संसार के अग्रणी कथाकारों में प्रतिष्ठित उपन्यास-सम्राट प्रेमंचद ने गबन में टूटते मूल्यों के अंधेरे में भटकते मध्यवर्ग का वास्तविक चित्रण किया है।
यह रमानाथ की कहानी है, जो सुंदर, सुख-सुविधा चाहने वाला, घमंडी और नैतिक रूप से कमज़ोर है। वह अपनी पत्नी जलपा को ख़ुश करने के लिए उसे गहने उपहार में देने की कोशिश करता है, जिसे वह अपनी कम तनख्वाह से नहीं खरीद सकता, कर्ज में डूब जाता है, जो अंततः उसे गबन करने पर मजबूर करता है।
गबन का मूल संदेश है कि इंसान को अपनी हैसियत के मुताबिक ही अपनी ज़रूरतों को पूरा करना चाहिए। उसका एक गलत कदम कई ज़िंदगियों को प्रभावित करता है। उपन्यास के नायक-नायिका रमानाथ, जलपा के साथ रतन, देवीदीन, जौहरा, वकील साहब आदि पात्रों का विश्लेषण भी किया गया।
Catagory: Literature & Fiction
Hadtal Kal Hogi/हड़ताल कल होगी
मॉरिशस के प्रतिभावान कथाकार अभिमन्यु अनत ने आधुनिक हिंदी कथा-साहित्य में अपना विशिष्ट स्थान बना लिया है। उनका यह उपन्यास उनके साहित्यिक व्यक्तित्व को नया आयाम प्रदान करता है।
उपन्यास का नायक अमित भावुक है, चिंतक है, मजदूरों का नेता है। अमीर-गरीब के बाहर-भीतर के फासले से वह तिलमिला उठता है। मजदूर डेढ़ सौ साल बाद भी मजदूर ही है—एक बहुत बड़ी गोलाई की यात्रा, जहाँ आदमी वहीं लौट आता है, जहाँ से यात्रा शुरू करता है।
अमित के जीवन की विडंबना यह है कि जिसे प्यार करता है, उसी के पिता से गहरी जंग छेड़ रखी है।
एक सशक्त उपन्यास जो बार-बार सोचने पर बाध्य करता है कि इस दुनिया में हमारी कोई हस्ती क्यों नहीं है?
Heere Ka Haar/हीरे का हार
फ्रांस के महान् कथाकार मोपासां की विश्व प्रसिद्ध कहानी है हीरे का हार, जिसमें नायिका ने सिर्फ एक हार की ख़ातिर अपनी सारी ज़िंदगी ही बर्बाद कर डाली।
इसमें मोपासां की एक कालजयी औपन्यासिक कृति एक औरत की ज़िंदगी भी दी गई है। टॉल्सटॉय ने इसके बारे में कहा था कि विक्टर ह्यूगो के ले मिज़रेबल के बाद यह फ्रेंच साहित्य का सर्वश्रेष्ठ उपन्यास है।
जीन व्यक्ति और चीज़ों के प्रति मोहग्रस्त है। आत्मा की गहराइयों से उठता है मोह, पर जिसने उसे केवल यातनाएँ ही दी हैं।
जूलियन ने पत्नी जीन के साथ दगा किया। नौकरानी रोज़ाली को अपने बेटे की माँ बनने पर मजबूर कर दिया। कौंतेस गिलबर्त के साथ भी ऐसे ही संबंध बनाए। अपनी ही नीच प्रवृत्तियों ने एक दिन उसे भयावह मौत दी। यह निरंतर अकेली होती रही, तड़पती रही, पर कभी भी मोह नहीं छूटा।
Anandamath, or The Sacred Brotherhood (English)
This is a translation of a historically important Bengali novel.
Published in 1882, Chatterji’s Anandamath helped create the atmosphere and the symbolism for the nationalist movement leading to Indian independence in 1947. It contains the famous hymn Vande Mataram (“I revere the Mother”), which has become India’s official National Song. Set in Bengal at the time of the famine of 1770, the novel reflects tensions and oppositions within Indian culture between Hindus and Muslims, ruler and ruled, indigenous people and foreign overlords, jungle and town, Aryan and non-Aryan, celibacy and sexuality. It is both a political and a religious work. By recreating the past of Bengal, Chatterji hoped to create a new present that involved a new interpretation of the past. Julius Lipner not only provides the first complete and satisfactory English translation of this important work, but supplies an extensive Introduction contextualizing the novel and its cultural and political history. Also included are notes offering the Bengali or Sanskrit terms for certain words, as well as explanatory notes for the specialized lay reader or scholar.
The Drowning
Shattered by the loss of her twins, software engineer Viji becomes the prime suspect in a chilling crime—the drowning of her best friend Neha’s baby. ASP Kanika, haunted by her own personal loss, is pulled into an investigation that quickly spirals into a nightmarish descent. Viji’s eerie silence only deepens the enigma, and as Kanika digs further, her instincts sense something far more sinister lurking beneath the surface.
The evidence hints at Viji’s involvement in black magic to resurrect her twins, but the scene defies logic. Viji is found in a trance, cradling the lifeless baby, while Neha has vanished without a trace. Neha isn’t alone; in the past week, four pregnant women have disappeared, each leaving behind a blood-streaked symbol—an ominous mark of doom.
When Neha’s mutilated body is discovered, branded with the same grotesque symbol, Kanika realizes she’s up against something much more terrifying than a serial killer. As she unravels a web of evil tantric practices, Kanika confronts a horrifying possibility: Is she hunting a twisted killer, or has she awakened an ancient, malevolent force? And if so, how long before it comes for her?
Ponniyin Selvan 4
In the fourth part of the sprawling Ponniyin Selvan series, we learn more about the intricate complexities and histories propelling our characters towards their ultimate destiny.
What will happen in Kadambur? Beguiling, breathtaking Nandini Devi requests a rendezvous with Chozha Crown Prince Aditta Karikalan. He is determined to meet her, despite opposition from friends and family. Does Nandini mean to persuade Karikalan to give up the crown or kill him? Meanwhile, in Tanjavur, the life of the ailing Emperor Sundara Chozha is under threat. Will his assassins succeed? The mute Mandakini Devi has been forcibly taken to Tanjavur, and Poonkuzhali rushes there to help her aunt. What will happen when the betrayed Mandakini meets the royal family?
As Kalki’s enthralling saga continues to unfold apace in The Jewelled Crown, Gowri Ramnarayan’s fleet-footed translation proves equal to the challenge of capturing its heightened momentum and suspense.
Missy – Meet the dazzling, unforgettable Missy, in this year’s must-read debut
St Ursula’s Convent, Madras. The girls here are destined to be nuns or servants, but seventeen-year-old Savi, intelligent and with a gift for languages, dreams of escape. She’s taken on as a governess for the wealthy Nandiyar family.
The horrific events of a single night compel Savi and her lover, Ananda, to embark on a dangerous journey, at the end of which they re-emerge in America under new identities. Forty years later, Savi, now known as Missy, is living the American dream in Chicago. She is the pillar of the South Asian community and mother to two brilliant young women, Mansi and Shilpa.
But the past is only a tremor away. Varun, a charming doctor, enters their lives, and his arrival sets off a chain of events that puts Missy’s world in jeopardy.
An extraordinary debut, Missy is the story of a remarkable woman—tender in pain, courageous in crisis. This is a captivating novel that sheds light on the allure of assimilation and the idea that you can never outrun your past.
The Cloud Chariot
It’s 100 years since Kalinga was devastated by Ashoka, and the kingdom is now re-emerging from the dust. Now, under the Mahameghavahanas, a new and able dynasty, the country has not only freed itself from foreign reign but is also experiencing a cultural and patriotic resurgence. But palace politics, internecine rivalries, the external threat of invaders as well as internal threat of traitors keep King Mahameghavahana Kharavela busy and unsettled. Unable to focus on rebuilding the kingdom to its zenith and his dream of returning to Kalinga the looted Jina idol from Magadha.
And then a stranger enters the kingdom and becomes an integral part of the court. Rudravarman is a polymath, military strategist and a brilliant warrior. But his antecedents are mysterious, and his objectives unclear. Why does he so jealously guard his past? And does he truly want to not only serve the king, but fulfil his dream of a resurgent Kalinga?
A brilliantly researched historical thriller set in the first century BCE.
The Penguin Great Ideas Collection: 12 Book Boxset (The Myth of Sisyphus, On Shortness of Life, Meditations, An Answer to the Question: ‘What is Enlightenment?’ and More)
* 12 groundbreaking works by some of history’s most prodigious thinkers *
Each elegant volume is beautifully packaged with a unique type-driven design that highlights the bookmaker’s art.
The Myth of Sisyphus
The book that transformed philosophy with its impassioned argument for the value of life in a world without religious meaning.
On the Shortness of Life
Powerful insights into stoicism, morality and the importance of reason.
Meditations
A series of spiritual exercises filled with wisdom, practical guidance, and profound understanding of human behaviour.
Man Alone with Himself
Subjects ranging from art to arrogance, boredom to passion, science to vanity, rejecting conventional notions of morality to celebrate the individual’s ‘will to power’.
An Answer to the Question: ‘What is Enlightenment?’
Kant investigates human progress, civilization, morality and why, to be truly enlightened.
Fear and Trembling
Kierkegaard argues that a true understanding of God can only be attained by making a personal “leap of faith.”
The Sickness Unto Death
This book explores the concept of ‘despair’ as a symptom of the human condition and describes man’s struggle to fill the spiritual void.
Of Human Freedom
A personal and practical guide to moral self-improvement and living a good life.
How to be a Stoic
Three great Stoic philosophers – Epictetus, Seneca and Marcus Aurelius – offer ancient wisdom on how to face life’s adversities and live well in the world.
Being Happy
Epicurus argues that pleasure – not sensual hedonism, but the absence of pain or fear – is the highest goal of life.
What is Existentialism
Explores the absurdity of our notions of good and evil, and show instead how we make our own destiny simply by being.
The Symposium
A deft interweaving of different viewpoints and ideas about the nature of love.
Blackened
The Adhikarathil family had a distinguished history. It prospered both in terms of wealth and eminence, acquiring the status of royalty in Malabar, Kerala, until the birth of a child named Eranimos shocked everyone. Unlike his fair-skinned, Christian forebears, Eranimos was born dark-skinned, leading to controversial conjectures about his lineage.
Blackened tells the story of its protagonist’s quest to discover the truth behind his dark skin and caste identity. But weaved into this personal tale are multiple layers of Kerala’s social and political histories—its caste conflicts, its massive waves of conversion and migration, its clashing belief systems, and its rural and urban divide.
Originally published as Karikkottakkary in Malayalam, Blackened is an impactful bildungsroman that covers the arc of a conflicted life, and shows us how family histories are tied into the larger historical currents that form communities and shape destinies.