Writer Wednesday – Colette

“Our perfect companions never have fewer than four feet.” French writer Colette’s quote strikes a chord with all animal lovers. Our featured writer for this week is the French novelist Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette, who wore many hats as mime, actress and journalist, and was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1948.

Colette was born in Yonne, Burgundy. At the age of twenty she married author and publisher Henry Gauthier-Villars, better known by the nom de plume, Willy. Colette’s first four novels appeared under her husband’s name – four books from the Claudine stories – Claudine à l’école (1990), Claudine à Paris (1901), Claudine en ménage (1902), and Claudine s’en va (1903). The series takes the reader through the coming of age of the titular character – a fifteen year old from a village in Burgundy to the literary salons of Paris at the turn of the century. The stories are semi-autobiographical, and are available for English readers as Claudine at School, Claudine in Paris, Claudine Married, and Claudine and Annie.

Willy, who was fourteen years older than Colette, introduced her into avant-garde intellectual and artistic circles, and chose the subject matter of the Claudine novels. Colette said she would never have become a writer if it had not been for Willy. Though she did express her wish for her name to be associated with her work as it became widely known, only to be locked up by Willy and forced to write, until she produced enough pages to suit him – which he published as his own work. (Glimpses of the artist of the sixties, Margaret Keane, whose husband took credit for all her paintings.) Colette and Willy separated after a decade, but the divorce became final only a couple of years later. Copyrights to all the Claudine books belonged to Willy, and he kept all royalties, giving her no access to those sizable earnings, ultimately resorting to a stage career in music halls across France – even playing Claudine in sketches from her own novels. She recalled this period of her life in La Vagabonde (1910), which dealt with the independence of women in a predominantly male society.

In 1906 during her Music Hall career. (From La Maison de Colette)

Colette subsequently married Henry de Jouvenel, a French journalist and statesman, and editor of Le Matin – a French daily newspaper. She devoted herself to journalism during the First World War, without much time for her own writing. In 1920, Colette published Chéri – a story about the love affair between an older woman and a much younger man. Colette divorced Jouvenel soon after, and married Maurice Goudeket a year later (who remained her husband till her death at the age of eighty-one). The twenties and thirties were recorded as being Colette’s most productive period of her literary life. Her works were mostly set in Burgundy or Paris, with themes surrounding marriage and sexuality, and often quasi autobiographical. La Maison de Claudine (The House of Claudine) and L’autre Femme (The Other Woman) both came out in 1922. Le Blé en Herbe (Ripening Seed) of 1923 again dealt with love between an aging woman and a very young man – reflecting her own relationships with Jouvenel and Goudeket, the latter who was sixteen years her junior. This was followed by La Fin de Chéri in 1926. La Naissance du Jour (Break of Day)  in 1928 reflected her criticism of the conventional lives of women, touching the themes of age and love. By the late twenties, Colette was acclaimed as France’s greatest woman writer – she was hailed for her genius, humanities and perfect prose, by literary journals.

Le Pur et L’Impur (The Pure and the Impure) of 1932 which examined female sexuality, La Chatte of 1933 and Duo of 1934 both of which dealt with jealousy, and Mes Apprentissages (My Apprenticeships) of 1936 were some of her prominent works from the thirties. During the Occupation in France, Colette produced two volumes of memoirs – Journal à Rebours (1941) and De ma Fenêtre (1942). Both books were released in English in 1975 as Looking Backwards. Gigi, which came out in 1944, is recognized as her most famous work – the story of a sixteen-year old courtesan. It was made into a French film in 1949, and adapted for stage in 1951 with a then-unknown Audrey Hepburn playing the titular role, having been selected personally by Colette herself. The story’s adaptation into a Hollywood musical in 1958 won the Academy Award for Best Picture.

At her home in Paris in 1940. (From the Hulton Archives)

Post the Second World War, she was afflicted with arthritis, but continued to write during those years. L’etoile Vesper came out in 1944 and Le Fanal Bleu (The Blue Lantern) in 1949, while Goudeket supervised Œuvres Complètes (1948-1950). Her later writings reflected the problems of a writer whose inspiration is autobiographical. This important voice in women’s writing has been often called as the greatest living French fiction writer, who stood out in a time of fellow French literary greats, André Gide and Marcel Proust. She was applauded for her sensual descriptions, and her strength as a writer lay in her sensory evocations of sounds, smells, sights, tastes, textures of the world around her. It has been said that no one writes so perceptively about relationships as Colette did, or about animals, flowers, food, clothes, furniture, or just about anyone or anything. Known to be a humorous realist, her chosen format was the novella, her style of writing a blend of sophisticated and natural, her descriptions both cruel and compassionate, with an intuitive acumen that stood out.

~ “In its early stages, insomnia is almost an oasis in which those who have to think or suffer darkly take refuge.”

~ “It’s so curious: one can resist tears and behave very well in the hardest hours of grief. But then someone makes a friendly sign behind a window, or one notices that a flower that was a bud yesterday suddenly blossomed, or a letter slips from a drawer…and everything collapses.”

~ “Sit down and put everything that comes into your head and you’re a writer. An author is one who can judge his own stuff’s worth, without pity, and destroy most of it.”

~ “Time gone by with a cat is never lost.”

Colette was a member of the Belgian Royal Academy and the French Académie Goncourt, and a grand officer of the Legion of Honor. If you haven’t read any of her works yet, pick one up. English versions are available for many of her books. If you have read her, what are some of your favorite books from the writer?

The animal lover.

Writer Wednesday – Thich Nhất Hanh

~ “There is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way.”

~ “People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar.”

~ “It takes time to practice generosity, but being generous is the best use of our time.”

Our featured personality for this week is the Vietnamese Buddhist monk and peace activist, Thich Nhất Hanh. The global spiritual leader, revered for his powerful teachings and bestselling writings, was born as Nguyễn Xuân Bảo in the city of Huế in Central Vietnam. He entered the monastery at Từ Hiếu temple at age sixteen, and graduated from Báo Quốc Buddhist academy, from where he received training in the Vietnamese traditions of Mahayana Buddhism and Thiền Buddhism, and was ordained as a monk in 1949.

In 1956, Hanh was named editor-in-chief of Vietnamese Buddhism, the periodical of the  Giáo Hội Phật Giáo Việt Nam Thống Nhất (Unified Vietnam Buddhist Association). He subsequently founded  Lá Bối Press, the Van Hanh Buddhist University in Saigon, and the School of Youth for Social Service (SYSS). In 1961, Hanh went to the United States to teach comparative religion at Princeton University, and was later appointed as a lecturer in Buddhism at Columbia University. Over the years, he gained fluency in French, Chinese, Sanskrit, Pali, Japanese and English, in addition to his native Vietnamese. He returned to Vietnam in 1963 where he taught Buddhist psychology and Prajnaparamita literature at the Van Hanh Buddhist University. In 1966, he received the “lamp transmission” from Zen Master Chân Thật at Từ Hiếu temple, and earned the sobriquet of dharmacharya (teacher). He returned to the US in 1966 and then moved to France where he became the chair of the Vietnamese Buddhist Peace Delegation. In the same year, he created the Order of Interbeing – an international Buddhist community of monks, nuns and lay people.

The first six members of the Order of Interbeing.

 

Hanh’s teachings cover a variety of disciplines from early Buddhism, Mahayana Buddhist traditions of Yogachara and Zen, and mindfulness of breathing from Western psychology. As a teacher, some of the other sobriquets bestowed upon him include Thầy (Master), Thầy Nhất Hạnh, and Thiền Sư Nhất Hạnh (Zen Master). In November 2017, the Education University of Hong Kong conferred an honorary doctorate upon Hanh for his life-long contributions to the promotions of mindfulness, peace and happiness around the world.

With Martin Luther King Jr., who had nominated Thich Nhất Hanh for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1967.

Thich Nhất Hanh‘s selection for this weekly feature on writers, is his enormous contribution to the literary world. He has written over a hundred books, out of which more than forty are in English. Mindfulness is at the core of all his writings which address various subjects. The key element of mindfulness is that by learning to live happily in the present moment, we can truly develop peace – within ourselves and with the outside world. His books have spanned decades of writing, beginning with Lotus in a Sea of Fire (1967). Subsequent titles include The Miracle of Mindfulness (1975), Old Path White Clouds (1987), Peace is Every Step (1990), A Handful of Quiet (2008), You Are Here (2009), The Art of Communicating (2013), No Mud No Lotus (2014). He has also applied mindfulness in dealing with various emotions, reflected in books such as Anger (2001) and Fear (2012). Mundane activities have been covered in books such as How to Eat (2004), Walking Meditation (2006), and How to Sit (2014). The most recent publication, The Art of Living, came out last year.

With over five decades of literature available, reach out to one of his books if you haven’t read him already. You can browse through his myriad writings here – both prose and poetry; there’s something for everyone which strikes a chord. The beauty of Hanh’s writing is the conversational tone he imbibes when he puts pen to paper – the reader feels as if one is engaged in a pleasant chat with the Master himself. Unlike many self-help books, his style of writing is never preachy. Rather, there are innumerable anecdotes scattered through the book, as he shares his life experiences about the people he meets around the world. The advice provided is very relatable as well, as his writings are dotted with practical applications.

 

 

Sources:

~www.plumvillage.org

~www.thichnhathanhfoundation.org

Writer Wednesday – Rachel Cusk

Our feature for today is an author I was recently introduced to. Rachel Cusk is a Canadian-born novelist and writer who spent her early childhood in the United States, and currently resides and works in the United Kingdom. She has written eight novels and three non-fiction books.

Her first novel, Saving Agnes, published at the age of twenty-six in 1993, dealt with themes of femininity and social satire. This was followed by The Temporary (1995), The Country Life (1997), The Lucky Ones (2003), In The Fold (2005), Arlington Park (2006), and The Bradshaw Variations (2009). Cusk’s novels are set in an imaginary elsewhere which undermines the constitutions of her characters. Wanting to be a part of something and yet be apart from it are recurring themes in her works. Cusk’s writing is less concerned with how things are, than with what they might be compared to. Her reliance on metaphors and similes feels as if everything is actually something else. One of her skills as a writer has been her means of describing something, and placing it within a context of “something else”. What is transformation? When you imbibe a new identity, do you retain any part of your previous self? Cusk’s oeuvre of literary presentations is subtly comic and coldly ironic. Innocuous moments like hellos, goodbyes, cups of tea, meals, are all minutely dissected.

While simultaneously dabbling in non-fiction, A Life’s Work (2001) and Aftermath (2012) were autobiographical accounts on motherhood and divorce, while The Last Supper (2009) showcased her travels and adventures in Italy, where she was residing for a while.

The first novel.

Among her recent works, Cusk attempted a change in writing style – one that would represent personal experiences while avoiding subjectivity and literalism, and stayed free from conventional narratives. This experiment was reflected as a trilogy comprising Outline, Transit, and Kudos. Referred to as the Outline Trilogy, the trio was well received by readers and critics alike, with Outline (2014) being described as “reading underwater”  and thereby “separated from other people”. Outline was one of the top five novels of the New York Times in 2015, and was shortlisted for several prizes. Transit (2017) stood out for it’s brilliant and insightful prose that offered transcendental reflections, and Kudos (2018) has been described as a book about failure that is a breathtaking success; reiterating Cusk as an author who can make words turn to magic. The trilogy has been hailed as a reinvention of the novel, where fiction merges with facts, the structure of the text being a mosaic of fragments.

The Outline Trilogy

Cusk, as a writer, has been said to have a painter’s eye for detail, a psychologist’s fascination with human relationships and psyches, and a storyteller’s ability to create more from mundane. Her language offers beauty not as mere ornamentation, but to serve a purpose. Her writing provides an experience to the reader, that goes beyond merely reading a story. She was awarded the Whitbread First Novel Award for Saving Agnes and was shortlisted for the Whitbread Novel Award for The Lucky Ones, won the Somerset Maugham Award for The Country Life, was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize for In The Fold, and shortlisted for the Orange Prize For Fiction for Arlington Park.

Foray into non-fiction.

 

Rachel Cusk is a storyteller narrating stories about storytellers. An author who observes people she meets and records their stories. Her novels are stories of students, teachers, publicists, interviewers – regular folks she meets. For those who enjoy experimental writing, here is an author whose oeuvre you should try. A quote from the latest release Kudos, “Sometimes, he said, he amused himself by trawling some of the lower depths of the internet, where readers gave their opinions of their literary purchases, much as they might rate the performance of a detergent. What he had learned, by studying these opinions, was that respect for literature was very much skin deep, and that people were never far from the capacity to abuse it.” Cusk’s writing aims to remind us that there is so much mystery within so called normality, that causes the reader to resist the pull of fantasy. Pick up one of her works if you haven’t read any yet. If you have already read Cusk, which were your favorite books from the writer?

Writer Wednesday – Ismat Chughtai

Yesterday’s Google doodle played tribute to the iconic feminist author Ismat Chughtai on the occasion of her 107th birth anniversary. Chughtai was an Indian Urdu language writer, who wrote on themes of female sexuality and femininity, middle class gentility, and class conflicts. Google’s ode to the writer helps us remember this significant voice in the Urdu literature of the twentieth century, whose style was characterized by literary realism.

Chughtai was born in 1911 in Uttar Pradesh – the ninth of ten children. She attributed the influence of her brothers to shaping her personality in her formative years. She achieved a Bachelor’s degree in both Arts and Education, and was associated with the Progressive Writers’ Association in the 1930s. Rashid Jahan, one of the leading female writers involved with the movement, was later credited for inspiring Chughtai’s realistic, challenging female characters. O. Henry, George Bernard Shaw, Anton Chekhov were other early literary influences.

Chughtai began writing in the mid 1930s, and her first published work came out in 1939 – a drama titled Fasadi (The Troublemaker) for the Urdu magazine Saqi. She followed that by writing for other publications and newspapers. Bachpan (Childhood) was an autobiographical piece, Kafir (Non-believer) – her first short story, Dheet (Stubborn) – a soliloquy, were some of her earlier works. Kalyan (Buds) and Coten (Wounds) were her earliest collections of short stories, published in 1941 and 1942 respectively. Her first novella Ziddi was published in 1941, and was later translated into English as Wild At Heart. Her stories reflected the cultural legacy of the region in which she lived. Her short story Lihaf (The Quilt) was published in 1942 in a Lahore-based literary journal, and brought much criticism her way due to it’s themes of female homosexuality. Chughtai was summoned to court on charges of obscenity, but the story later became a landmark for it’s early depiction of sex – considered a taboo in Indian literature at the time. Lihaf has subsequently been widely anthologized over the years, and has become one of Chughtai’s best known works. Chughtai’s quasi-autobiographical novel Terhi Lakeer (The Crooked Line) was released in 1943, chronicling the lives of marginalized women against the backdrop of the British Raj. The book was well received by critics who described her work as “probing, pertinent and empowering”. Tahira Naqvi who translated the book into English, compared Chughtai’s writing style to that of French philosopher Simone de Beauvoir, due to the existentialist and humanist affiliations the two shared.

Ziddi – the first novella.

Lihaf – one of her most widely known works.

Terhi Lakeer – the quasi-autobiographical novel.

Chughtai debuted as a screenwriter in 1948 for the commercially successful dram film Ziddi, followed by the 1950 romance film Arzoo. She ventured into directing in 1953 with Faraib, and founded a production company called Filmina in 1958. Her first project as producer was Sone Ki Chidiya the same year, which she also wrote. Despite her commitments to film projects, her writing continued. Chui Mui (Touch Me Not) was a collection of short stories released in 1952. The titular story was noted for it’s pertinent dissection of society and themes of womanhood and motherhood, and was adapted for stage as Ismat Aapa Ke Naam, which ran for twelve years. Chouthi Ka Joda and Mughal Bachcha were also presented by theatre groups.

Chughtai was awarded the prestigious Padma Shree by the Indian government in 1976 for her contribution to the field of Indian literature. Many of her works have been translated into English and Hindi, and numerous anthologies are available. Remember to pick some up, if you haven’t read them already and world literature interests you.

Writer Wednesdays – Michael Morpurgo

“For me, the greater part of writing is daydreaming. The writing down I always find hard. But I love holding the finished book in my hands and sharing my dream with my readers.”

A friend seeking book recommendations for gifting to a thirteen year old, was suggested books by Michael Morpurgo for his very real world themes and the fabulous illustrations that accompany his works. This led me to select Michael Morpurgo as the author for this weekly feature. Morpurgo is an English author, poet and playwright, best known for his children’s novels and his skill of magical storytelling. His writing themes deal with triumph of outsiders, survival against odds, human-animal relationships, and a connect with nature, all created under vivid settings.

Morpurgo credits his writing career as being inspired by Ted Hughes’ “Poetry In The Making” , Paul Gallico’s “The Snow Goose” , and Ernest Hemingway’s “The Old Man And The Sea“. Hughes was a neighbor, friend and mentor, and along with another poet – Seán Rafferty – was influential in Morpurgo’s career as a writer. Describing his vocation in life and the authors who inspired him, Morpurgo quoted, “I could see there was magic in it for them, and realized there was magic in it for me.”

Morpurgo and his wife Clare (the eldest daughter of Sir Allen Lane, the founder of Penguin Books), established “Farms For City Children” in 1976 – a charity which worked to provide children from cities experiences of the countryside. The children are required to spend a week at a countryside farm, during which time they participate in purposeful farmyard work. The charity presently has three farms in Devon, Gloucestershire and Wales.

Over a hundred novels to choose from if you haven’t read him already.

Morpurgo writes on myriad topics, providing children a huge canvas to experience various lives the characters of his books lead. Some of his works revolving around animals include the most popular Warhorse (1982) – about a horse that has seen the best and worst of humanity in WWI, The Butterfly Lion (1996) – about an orphaned lion cub rescued from the wild and sold to a circus, Born to Run (2007) – about a pet greyhound kidnapped by a trainer to be converted to a champion race dog, Kaspar (2008) – the titular prince, the only cat to have survived the sinking of the Titanic, Shadow (2010) – based on a true story of a service dog assumed dead in an ambush, found a year later living with locals in a war zone, An Elephant In The Garden (2013) – about a zoo keeper’s children who get attached to an elephant set to be destroyed as a precautionary measure. And then there are the “people” stories. Kensuke’s Kingdom (1999) – about a family out yachting that goes overboard, with the young child finding himself on the shore of a remote island,  Alone On A Wide Wide Sea (2006) – about two orphaned siblings separated as children, and their search for each other in adulthood.

One of Morpurgo’s most famous books.

Morpurgo was awarded the Prix Sorcières in 1993 for King Of The Cloud Forests, in 1999 for Wombat Goes Walkabout, and in 2001 for Kensuke’s Kingdom. He received the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize in 1996 for The Butterfly Lion, and in 2002 for The Last Wolf.  The Red House Children’s Book Award was presented in 2004 for Private Peaceful, in 2011 for Shadow, and in 2017 for An Eagle In The Snow. He received an OBE in 2006 for his services to literature. Several of his stories have been adapted for screen or stage. Gentle Giant was presented as an opera at the Royal Opera House in 2006. Friend or Foe, Private Peaceful, and Why The Whales Came were made into films as well, while My Friend Walter, Purple Penguins and Out Of The Ashes were adapted for television. Rainbow Bear was presented as a ballet by the National Youth Ballet of Great Britain in 2010. War Horse was made into a film by Steven Spielberg in 2011. 

Morpurgo’s writing is superbly supported by illustrations reflecting the story line. His books are a treat for children and adults alike, and his stories based on true incidents with their evocative narration help build empathy in kids.

~ “Live an interesting life. Meet people. Read a lot and widely; learn from the great writers.”

~ “Write because you love it; something you feel deeply and passionately about. Never try and force it.”

~ “Animals are sentient, intelligent, perceptive, funny and entertaining.”

~ “Never underestimate or patronize children.”

A biography of the beloved children’s author by Maggie Fergusson.

 

Sources:

~www.michaelmorpurgo.com

~www.thebookpeople.co.uk

Writer Wednesdays – Clare Balding

“The horse is a welcome mirror of human nature. If you are fearful, a horse will back off. If you are calm and confident, it will come forward.”

~Clare Balding

When you love books and you love animals, authors who write about animals occupy a special place on your bookshelves. The purpose of this weekly feature on writers is to bring attention to all kinds of published works – well known authors I have read and loved over the years, newbies I have tried out and liked, and also those who do not depend on writing as a profession but have churned out books aside of their primary jobs. Clare Balding is one such author whose works I came across at a second-hand bookstore. Her books are absolute must reads if you love animals and reading about them.

Clare Balding is a broadcaster, journalist and author. Born on 29th January 1971, Balding was educated in Downe House in Berkshire, and was a contemporary of comedienne Miranda Hart. From 1988 to 1993, Balding was a leading amateur flat jockey, and declared a champion lady rider in 1990. Her father, brother, maternal uncle and grandfather have all been trainers with award winning race horses. Balding has a well documented aristocratic lineage on her mother’s side. Along with horse racing, Clare also plays golf and encourages all kinds of sports.

“Women’s sport helps break down a lot of barriers for women in other areas.”

As a broadcaster with the sporting community, she currently presents for BBC Sport, Channel 4, and BT Sport.  She hosts her own sports chat show called “The Clare Balding Show” , guests on which have included Lewis Hamilton, Tom Daley, Mike Tyson, Martina Navratilova, Ronnie O’Sullivan, Judy Murray, and Frankie Dettori. In her capacity as a journalist, Clare has written columns in the past for The Sporting Life, Racing Post, Sunday Telegraph, The Evening Standard, and currently writes a weekly sports column for Waitrose Weekend. Balding was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2013 for her services to broadcasting and journalism. She was also presented with the BAFTA for her work on the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics.

“People with a passion are interesting – whether it is old cars or taxidermy or knitting.”

Her love for, and life around, sports and animals was documented in her autobiography  “My Animals and Other Family” , one of the books I’m currently reading. Published by Viking Press in 2012, the memoir presents her life born and brought up around the non-human community of horses, ponies and dogs, and won the National Book Awards “Autobiography of the Year” in 2012. The book which starts off with Clare declaring, “I spent most of my childhood thinking I was a dog, and suspected I aged in dog years” , has been translated into Italian, Mandarin and Hungarian, and has reached the number one position on several national bestseller lists. Her second book “Walking Home” was published in 2014, and is an account of Clare’s mission to discover Britain and Ireland by foot.

“I didn’t just grow up with horses; I wanted to be one.”

In June 2017, Clare came out with “The Racehorse Who Wouldn’t Gallop” , an illustrated book about a ten year old with a racehorse who doesn’t gallop in spite of being strong, fit and healthy, and having what it takes to be a champion. In May 2018, the follow-up to her debut children’s book was published – “The Racehorse Who Disappeared” – set on a farmyard where a prizewinning thoroughbred is kidnapped. Her latest title “The Racehorse Who Learned To Dance” is scheduled for release in October 2018, and continues where the second book left off.

Clare’s writing is eloquent, humorous, thought provoking and very enjoyable for a reader. There is a poignancy of feeling like an outsider among humans, and finding more important connections with animals. If you love animals and have lived with them, her books are highly recommended.

 

Sources:

~www.clarebalding.co.uk

~Books by Clare Balding

Writer Wednesday – Munshi Premchand

The monsoon offers a perfect chance to curl up with some timeless classics when it is rainy and gloomy outside. Today is the 138th birth anniversary of Dhanpat Rai Shrivastava, an Indian writer famous for his Hindi-Urdu literature, popularly known by his pen name Munshi Premchand. One of the most celebrated writers of the Indian subcontinent, the novelist, short story writer and dramatist is regarded as one of the foremost Hindi writers of the twentieth century. Along with his numerous novels and short stories, Premchand also wrote essays and plays, as well as translated foreign literary works into Hindi.

As a young child, Premchand studied Urdu and Persian. He lost his mother at age eight, and his grandmother who took on the responsibility of raising him died soon after. With his elder sister already being married, and their father out at work all day, the child sought solace in books and developed a fascination for fiction – Persian fantasy stories being a favorite. The youngster subsequently learnt English at a missionary school, and took up a job with a book wholesaler which gave him the opportunity to be surrounded by books and easy access to read them all.

Dhanpat Rai began writing under the pseudonym ‘Nawab Rai’ and his first novel was “Asrar e Ma’abid” (“Secrets Of God’s Abode” in English, and “Devasthan Rahasya” in Hindi), which explored themes of corruption among temple priests and exploitation of poor women. The novel was originally published as a series in an Urdu weekly “Awaz-e-Khalk” , from October 1903 to February 1905. His first published short story was “Duniya Ka Sabse Anmol Ratan” (“The Most Precious Jewel In The World“) in the daily newspaper “Zamana” in 1907. The most precious “jewel” referred to the last drop of blood necessary to attain independence. Many of Premchand’s early works had patriotic overtones, influenced by the Indian independence movement. His second short novel “Hamkhurma-o-Hamsavab” (“Prema” in Hindi), was published in 1907 under the pen name ‘Babu Nawab Rai Banarsi’ , and explored issues of widow remarriages in conservative societies. In 1909, the editor of Zamana who had published Duniya Ka Sabse Anmol Ratan advised the pseudonym ‘Premchand’ , which was thereon adopted for all his works.

Premchand started writing in Hindi in 1914, by which time he was already well recognized as a fiction writer in Urdu. The switch was prompted by the difficulty in finding publishers for the Urdu language. His first Hindi short story “Saut” was published in 1915 in a magazine called “Saraswati” , and his first short story collection was published in 1917 as “Sapta Saroj“. In 1919 his first major novel “Seva Sadan” was published in Hindi. Although originally written in Urdu titled “Bazaar-e-Husn” , the Urdu publication came out only in 1924. Seva Sadan was the novel which brought him wider recognition as a writer. “Rangbhoomi” (“Playground” – 1924), “Nirmala” (1925), and “Pratigya” (“The Vow” – 1927) surpassed his earlier works according to literary critics of the time.

In 1934 he tried his luck in the Hindi film industry as a script writer, and also did a cameo in a movie. “Godaan Upanyas” (“The Gift Of A Cow” – 1936) is his last known completed work, considered as the best of his works and one of the finest Hindi novels. He also published the short story “Kafan” (“The Shroud“) in the same year.

Novel sets available on Amazon.

Unlike his contemporaries like Rabindranath Tagore, Premchand was not very well known outside India. Literary critics of the time cited the absence of good translations of his works. As opposed to the other more prominent writers from India, Premchand never travelled outside the country, studied abroad, or mingled with foreign literary figures. His writings prominently featured realism, and described the problems of the poor and urban middle class. He wrote about corruption, child widows, corruption, poverty, colonialism, and used literature as a means to generate public awareness about national and social issues. He believed in depicting social realism rather than tenderness and emotions in Hindi literature.

I don’t read Urdu, but I have read his works in Hindi. The image above features one of his books from my personal collection, “Premchand Ki Sarvashrestha Kahaniyan” – a collection of eighteen of his well known short stories written at different times. For those who read in Hindi, several of his books are easily available. For non-Hindi readers, Penguin has come out with a box set of four volumes containing the wealth of his short stories. And many of his Hindi novels are also available in English. Look out for books from Penguin Classics, if you would like to read some of his works. Godaan, Gaban, Nirmala, are available in English from other publishers as well. The book “Premchand In World Languages” explores the multiple translations of his works in Russian, German, French and Spanish, along with English.

Box set from Penguin, containing four volumes of all his short stories, available on Amazon.

Availability of English translations from various publications.

There is a ‘Library of Munshi Premchand’ located in Varanasi, his hometown. The collection includes a variety of photos, medals and books. Many memorials have also been constructed in his birth village, as a tribute to one of the literary greats of Urdu and Hindi literature. Have a look at this website here – the photographs are copyrighted so I cannot share them on this blog post, but this link gives you a closer glimpse into his hometown and the many places associated with his life. Do check it out.

Short Story Review – A Wasted Hour

Title – A Wasted Hour

Author – Jeffrey Archer

Genre – Fiction

This story is one among the many shorts from “The Year Of Short Stories” – a collection of digital tales from various books of Jeffrey Archer, which Amazon came out with preceding the release of Archer’s “Tell Tale” . Numerous short stories were released as individual “books” , each with fascinating covers – as a prelude to “Tell Tale” which itself was a collection of short stories, “A Wasted Hour” being one among the compilation.

The story is about a young college student who hitches rides to and fro, in order to save money for higher studies. Kelley Ragland’s second reason for preferring to hitch hike is that she aims to be a writer once she graduates, and uses these short journeys to meet fascinating people and learn about their lives and the experiences they are willing to share – information she can use later while writing her own books. On one such day, an old man offers her a ride. Introducing himself as John, when he learns where Kelley’s destination is, what she is studying, and what she aspires to be, he proceeds with his own incredible life story. John is well acquainted with various works of literature and the duo launch into a bookish conversation. Is John actually an incredible person, or is there more to his story that he lets Kelley on?

The narration is ingenious and witty, keeping the reader hooked throughout, and hoping this was not a short story and could have carried on for longer. A delight not only to fans of Archer but to all readers, and only proves why the writer is considered as one of the greatest storytellers of our age. True to the adage, time needs to be used wisely – it never comes back, so use every minute well. A wonderful short read from the literary giant. The deducted point in the rating is because it was just too short for the delightful story that it was.

My rating – 4/5