Dwitiyo Innings - er Por

দ্বিতীয় ইনিংসের পর 
Author – Mati Nandi

Genre – Fiction, Bengali

Source - Print

Rating - 4

Read - December 2015

A fine novella; based on test cricket what's more, which doesn't diminish at all on re-reading. Not a classic, not among his greatest, but still a fine piece. Mati Nandi is an expert novelist. I am glad to have re-discovered him.

Nayaker Prabesh o Prasthan

নায়কের প্রবেশ ও প্রস্থান 
Author – Mati Nandi

Genre – Fiction, Bengali

Source - Print

Rating - 5

Read - December 2015

This is an extraordinary piece of work. Remember that piece in 'Interpreter of Maladies', the first one? A Temporary Matter? Of how a quasi-estranged couple speak with each other in the middle of a week-long power-failure? This story, by Mati Nandi, reminded me of that. This is a story of how an entire small lane in Kolkata changes, or just comes to terms with itself, while a celebrity steps in, and then steps out of a building in that lane. This is quite extraordinary storytelling. Needs translation.

Baobab

বাওবাব 

Author – Mati Nandi

Genre – Fiction, Bengali

Source - Print

Rating - 4

Read - December 2015

Mati Nandi gave me sports. And I will be eternally grateful to him for that. 
But even beyond his sports-writing, he was an exceptional writer of novels and novellas. And here in Baobab is a master of the written word, at near his peak. Suneet, the chief protagonist of the story, is probably quite the most heinous, morally destitute main protagonist you will ever encounter in a story, and yet somehow, Nandi is able to humanize him. Not by glorifying him, that would be gangster simple and it is easy to love pure evil; but by etching out this disgusting, disgusting human being with a level of finesse that you eventually get it - this is nonetheless a human being. With human thoughts, human urges and human passions. You cannot look away. 
This book is the work of an utterly skillful artisan.
I have a theory as to why Mati Nandi is not as famous as say Shirshendu or Bani Basu as a writer. The minor, and oft-stated answer is that the snobbish literary circle cannot and could not take a former writer of mere sports books seriously. The major answer, I think is that the Bengali reader is an emotional reader, and most, nay all of her favorites are stylistically emotional - Nandi's staccato, journalistic style of prose is not her natural habitat.

Antarghaat (eng. The Enemy Within)

অন্তর্ঘাত

Author – Bani Basu

Genre – Naxalite movement, Mystery, Thriller

Source - eBook

Rating - 4

Read - November 2015

Very interesting book, this. If you take it solely as a murder mystery novel, it is somewhat predictable, albeit with the deftness, fluency, and that mix of readability and literary merit which is a preserve of only the best of writers (as I often insist, middlebrow literature in India is only found in regional literature). As a social commentary of the future of many Naxalites of Kolkata after the '70s, it in honest, bold and brutal, but perhaps lacks some answers, and more importantly, some questions. 
But as a book, standalone, it is excellent! 

Do note, I really, really rate Bani Basu as a writer, her Gaandharvi, for example, remains one of my favorite short novels. Interesting to note that this was written in 1987, and is one of her earliest works.

PS: I hear that there's a decent translation available - details of the translation here.

Y2K (othoba) Sex Krome Aasitechhe

Y2K, অথবা, সেক্স ক্রমে আসিতেছে

Author: Chandril Bhattacharyya
Genre: Drama, Movie Script, Humour, Adult Comedy
Source: eBook
Rating: 3

More iconoclastic than funny, but funny enough. Not quite as funny as Chandril Bhattacharyya (who I sincerely believe is a true Bengali intellectual, and one of the funniest, most creative, most inventive people of modern Bengal) can be.

Ruaha

Author: Buddhadeb Guha
Genre: Thriller, Young readers, Wildlife, Shikaar
Source: eBook
Rated: 5/5
Read: March 2015

Later

Rijuda Samagra (Part 5)

Author: Buddhadeb Guha
Genre: Thriller, Young readers, Wildlife, Shikaar
Source: eBook
Rated: 4/5
Read: March 2015

Review alongwith the review of with Ruaha

সেই সময় (Those Days)

Author - Sunil Gangopadhyay

Genre - Historical Fiction, Bengali

Source - Print

Rating - 5

June 2014

A monster of a book. Very strong writing. Te history comes alive. I hope this is as good in English translation as in Bengali, though (I read the original) - this is about more than anything about the rise of the Bengali people and the Bengali language.
Do tell me, friends, if the translation works.

তুঙ্গভদ্রার তীরে (Tungabhadra'r Teerey)

Author - Saradindu Bandyopadhyay

Genre - Historical Fiction, Thriller

Source - Print

Rating - 4 

May 2014

First: About Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay. He is a fantastic writer of bestsellers that are NOT devoid of literary merit. If one has to make the parallel to an English writer, it has to be with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (and Sharadindu's Byomkesh is almost the equal of Doyle's Sherlock).
Second: About the time and place. You'd say the novel has not dated very well. You'd say that some of the sentiments some characters display are rather out of our times (reg: religion, sex). But hey, this is historical fiction, and that too medieval history, how do you expect it to be in with the times?
Third: Sharadindu creates such amazing plots. And has such a strong, clean writing style. Two hundred odd pages finished off in one go. This is good stuff! 
Fourth: I am lucky that I can read Sharadindu in original Bengali. This is one of the first few non-Byomkesh novels of his that I read, and I am itching to read more.Fifth: Nice to read about the history of Karnataka. This is about the Vijayanagar Empire.

Kidnap Kande'y Koko

কিডন্যাপ কান্ডে কোকো

Author – Sabyasachi Sarkar

Genre – Sports, Children, Thriller, Detective, bengali

Source – PDF

Rating- 3

Mar 2012

Noni'da Not Out

ননিদা নট আউট

Author - Mati Nandi
Genre - Sports, Children, Bengali

Source - Book
Rating - 4

Jan 2012

Kakababu o' Jaladasyu

কাকাবাবু ও জলদস্যু

Author - Sunil Gangopadhyay
Genre - Thriller, Children, Kakababu, Bengali

Source - PDF
Rating - 1

Jan 2012

Fondi'baaz Bondi

ফন্দিবাজ বন্দী

Author - Sukanta Gangopadhyay
Genre - Thriller, Children, Bengali

Source - PDF
Rating - 2

Jan 2012

Agneyogiri'r pet'er moddhye

আগ্নেয়গিরির পেটের মধ্যে

Author - Sunil Gangopadhyay
Genre - Thriller, Children, Kakababu, Bengali

Source - PDF
Rating - 1

Jan 2012