Book Reviews Apala Bhowmick The Aunt Who Wouldn’t Die (John Murray, 2019), by Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay, translated from the original Bangla by Arunava Sinha, is a fast-paced thriller about the rescue mission around the flagging finances of an erstwhile-affluent Bengali family who open a shop in the city that sells sarees. The narrators consist of three women of different generations of the family, lending the plot a delightful tripartite divide. It is a tale about the tenacity of the human spirit to withstand hardships and about human relationships that endure. This translation—of a difficult text to translate—possesses the rare quality of being appealing to both the English-speaking reader and to the audience who can understand the Bengali language. I’ve had a chance to read the original Bengali text as well, and the work has been successfully transferred, cultural flavor and all, into a rather curt and mercantile language like English. Speaking of mercantilism, the reader will be afforded a sidelong glance at upper-middle-class Bengali sentiments, at least at a certain point in the history of this community, toward professions like the merchant’s or the petit bourgeois shopkeeper’s. Words like shaashuri and Pishima have been retained, and the name Chakor Mitra, which the reader will encounter on the very first page, is phonetically funny but also funny when you know the implications of the first name when it’s used as a noun in... Continue reading at 'World Literature Today'
[ World Literature Today | 2020-03-10 15:47:11 UTC ]
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Nobel Prize-winning author Doris Lessing died at her home in London on Sunday, her publisher announced. She was 94.Nobel Prize-winning author Doris Lessing died at her home in London on Sunday, her publisher announced. She was 94. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-11-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Independent booksellers on both sides of the Atlantic have reacted with suspicion towards news of... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-11-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Author Lucy Hughes-Hallett has won the Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction for The Pike, her biography of philandering Italian poet and politician Gabriele D'Annunzio. Continue reading at BBC News
[ BBC News | 2013-11-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Oscar Hijuelos, the author best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel "The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love," died Sunday, his publisher Gotham confirmed. Hijuelos was 62 and died in New York.Oscar Hijuelos, the author best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel "The Mambo Kings Play... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-10-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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You can't necessarily judge a book by its cover, but you can tell a lot about the content from it. For instance, when a certain font is paired with an illustrated character portrait featuring a dangling cigarette and/or a dangerous dame, clearly you are holding a pulpy detective novel from the... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2013-10-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A new study finds that reading literary fiction “leads people to perform better on tests that measure empathy, social perception and emotional intelligence." Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-10-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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So what about that National Book Awards fiction longlist? It's a good one, and the last of the four longlists to be released by the National Book Foundation this week.So what about that National Book Awards fiction longlist? It’s a good one, and the last of the four longlists to be released by... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-09-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Orion has signed a trilogy of novels from historian Kate Williams. Jon Wood, deputy group... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-09-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Pam Shirley, co-founder of publisher Ragged Bears, has died. A statement from her family said... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-09-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Pamela Erens chronicles prep school love in 'The Virgins,' Elizabeth Cohen writes online dating short stories in 'The Hypothetical Girl' Mario Alberto Zambrano impresses with 'Loteria.'The Virgins Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-09-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Little, Brown senior editor Rowan Cope has bought a debut by US journalist and blogger Emily... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-09-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The late New York Times Reporter Anthony Shadid, who died in Syria last year, is among the winners of the 2013 Arab American Book Awards. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-09-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Constable & Robinson has announced the death of chairman Nick Robinson. Robinson died last... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-09-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The death of Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney has been confirmed. The Irish poet, who was 74, died... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-08-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Lagardere has reported sales in its publishing division up 3.1% like-for-like in the first half... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-08-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The prolific US crime writer Elmore Leonard, whose books include Get Shorty and Out of Sight, dies at the age of 87. Continue reading at BBC News
[ BBC News | 2013-08-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hairy Bikers Dave Myers and Si King's new weight-loss tome, The Hairy Dieters: Eat for Life (... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-08-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Elmore Leonard, one of America's best known crime novelists, died Tuesday morning due to complications from a stroke.Elmore Leonard, one of America's best known crime novelists, died Tuesday morning due to complications from a stroke, according to Leonard's Facebook page and his longtime... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-08-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon announced a Kindle World license for the books of Kurt Vonnegut, but not everyone thinks it's a great idea. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-08-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The two-book deal William Morrow signed with Patricia Cornwell earlier this month was just the latest high-profile deal in a concerted effort by parent company HarperCollins to rebuild the house’s fiction list. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-08-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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