Coolie (Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics) [Mass Market Paperback]

Mulk Raj Anand (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1995 | Series: Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics

Aparajito is the sequel to Pather Panchali, Bibhutibushan Bandopadhyay's best known novel. In Pather Panchali the story revolves around Harihar Roy, his wife Sabajya, daughter Durga and son Apu whose vision of the future remains positive. Aparajito carries forward this vision through Apu's adolescence and youth. The story takes the reader through Apu's school days at the village. His thirst for knowledge and an insatiable desire to see the world drive him to the city and he joins college for higher education. For the first time in his life he has to battle not just poverty but also the complexities of human relationships and other harsh realities of life, without support or assistance from anywhere. After his mother's death, a tragic marriage and years of carefree living, Apu finally realises his responsibilities and returns to his roots accompanied by his like-minded son, Kajal.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Bengali --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay's first publication was a short story which appeared in a Calcutta journal in 1922. From then on he wrote regularly. He is credited all together with fifty published works, seventeen of which are novels and twenty collections of short stories. This book is the sequel to his most famous novel, Pather Panchali. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Classics (January 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140186808
• ISBN-13: 978-0140186802
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #382,216 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Discovering the Beauty of Life, June 18, 2007

By 

Rashmi Patel "Rash" (Bangalore, India) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Aparajito: the Unvanquished (Paperback)

Aparajito is sequel to Pather Panchali. You have to read Aparijito if you liked Pather Panchali. Satyajit Ray's film Apartijito and Apur Sansar look like patchy collages compared to the treatment of characters in the novels.

Aparajito starts with Apu's adult struggles in city life. You would expect the character to somehow come over the unending series of tragedy that he goes through, but Bibhutibhushan takes his time, like a life really running its urban grind. I kept peeking through latter pages to see if Apu was ever going to have that happy turn of events that novels are supposed to have. But what you get is not a tale but Apu's own experience of slow discovery of beauty in life. There is no story. There is only a character that refuses to give in, that lives "lives" of drudgery, passion, freedom with the adamant spirit of a crusader. Nothing earth-shattering except the will to believe that life is and will be what he wants to see it as, not what the city has defined for others.

Gopa Majumdar's choice of words is decidedly British, and therefore, at some points, knots the easy flow of the passages. Nevertheless, the beauty of the original seems to come through the translation because the strength of the book is not in the language used but in the detailed exploration of its charming charcater, Apu.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars TRIUMPH OF THE HUMAN SOUL, December 29, 2007

By 

Geetha Krishnan (Kerala, India) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Aparajito: the Unvanquished (Paperback)

As the title of the book implies, the book is truly about an unvanquished soul. Inspite of all the adversities he has had to face, Apu's soul is not defeated. I wouldn't want to spoil your enjoyment by waxing eloquent over it, Read it, you are going to be moved beyond words.