BLiterature-Apratim

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people’s obedience, and some others confront him (including his second wife
Jamila), and he seems to overcome all difficulties through his shrewd tactics. It is the
story of a religion-monger’s power-hunger, cruelty, ambition for riches and
unrestricted lust. The novel is also celebrated for its poetic language.
His second novel Chander Amabashya (The Darkness of the Moon) is a good
example of existentialist fiction. It tells us the story of a school-teacher who comes
close to a murder and does have a dilemma whether he will inform the police or keep
it a secret, because he cannot be sure whether it was a murder and if was so, then
who committed it. At last he becomes confirm of the crime and finds it his own
responsibility to expose it. And doing so, he himself is charged with murder. The
world, which is dominated by exploiters and persecutors, always backs its powerful
patrons. Even the school-teacher’s local guardians, who simulate as `pious’ persons,
are engaged in this hypocritical act. As a result, it is a story of a person’s inner
dilemma, his prolonged decision to carry out his own duty toward the society and
naked power politics of village people.
His third novel Kando Nodi Kando (Cry River Cry) can be acclaimed a
masterpiece of existentialism. A girl commits suicide for her cousin whom she loved.
The man apparently has no sympathy for her, but inwardly he suffers from confusion
and repentance. At last that man too kills himself. A more surprising incident is that
the people of the small town, where such incidents take place, hear the nearby river
cry. That ghostly happening symbolizes the woe of nature for moral decadence and
behavioral flaws of people of the town. Thus personal fall signifies the ethical
disaster of all the people living there. Man’s social role and its conflict with his inner
world are drawn in the novel with mastery. Besides, this novel is a good example of
the ‘stream of consciousness’ technique; it bears a tinge of ‘magic realism’ too. And
Waliullah’s poetic language too reaches a new height here.
Waliullah began to write in English during his exile in Europe, which we regard
as an unwise decision; his English writings have little contribution to either western
or oriental literature. However, Ugly Asians and How Does One Cook Beans are his
two remarkable English novels; these are satires of the Western civilization.
Waliullah’s novels have lucid vision. The dark inner psyche of man is
presented in his works with secular philosophies. His novels aim at some delicate
consciousness of humanity. He had a progressive mind and he never compromised
on it. His novels are a significant addition to 200 years’ fictional art. His language is
poetic; and in this respect, he sometimes seems to be the predecessor of Mahmudul
Haq. He would certainly give much more to literature if he lived longer, as he is a
great artist of rare qualities which makes him immortal in the world of letters.
Sunil Gangopadhyay (1934-2012)
Sunil is the most successful ambassador of the American Beat Generation in
Bangla novel and poetry. He can also be called the true shape-maker of the
Hungryalist movement of the 1960s.