“So much darkness”: Looking for the Light in Bitan Chakraborty’s The Mark, by Indrajit Bose

Book Reviews Indrajit Bose The author at the Zakir Hussain Delhi College during the Bengali Literary Festival 2018 / Photo courtesy of bitanchakraborty.com Simplicity and quiet elegance never fail to impress us. The effect of a good short story often is like a fugue or an adagio in a musical composition, creating impressions fugitifs, in the best manner of the impressionists, sketching in a mood or elaborating on a motif or theme. Bitan Chakraborty’s The Mark (Shambhabi Imprint, 2020) is unquestionably a collection of short stories revolving around the everyday lives of ordinary characters that leaves an impression of serious engagement with the contemporary Indian milieu and is also aesthetically pleasing. Chakraborty is already an established author of the novel; his foray into the short story adds a further dimension to his existing repertoire. A writer must “convincingly create an illusory world if he is to captivate his readers,” Chakraborty has said, and he appears to have lived up to his aesthetic or writerly principles in The Mark. Peripheral and marginal lives lived by characters grappling with the challenging socioeconomic realities of our times, mediated with narratorial control and poise—these are what make the stories in The Mark a testament to the craft of a storyteller and short fiction writer par excellence. The stories in the collection revolve around everyday life and broad human themes—the despair and... Continue reading at 'World Literature Today'

[ World Literature Today | 2020-04-21 13:18:37 UTC ]
News tagged with: #short stories #literary festival

Other Publishing stories related to: '“So much darkness”: Looking for the Light in Bitan Chakraborty’s The Mark, by Indrajit Bose'


“So much darkness”: Looking for the Light in Bitan Chakraborty’s The Mark, by Indrajit Bose

Book Reviews Indrajit Bose The author at the Zakir Hussain Delhi College during the Bengali Literary Festival 2018 / Photo courtesy of bitanchakraborty.com Simplicity and quiet elegance never fail to impress us. The effect of a good short story often is... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2020-04-21 13:18:37 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #short stories #literary festival


In the dark days of the pandemic, 36 famous authors found light in a collaborative novel

In 'Fourteen Days,' the Authors Guild shows off its storytellers, including Dave Eggers, Celeste Ng, Scott Turow, Mira Jacob, Tommy Orange, Tess Gerritsen, R. L. Stine, Weike Wang and Ishmael Reed. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2024-02-06 16:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #celeste ng #scott turow #mira jacob #tommy orange #tess gerritsen #authors guild


Barry Lopez’s Darkness and Light

Some days after Barry’s death on December 25, 2020, I pulled every book of his I owned from the shelves around my apartment and stacked them on a corner of my desk. Then I walked down the hill to the used bookshop in the small Oregon town where I live and found several books of […] Continue reading at The Paris Review

[ The Paris Review | 2022-05-31 16:36:03 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #barry lopez #bookshop


‘A Light in the Dark’ is a love letter to directors, personal flaws and all

The latest addition to film historian David Thomson’s opinionated take on the film industry is notable for what it says — and what it doesn’t. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-04-12 07:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #love letter #latest addition #film industry


Salena Godden | 'I was in a very dark place and looking for the light'

"It comes from a place of grieving. I was mourning, I was in a very dark place and looking for the light,” says Salena Godden, the acclaimed performance poet and now novelist, of her blazing début, Mrs Death Misses Death. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-15 14:29:09 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #dark place


Bannon, Biden, the darkness, and the light

Early yesterday morning, Steve Bannon, the former head of Breitbart and the Trump campaign, was drinking coffee on the deck of a $35-million yacht off the coast of Connecticut—as populist rabble-rousers are wont to do—when federal agents came on board and arrested him. Bannon stands accused of... Continue reading at Columbia Journalism Review

[ Columbia Journalism Review | 2020-08-21 12:31:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #app store #travel publishers #social distancing #long war #$1 million #$300 million #digital content #news publisher


The Mirror and the Light shatters 100,000 mark

Hilary Mantel’s The Mirror and the Light (Fourth Estate) has claimed the UK Official Top 50 number one spot for a second week running.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-17 11:08:45 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #sthe mirror #hilary mantel #lightfourth estate #week running


Sharjah’s Book Fair Opening Stresses Publishing’s ‘Light in the Darkness’

As the 11-day Sharjah International Book Fair is formally opened to the public, its chief patron warns of the importance of the 'light' of literature. The post Sharjah’s Book Fair Opening Stresses Publishing’s ‘Light in the Darkness’ appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2017-11-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #post sharjah


Mark Bernardi Named Dark Horse V-P of Book Trade, Digital Sales

Bernardi succeeds longtime Dark Horse book trade executive Michael Martens, who is retiring after 22 years, and will takeover in time for the American Library Association meeting in Orlando, Florida. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-06-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book trade #digital sales


BEA 2016: Janet Nolan: Finding Light in the Darkness

A story of turning a negative into a positive is always heartening, as evidenced by "Seven and a Half Tons of Steel," a picture book written by Janet Nolan and illustrated by Thomas Gonzalez. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-05-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #half tons


What Adult Coloring Books Show Us: Light, and Dark

As adult coloring books roll on in major publishing markets, the picture coming together isn't about literature or books or our culture. The post What Adult Coloring Books Show Us: Light, and Dark appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2016-03-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


BEA 2014: Andrea Davis Pinkney: Shedding Light on a Dark Subject

The gift of a simple red pencil gives a girl in war-ravaged Sudan the opportunity to express her feelings and overcome her grief. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-05-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #shedding light


Debbie Ford, author of 'The Dark Side of the Light Chasers,' dies

Debbie Ford wrote 'The Dark side of the Light Chasers,' a self-help book. Debbie Ford built on her self-help books to become a lecturer, teacher, self-help coach at the The Ford Institute for Transformational Training. Ford passed on Sunday. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-02-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #dark side


'Dark comedy' from Mark Lawson to Picador

Picador publisher Paul Baggaley has bought "a wonderfully entertaining dark comedy of... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-11-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #dark comedy #mark lawson


‘Mrs. March’ is a stylish suspense tale that’s both darkly alluring and just plain dark

Virginia Feito’s horror-tinged novel is already set for the big screen, with Elizabeth Moss in the starring role Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-08-20 10:57:59 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #virginia feito #big screen #starring role


Excited fans queue for Mantel signing as Mirror & the Light cover lights up Tower of London

Hilary Mantel signed copies of The Mirror & The Light (Fourth Estate) for lucky fans ahead of today’s official publication as the book’s cover was beamed on to the Tower of London. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-05 07:49:45 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #official publication


Dark Books for Dark Times

Read these spine-tingling works of science fiction and fantasy at your own risk. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2019-10-18 19:00:09 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #dark times #science fiction


S&S Marks 100 Years with Back-to-Back Celebrations

On April 8 and 9, Simon & Schuster hosted two star-studded centenary fetes in New York City to celebrate the 100th anniversary of its founding. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-04-12 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #100th anniversary #schuster


Bologna 2024: War Leaves a Mark

As expected, this year’s Bologna Children’s Book Fair is itself touched by and reflective of the global political scene, particularly the wars in the Middle East and in Ukraine. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-04-09 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #bologna children #book fair #middle east #bologna children’s book fair