Favorite Books 3

Book: Sophie's World
Author: Jostein Gaarder (Pronounce as Yesten Gaarder) (Norwegian, 1952 -)

 

Original Language: Norwegian
Year: 1991
Category: Philosophy

 

Story: This is a story where a young girl starts learning about the mysterious questions like who we are and where do we come from. And how to stand firm against odds. It takes you through philosophical thoughts spanning across ancient theologies to presence.

Comments: This is a national (if not international) best-seller. I could not finish the paper book; left in the middle of reading. But hope to finish it someday.

Links: Online reading of short summary of chapters at: Summary - Sophie's World

Wikipedia Link: Wikipedia - Sophie's World

Bangla translated paper book should be available at Aziz Supermarket Bookstores at Shahbagh, Dhaka.


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Book: Pagla Dashu (May be translated as 'The Crazy Dashu')

Author: Sukumar Ray (Indian, 1887 - 1923) 

 

Year: Around 1940
Original Language: Bangla
Category: Child

Story: This is a collection of funny incidents that took place in Sukumar Roy's childhood, mostly wrapped around the character 'Dashu'. Sukumar Roy's excellent representation of fun worths admiration.

Comments: Unfortunately no English translation is available. Even if there, it would not be the same as the original.

Links: Free e-book created by BDNews24.com, available at (1 MB): Sukumar Ray - Pagla Dashu

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Book: The Rape of Bangladesh

Author: Anthony Mascarenhas (Pakistani, 1928 - 1986)

Year: 1972

Original Language: English
Category: History

Story: The book is about the various atrocities that were imposed upon East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) by West Pakistan (now Pakistan).

Comments: It is not about the numerous raped victims of Bangladesh during liberation war. Interestingly, Mr. Anthony was a Pakistani journalist (1928-1986).

Links:

No English ebook is available. Paperback is available in Amazon.

Bangla translated paper book should be available at Aziz Supermarket Bookstores at Shahbagh, Dhaka. The price is less than 150 BDT.

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Book: Phire Dekha 71 (May be translated as 'A melancholic Glance at 1971')
Author: It is a collection of stories/incidents/telegrams/letters/testimonies concerning the liberation war of Bangladesh
Year: 2008
Original Language: Bangla
Category: History/War

 

Story: The book is a compilation of scattered information throughout the web where the contributors talk about historical liberation war incidence with live testimonies.

Comments: Excellent collection.

Download Link (6.47 MB): Phire Dekha 71

Bangla paper book should be available at Aziz Supermarket Bookstores at Shahbagh, Dhaka.

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Book: The Metamorphosis (Original in German 'Die Verwandlung')
Author: Franz Kafka (German, 1883 - 1924)

 

Year: 1915
Original Language: German
Category: Fiction

Story: This is a story about a travelling salesman, who in one night unfortunately turns into a monstrous worm and becomes a burden to the rest of the family. It silently throws the question of humanity if you pay attention so you can see the hidden tears.

Comments: This is the most wonderful work of Kafka. It perfectly portrays the situation when the sole breadwinner of a family becomes an abominable and despicable burden to the rest of the family members when the ultimate wish is to get rid of him/her. It may be anyone - our parents at their old age, or any breadwinner of the family - who would metamorphose into such monstrous figure once they cannot earn anymore. A lot of allegories will be appreciable if you read with concentration. The dimension of Kafka's thinking is simply marvellous in this novella. It may be the shortest possible novella.

It is said that Kafka's writing is unique to German language and a translation might not yield the actual flavor.

Links: Ebook is made available by project Gutenberg: Metamorphosis

You can choose a format suitable for your mobile phone (epub for example) and load the book in your smartphone. You can read it anywhere.

Bangla translated paper book should be available at Aziz Supermarket Bookstores at Shahbagh, Dhaka.

Let us buy paper books. Let's enrich our mind and home library.