Buddhadeva Bose (1908–1974)

This charming novella, written by a Bengali poet, can be read on several different levels. Most straightforwardly, it is the story of four men who find themselves stranded in a remote railway station late on a cold night: a contractor, a government official, a doctor, and a writer. Seeing a loving couple, each of their thoughts turn to a long-ago love of their own, and the writer proposes that they spend the night telling each other the stories of these loves. And so they do. On another level, each of the men has a different perspective on life, and a different style, and these characterizations are reflected in their stories. And on still another level, their stories provide insight into the life of middle class, educated Indians near the end of British colonial rule. Interestingly, that rule is never mentioned, except in an aside when one of the story tellers chastises a friend who is interested in an Anglo-Indian girl rather than one of their own. This book has been on my TBR since I received it several years ago when I had an Archipelago Books subscription and I'm glad this quarter's Reading Globally theme read on the Indian subcontinent made me take it off the shelves.… (mais)

On a cold December night four strangers, a contractor, a government official, a doctor, and a "writer", find themselves stranded in a railway station in a small mid-20th century Indian town. The men sat together in a compartment during the first portion of their journey, and decide to keep each other company for the night, while they await the morning train that will carry them to their final destinations. As they sip coffee, the door of the station opens, and a young couple, clearly in love, briefly enter, look around the room, and then exit back into the frigid air. The four middle-aged men are moved by the sight of the betrothed couple and their embodiment of pure love, while realizing that such passion is fleeting and short lived. The men decide that each should share a personal story about their own experiences, in order to make the night pass more quickly.

The narratives of these four stories comprise the remaining chapters of the book. Each story is one of unrequited or impossible love in its purest form, and through them the reader learns more about each man, the Indian middle class after independence, and the hurdles that made it difficult for young people to find true love in a society that was becoming more Westernized and modern.

My Kind of Girl is a lighthearted and beautifully written short novel, which was originally published in 1951 and reissued in English translation for the first time by Archipelago Books this month. Despite its potentially depressing topic of unrequited love it was a book filled with hope and possibility, and I look forward to upcoming translations of this famed author's works.… (mais)