“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

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Amazon introduces its latest Kindle, the first version under $100 with a front light

Amazon unveiled the latest model of its popular Kindle e-reader Wednesday, the first version of the device with a front light that costs less than $100. The new Kindle, priced at $89.99, is one-third of an inch thick and weighs 6 ounces, making it easy to use with one hand, Amazon said. But the... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2019-03-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Where now for Mark Zuckerberg after his – and our – loss of innocence? | Martin Moore

A year on from the Observer exposé, what has really changed for Facebook and its users?The Cambridge Analytica revelations, the most damning of which were published by the Observer and the New York Times a year ago, quickly morphed from a scandal about a British political consultancy into one... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2019-03-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook loses top product officer Chris Cox, Mark Zuckerberg’s confidant

Facebook Inc.’s top executive in charge of all products, Chris Cox, the longtime confidant of Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg, is leaving the company. It’s the highest-level departure at the social media giant amid nearly two years of sustained crises. Cox’s unexpected departure, which he... Continue reading at Baltimore Sun

[ Baltimore Sun | 2019-03-14 22:45:00 UTC ]
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Facebook loses top product officer Chris Cox, Mark Zuckerberg’s confidant

Facebook Inc.’s top executive in charge of all products, Chris Cox, the longtime confidant of Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg, is leaving the company. It’s the highest-level departure at the social media giant amid nearly two years of sustained crises. Cox’s unexpected departure, which he... Continue reading at Baltimore Sun

[ Baltimore Sun | 2019-03-14 22:45:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #mark zuckerberg #chris cox #longtime confidant #top executive #highest-level departure #sustained crises #unexpected departure


The dark lesson of a $24 million Amazon book

This is what happens when algorithms call the shots. I can still recall my surprise when a book by evolutionary biologist Peter Lawrence entitled The Making of a Fly came to be priced on Amazon at $23,698,655.93 (plus $3.99 shipping). While my colleagues around the world must have become rather... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2019-03-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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English PEN marks 250-book milestone in support for translated titles

English PEN is marking the milestone of having supported 250 titles via its Writers in Translation programme, launched in 2006. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-03-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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NewSouth to Publish Mark Twain Literary Retrospective

More than 100 years after his death in 1910, Samuel Clemens—better known as Mark Twain—still intrigues literary scholars. That's why a new three-book collection reconstructing Twain’s personal library is on its way. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-03-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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W H Smith marks entry into Netherlands and expands Spanish presence

W H Smith has marked its entry into the Dutch market with its first store opening at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol as the retailer expands its presence in Spain with two new shops.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-03-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Winter Dark named Audible Thriller of the Year

Audible has revealed the audio-exclusive debut Winter Dark by Alex Callister is this year’s Thriller of the Year.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-03-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Rock the Boat to mark Black History Month with new poetry title

Rock the Boat, part of Oneworld, has acquired a picture book that explores race and identity by US poets Irene Latham and Charles Waters, illustrated by Sean Qualls and Selina Alko. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-02-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Cape unveils Briggs' long-awaited collection Time for Lights Out

Jonathan Cape will publish Raymond Briggs' long-awaited Time for Lights Out in November, 13 years after the illustrator and author started work on the book about age and death. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-02-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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McIntosh begins to make her mark at PRH US

Penguin Random House US c.e.o. Madeline McIntosh outlines her vision for the publisher, as Crown is merged with Random House and Spiegel & Grau is shuttered. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-02-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Welsh language children's books sold for £1 to mark World Book Day

Two children’s books published in Welsh are being sold for just £1 to mark this year’s World Book Day. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-02-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Tinder marks O'Farrell's 20th anniversary with Shakespeare-inspired novel

Headline imprint Tinder Press will publish a new novel by Maggie O'Farrell in April 2020, inspired by William Shakespeare's son, as the author celebrates her 20-year career. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-02-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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PRH marks five years of Murder Most Unladylike with hardback edition

Penguin Random House (PRH) Children’s is celebrating the fifth anniversary of Robin Stevens’ Murder Most Unladylike with a signed hardback edition of the first book. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-02-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Scottish indies make their mark with nimble publishing and community ethos

Three small independent publishers from Scotland discuss the challenges and opportunities presented by their limited size and staffing—but there is little limit to their ambition. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-02-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Canongate to publish 'no-holds-barred dark comedy' by Scarlett Thomas

Canongate has acquired the new adult novel from Scarlett Thomas, Oligarchy, billed as “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie for the digital age”. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-01-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Shrigley creates 'light-hearted' BAMB tote design for Wellcome

Visual artist David Shrigley has designed a limited edition tote, which celebrates the 10th anniversary of the Wellcome Book Prize, and which the artist says shows "a light-hearted representation of the importance of books", in support of the Books Are My Bag (BAMB) campaign. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-01-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Morris makes her mark as Tattooist of Auschwitz regains top spot

Heather Morris’ The Tattooist of Auschwitz (Zaffre) has returned to the UK Official Top 50 number one spot for a third non-consecutive week, selling 15,369 copies through Nielsen BookScan’s Total Consumer Market. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-01-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Mark Zuckerberg's personal charity is part of a push to steer $500 million to affordable housing

As tech companies face mounting pressure to address their role in the California housing crisis, a band of corporations, philanthropies and foundations — including Facebook as well as the personal philanthropic company of Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg — are seeking to raise $540 million to... Continue reading at Baltimore Sun

[ Baltimore Sun | 2019-01-25 00:05:00 UTC ]
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