Pather Panchali (UNESCO collection of representative works) [Hardcover]

Bibhutibhushan Banerji (Author), T.W. Clark (Translator), T. Mukherji (Translator)

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, Bengali (translation)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 326 pages
• Publisher: Allen & Unwin (December 1968)
• ISBN-10: 0048230820
• ISBN-13: 978-0048230829
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,323,972 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great novel that deserves to be better known, October 4, 2002

By 

The Baker Street Irregular (Staines) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pather Panchali: Song of the Road (A Bengali Novel: UNESCO Collection of Representative Works, Indian Series) (Paperback)

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.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Durga's Imagination, December 11, 2005

By 

Stephen L. Mikesell "laughing coyote" (Madison, WI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pather Panchali: Song of the Road (A Bengali Novel: UNESCO Collection of Representative Works, Indian Series) (Paperback)

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.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Moving, December 30, 2001

By 

Pratip Mitra (Minneapolis, MN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pather Panchali: Song of the Road (Textbook Binding)

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.