Customer Reviews

Pather Panchali: Song of the Road

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a very great novel, but sadly, this version doesn't give us all of it. The translators, T. W. Clark and Tarapada Mukherji, stop at the point where Satyajit Ray's renowned film ends; but the original Bengali novel goes on for some 50 or so more pages. The reason given is that stopping it at this point provides a better resolution. This may be so, but one would have thought that such matters are for the reader, not the translator, to decide. Were it not for this, I would certainly have given this book 5 stars.

But we should be thankful for what we have. The translation reads beautifully, and, having compared a number of passages with the original Bengali, it seems to me both accurate and true to the spirit of the original.

The novel is set in a remote Bengali village in the early years of the 20th century. The principal characters are a young brother and sister, Apu and Durga, growing up in abject poverty. The pictures of the village and of the villagers are vivid and fascinating, but this is not a social document: the poverty and hardships are taken for granted. Bibhuti Bhushan was more interested in the development of the children's minds and imaginations, and in those apparently trivial events that shape the people they might one day become.

The range of moods evoked is astonishing - from the playful to the frightening, from the joyous to the tragic. In particular, the depiction of the fearful monsoon storm and the disaster it brings in its wake is not something I will easily forget.

There is a sequel to this novel - "Aparajito" - depicting Apu's later years. This, too, is now available in English, in a rather fine translation by Gopa Majumdar. (Satyajit Ray's Apu trilogy is based on these two novels.) One can only hope now that the missing final chapters of "Pather Panchali" will also be translated. These marvellous novels certainly deserve to be better known.

The other reviews left out the younger sister Durga's wonderfully vivid imagination, which enriches the experience not just of her elder brother but of the reader. Although Satyajit Ray's cinematic version is incomparable, it is impossible for it to to do justice to this rich, essential aspect of the girl. By the end I felt deeply impacted by this wonderful, complex child, and ... well, I don't want to give anything away. The preface says that according to the author's journal the fictional character was modeled on an older cousin in his own life, which must be why she is so convincing.

This is an excellent book set in rural Bengal. The author's beautiful description of the mind of the child is really fascinating. The writing gives a feeling of reality to the description. There is actually a lot of sorrow in the book. However, the best part is that it is not oversentimental. The sorrow is subtle. One can't help being moved after reading this book.
Definitely, this is one of the best books that I have read so far. I would most certainly recommend it to anyone who might be interested. Reading it is an enriching experience.

This is a book about a child named Apu, who in his very young age experiences the lifes most sweetest and saddest experiences that take him through a very long journey in his life. One of them being the death of his very old aunt, who being an additional burden on Apu's family as Apus father struggles to keep the family going by his very long days of travel in finding work and thier survival during that period. Apu,s older sister Durga, a very innocent and desirable girl, with the thirst for material things just like any girl of her age, and her sadness in not having what other kids of her age have, but a very satisfying personin sharing her thoughts abouts seeing the railway train can etch in one,s memory for a very long time to go back into this story and bring her back to life and give her all the things she wanted to do or see. The emotions in this story can churn one's heart about the poverty and unemployment in India and the unhappy children who suffer the consequences. one can only read this book and see it through thier heart for the emotions are always stuck at the throat and can only come in the form of tears. A book every child should read to know that they have a lot more tha they can handle and cannot take things they have for granted, a lesson for kindness , love and sharing.