Harbart / Nabarun Bhattacharya ; translated from the Bengali by Sunandini Banerjee ; with an afterword by Siddhartha Deb.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bhaṭṭācārya, Nabāruṇa, author.

Deb, Siddhartha, 1970- author of afterword.

Contributor:

Banerjee, Sunandini, translator.

Series:

New Directions paperbook ; 1451.

New Directions paperbook ; 1451

Standardized Title:

Hārabārṭa. English

Language:

Bengali

English

Subjects (All):

Spiritualism--India--Fiction.

Spiritualism.

Orphans--India--Fiction.

Orphans.

Kolkata (India)--Fiction.

Kolkata (India).

India.

India--Kolkata.

Genre:

Fiction.

Novels.

Physical Description:

122 pages ; 21 cm.

Place of Publication:

New York : New Directions Publishing Corporation, 2019.

Summary:

"This beloved cult novel--about a young man who makes a business of relaying messages from the dead--is now in a sparkling English translation. Poor, poor, hard-luck Herbert Sarkar: born into a fancy Calcutta family but cursed from birth (his philandering movie director father is killed in a car crash and his mother dies soon after, when he's still just a baby), he is taken as an orphan into his uncle's house, only to fall further and further down the family totem pole. Despite good looks ('Hollywood-ish, Leslie Howard-ish') and native talents, he is scorned by all but his kind aunt. Poor Herbert: so lovable but so little loved. Cheated of his inheritance, living on the roof in cast-off clothing, he pines for love, but all is woe: his own nephews beat him up. At twenty, however, he suddenly seems to possess the gift of speaking with the dead. Harbert is bathed in glory. From less than zero to starry heights--what an apotheosis. The wheel of fortune turns again, all too soon... Legendary, scathingly satiric, wildly energetic, deeply tender, Harbart is an Indian masterwork"-- Provided by publisher.

Notes:

"Originally published as Herbert in 1994 by Deys Publishers, Calcutta"--Title page verso.

ISBN:

9780811224734

0811224732

OCLC:

1086404496