Books
THE SHELF / Six Edgar Allan Poe short stories to haunt your spooky season
Feeling guilty about something? After reading this story, you might think you feel guilty, but you'll never be quite sure if it's guilt or if your heart is just going to explode from sheer terror.
REFLECTIONS / Nawab Faizunnesa was here
The Dhaka-Cumilla bus tickets are Tk 250 for non-AC, Tk 350 for AC, and Tk 400 for AC VIP. Window seats must be negotiated on the spot. The journey takes three to six hours, past the old capital of Sonargaon, where the moisture in the air inspired the muslin, across the Gomati river and into Cumilla town on the Tropic of Cancer.
ESSAY / Falling through the cracks of the ‘normal’
There is something to be said about the innate process of otherising a person with disability, and pushing them out of the group of the ‘norm’ and into the group of the ‘exception’.
ESSAY / The boundless possibilities of books
Books are often staple travel companions. But as the reader leafs through its pages, they are blanketed by the warmth of its faint-yet-familiar scent, and submerged into a linguistic hinterland hiding infinite possibilities. As pages and letters metamorphose into a world unfettered by human limitations, books become much more than mere companions we literally travel with. Rather, they are transfigured into vehicles through which we embark on a more figurative journey—one of the intellect and the imagination.
THE SHELF / Books on wheels
Whether you’re planning your next trip or just dreaming with a wanderlust of far-off places, these travel book recommendations by our readers will take you on unforgettable journeys—one page at a time. From classic travelogues to the best epistolary novels, here are six essential books that will fuel your passion for adventure.
BOOK REVIEW: FICTION / Mermaids are real: A story of the Haenyeo
Dear readers. I want you to do something with me. Take three long breaths—as deep as you can. Now hold it for two minutes! How long did you hold? I only survived one minute and 23 seconds. And I’m used to spending time in the water.
BOOK REVIEW: POETRY / Balancing the act of oneness and being one with oneself
Kiriti Sengupta is an award-winning poet, translator, editor, and publisher based in New Delhi, India. Oneness is his latest collection of poems. The seemingly unassuming thin volume does not prepare readers for the multi-sensory experience that is in store for them as they open the book. Even before one’s mind and eyes get used to reading, the poet jolts readers as he writes “I rived my eyes / for inditing poems. / Would you reckon them / by their length?”
BOOK REVIEW: NONFICTION / 'Thrice born': The journey of Bangladeshi literature in English
Bangladeshi Literature in English: Critical Essays and Interviews, edited by Mohammad A. Quayum and Md. Mahmudul Hasan, focuses on critical essays on Bangladeshi literature in English—both from Bangladesh and its diasporas (US, UK, and Australia).
Diverging perspectives: Exploring Bangladesh’s history through controversial narratives
When it comes to the history of Bangladesh both pre-and post-Liberation War, certain aspects have either remained hidden from the public or been deliberately obscured.
8 books to read in celebration of Women in Translation month
Women in Translation Month is an annual celebration that toasts to women authors from around the globe who write in languages other than English
Manufacturing praise
Sometime ago, a writer reached out to me with a request. His debut novel was being published later in the year and he was wondering if I would be open to reviewing it. I was aware of the book, having read it when it was still only a draft. The author was not someone I only knew, either, but a mentor who had supported my writing in many ways, even through monetary means. Refusing him, then, felt tantamount to betrayal. But I had to in the end, and though he understood, I still came out of the exchange feeling guilty of being unhelpful or, worse, ungrateful.
Is the antidote itself a virus?
During the 53 years of Bangladesh’s existence, its people have had to endure and take down two autocratic regimes; not only did they oust an autocrat in July 2024 through a mass uprising, but 1991 also saw the downfall of the autocrat, Hussain Muhammad Ershad, through another rebellion.
It’s all crimson inside ‘Shahittopath’
“Mr Nurul Amin couldn’t realise what bureaucracy had dragged him down to”. Remember how you needed to absolutely memorise this line with context and underlying meaning for answering comprehension-based questions? Well, that was to earn a couple of marks in exams. Turns out, it is also a 101 guide on how to earn a nation back.
About romances ever-appealing
Irrespective of the ambivalence that marks Metaphysical poetry of the 17th century, Selim marvels us with his choice of words and precision of utterance.
6 essential Rabindranaths you should read
One does not need to remember Rabindranath on the occasion of the anniversary of his death—22 Srabon or August 7 to be precise.
4 books I was grateful to read this year
It's true, I feel differently about books that I previously disliked or enjoyed reading and books that I want as a physical presence in my life
Witnessing the Turkish century
In the post-9/11 world, no country’s name has been evoked more than Turkey’s (or its newly rebranded name of Türkiye) in public discussions by foreign policy pundits and politicians alike, to demonstrate the harmonious symbiosis of the East and West, Islam and secularism, and tradition and modernity.
When fiction and nonfiction create a literary supernova
When a book mentions one of my favourite authors, W. Somerset Maugham, and the short description suggests betrayal, intrigue, secret affairs, political uprisings, failed marriages, and a whodunnit, there’s little I can do but take it.