I've seen very few short story writers perform, so Bose is among the best.This extends to locations, too, though the effect is not quite as strong. Bose is an excellent writer who is brought down by the stiff and bullheaded formula she employs in her short stories. Some of them felt like rehashed versions of earlier narratives, and the endings were almost always the same. However, when she strays from the set path, her narratives are wonderful and clearly brilliant. I recommend this book with a heavy heart: I was both satisfied and disappointed. I look forward to reading her other works soon.
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