Why There Are No Noyontara Flowers In Agargaon Colony: Stories is a collection of short stories by Bangladeshi novelist Shahidul Zahir.[2] It was translated from Bengali to English[3] by Indian translator V. Ramaswami.[4][5] The collection was published on 5 September 2022 by Harper Perennial.[1] The book received mixed reviews after its publication. Indian poet and writer Jerry Pinto has described it as "unforgettable".
 Cover of first edition, 2022 | |
| Author | Shahidul Zahir |
|---|---|
| Translator | V. Ramaswami |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Short story collection |
| Published | 5 September 2022[1] |
| Publisher | Harper Perennial |
| Publication place | India |
| Media type | Print (paperback) |
| Pages | 280 |
| ISBN | 9789356290327 |
| OCLC | 1358404455 |
The name of the collection is derived from the 1991 short story "Agargaon Colony-te Nayantara Phul Keno Nei", which was published in the short story collection Dumur Kheko Manush O Annanya Galpo (1999). The anthology consists of ten short stories, six of which are taken from Dumur Kheko Manush O Annanya Galpo and four from the collection Dolu Nadir Hawa O Annanya Galpo (2004).
Stories
edit| No. | English title | Original title | Year | Published |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Where Is My Heart's Wanderer" | "Kothay Pabo Tare" | 1999 | Dolu Nadir Hawa O Annanya Galpo (2004) |
| 2 | "The History of Our Cottage Industry" | "Amader Kutir Shilper Itisash" | 1995 | Dumur Kheko Manush O Annanya Galpo (1999) |
| 3 | "The Fig-Eating Folk" | "Dumur Kheko Manush" | 1992 | |
| 4 | "The Breeze of the Dolu River" | "Dolu Nadir Hawa" | ২০০৩ | Dolu Nadir Hawa O Annanya Galpo (2004) |
| 5 | "The Woodcutter and the Ravens" | "Kathur-e O Darkaak" | 1992 | Dumur Kheko Manush O Annanya Galpo (1999) |
| 6 | "The Thorn" | "Kaanta" | 1995 | |
| 7 | "Why There Are No Noyontara Flowers In Agargaon Colony" | "Agargaon Colony-te Nayantara Phul Keno Nei" | 1991 | |
| 8 | "The Chronicle of Mohammed Selim's Life" | "Ei Samay" | 1993 | |
| 9 | "Our Bokul" | "Amader Bakul" | ২০০০ | Dolu Nadir Hawa O Annanya Galpo (2004) |
| 10 | "The Monkey in the Moholla, Abdul Halim's Ma and Us" | "Mahallay Bandar, Abdu l Halimer Maa Ebong Amra" | 2000 |
Criticism
editDebpriya Sanyal of The New Indian Express said about the title of the story collection, (the Name) explores the concept of existence, reality, as well as the relationship between man and nature, within a layered structure.[4] Indian writer Manjula Padmanabhan said translator V. Ramaswamy "appears to have done such a painstaking job that even though the words are in English, the fragrance of the writing remains Bengali."[3]
Siddhartha Deb stated this "haunting and apocalyptic … a literature of the future".[6] Rakhchanda Jalil of The Wire described it as "short, pithy, compact … unsettling the present and casting a dark shadow on the future".[6] On the other hand, writer Somak Ghoshal from Mint newspaper said: (it is) "a rare gift … Zahir synthesizes hard-hitting social realism with a surge of surrealist paranoia to forge a style that keeps the reader on tenterhooks."[6]
According to Frontline magazine, the ten stories in the anthology go beyond the boundaries of language and storytelling and blend folklore, oral storytelling traditions, and magical realism with a deeper understanding of socio-political realities.[7]
References
edit- ^ a b Upadhyay, Gunjan (29 October 2022). "Why there are no Noyontara flowers in Agargaon colony: Stories". tuggunmommy. Archived from the original on 28 October 2022. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
- ^ "Why There Are No Noyontara Flowers In Agargaon Colony : Stories". harpercollins.co.in. Harper Perennial. Archived from the original on 1 December 2022. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
- ^ a b Padmanabhan, Manjula (3 February 2023). "Shahidul Zahir's Why there are no Noyontara flowers in Agargaon colony". India Today. Archived from the original on 3 February 2023. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
- ^ a b Sanyal, Devapriya (6 November 2022). "Fantastical folklore: 'Why There are No Noyontara Flowers in Agargaon Colony' by V Ramaswamy". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 16 November 2022. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
- ^ Ramaswamy, V (7 October 2022). "Why There Are No Noyontara Flowers in Agargaon Colony". Dhaka Tribune. Archived from the original on 6 February 2023. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
- ^ a b c "HarperCollins Presents Why There are No Noyontara Flowers in Agargaon Colony: Stories". harpercollins.co.in. Harper Perennial. 7 September 2022. Archived from the original on 9 February 2023. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
- ^ "Books on the shelves". Frontline. The Hindu Group. 22 September 2022. ISSN 0970-1710. Archived from the original on 18 February 2023. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
