Ever since this bookbucketchallenge thing appeared on facebook, I felt extremely apprehensive. The apprehension you feel during any contagious epidemic bound to reach you at some point of time. Surely it did, since now I have been nominated by Amartya Paul, Titas De Sarkar and Shruthi Venukumar. But, how do you pick just ten books across genres and authors? How do you compare the impact of Tenida and Neruda, Cardus and Kalidasa? Can I say who affected my life more: Rowling or Romila? Jules Verne or Jibanananda? Can one decide who actually remained with you, Rabindranaths Shribilas or Connan Doyles Holmes? In any case, to do this impossible, I decide to limit myself to representative selection: picking one book representing one genre/tradition, and not more than one book from any author. Following the footsteps of Ritadhi Chakravarti, I pick 11 rather than 10, to remain a cricketer in spirit and passion. Here we go: 1.Mahabharata- Krishnadvaipayana Vyasa (Picking ten is difficult, picking one would be cakewalk. The text claims what is not here is nowhere else. As I spend more time with the text, it seems a modest understatement!) 2.Geetabitan- Rabindranath Tagore (Had not I limited myself to one book per author, this man could have claimed at least six slots. To pick one representative work, well, what stayed with us more than his songs?) 3.Ha-ya-ba-ra-la- Sukumar Roy(Damn the limitation I imposed upon myself. Now I cannot pick Abol-Tabol which introduced me to the fun of literature.) 4.Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince- J.K.Rowling (Honestly speaking, the entire series is one epic in seven parts. But, if I must pick one representative book, this is the one.) 5.Chander Pahar-Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay (Replace it with Pather Panchali if you want. What a novelist!) 6.Cultural Pasts-Romila Thapar (At least one academic book should be there, and then the obvious choice is the biggest collection of essays from my favourite historian.) 7.Shamba-Kalkut (Since I picked Chander Pahar - a book for teenagers- rather than Pather Panchali, my favourite Bengali novel may have a place in the list.) 8.Meghadutam-Kalidasa(Poetry in its sublimest, something that can generate a momentary romance even in someone like me who hates rain.) 9.Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea-Jules Verne (The finest science fiction I ever read.) 10. 100 Selected Stories- O. Henry (My favourite book of short-stories). 11.Lokarahasya- Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay (Satire at its sharpest, an exceptional social commentary from a much misunderstood author.) Now, feel the pain Archisman Chaudhuri Biswadev Banerjee Elora Tribedy Byapti Sur
Posted on: Mon, 01 Sep 2014 11:45:34 +0000
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