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swathiblogs's review against another edition
5.0
You know how at times a book calls out to you, you keep seeing it everywhere, every book shop you visit like throwing a sign asking you to read it. When I pick books, I rely heavily on my intuition to gauge if the book will work for me. I first saw the book in Blossoms , then a recommendation by The Bookshop JorBagh IG page for a good family saga. Every time I visited Blossoms I kept seeing it but was waiting for an occasion to buy the same. Thanks to Teenu who gifted me this for my birthday.
What are the elements to get a family saga right? For me with any book, its always the connect with a book, its characters, the writing.
Tithidore by Buddhadeva Bose published in 1949 translated by Arunava Sinha is a classic tale set in the early 1900s. Divided into 3 parts, we are taken across protagonist Swati Mitra's journey from her birth, childhood to a demure yet a bold woman. It is also her father Rajen Mitra's story seeing his 5 daughters grow, leave the household , a silence setting at home after their departure. A change that comes when the daughters visit, the family's chitter chatter. Swati, the youngest her aspirations, thoughts a melancholy setting in. As her father's favourite Rajen also wants to hold on to her for the longest time.
The plot begin in Mitra household with a daughter's birth. Rajen is ecstatic but Shishirkana who grew up hearing how a male child should be bore is disappointed. When Bijon is born after Shweta, Mahashweta, Saraswati and Saswati she is overjoyed. After Swati the youngest is born Shishirkana's health declines . Rajen's pet Swati the youngest and the most beautiful among the girls grows up with her siblings , with all the banter yet protected by Rajen. Bijon though intelligent always catches ire of his father for his lack of focus on education and his attempts at trying various things.
The major chunk of the story is set after Saswati's wedding. One major moment is after Saswati's departure when Swati tells her father she would never leave him. Rajen and Swati's relation is extremely beautiful and close knit. Rajen who has always supported education is delighted at Swati's educational achievements. Swati's thoughts which we read throughout are very layered, from her naivety in the beginning to her transformation to a mature woman.
After a class with the new professor Satyen , she begins an interest in poetry. Satyen is the quintessential brooding, silent, bookworm and wanderlust person. Swati finds herself spending most of her free time reading losing herself to poetry and prose. Swati and Satyen find themselves drawn to each other mostly their silence speaking eons. When Swati receives a letter from Satyen during his travel, they begin a to & fro conversation whenever possible. Swati is also pursued by Majumdar, Bijon's business colleague. Majumdar is rich and a self made man though his intention for marrying is not partnership but to flaunt his wife!
The vivid descriptions of nature paralleling emotion and the parallels of reading poetry and prose to loneliness stood out for me. Rain, sari, gloom, happiness are some of the recurrent themes. Arunava Sinha's translation is brilliant. What is in Swati's destiny? How does she shape it? This forms the rest of the story. The ending paragraph is one of the best that I have read till date. I binge read this book 2 days straight and couldn't put it down till I finished it. I would love to reread this at leisure again soaking in all the emotions.
If you love sagas set in pre independence era you would love this one!
What are the elements to get a family saga right? For me with any book, its always the connect with a book, its characters, the writing.
Tithidore by Buddhadeva Bose published in 1949 translated by Arunava Sinha is a classic tale set in the early 1900s. Divided into 3 parts, we are taken across protagonist Swati Mitra's journey from her birth, childhood to a demure yet a bold woman. It is also her father Rajen Mitra's story seeing his 5 daughters grow, leave the household , a silence setting at home after their departure. A change that comes when the daughters visit, the family's chitter chatter. Swati, the youngest her aspirations, thoughts a melancholy setting in. As her father's favourite Rajen also wants to hold on to her for the longest time.
The plot begin in Mitra household with a daughter's birth. Rajen is ecstatic but Shishirkana who grew up hearing how a male child should be bore is disappointed. When Bijon is born after Shweta, Mahashweta, Saraswati and Saswati she is overjoyed. After Swati the youngest is born Shishirkana's health declines . Rajen's pet Swati the youngest and the most beautiful among the girls grows up with her siblings , with all the banter yet protected by Rajen. Bijon though intelligent always catches ire of his father for his lack of focus on education and his attempts at trying various things.
The major chunk of the story is set after Saswati's wedding. One major moment is after Saswati's departure when Swati tells her father she would never leave him. Rajen and Swati's relation is extremely beautiful and close knit. Rajen who has always supported education is delighted at Swati's educational achievements. Swati's thoughts which we read throughout are very layered, from her naivety in the beginning to her transformation to a mature woman.
After a class with the new professor Satyen , she begins an interest in poetry. Satyen is the quintessential brooding, silent, bookworm and wanderlust person. Swati finds herself spending most of her free time reading losing herself to poetry and prose. Swati and Satyen find themselves drawn to each other mostly their silence speaking eons. When Swati receives a letter from Satyen during his travel, they begin a to & fro conversation whenever possible. Swati is also pursued by Majumdar, Bijon's business colleague. Majumdar is rich and a self made man though his intention for marrying is not partnership but to flaunt his wife!
The vivid descriptions of nature paralleling emotion and the parallels of reading poetry and prose to loneliness stood out for me. Rain, sari, gloom, happiness are some of the recurrent themes. Arunava Sinha's translation is brilliant. What is in Swati's destiny? How does she shape it? This forms the rest of the story. The ending paragraph is one of the best that I have read till date. I binge read this book 2 days straight and couldn't put it down till I finished it. I would love to reread this at leisure again soaking in all the emotions.
If you love sagas set in pre independence era you would love this one!
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