Review: The Aunt Who Wouldn't Die

The Aunt Who Wouldn't Die by Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Boy did I love this story. This isn’t at all like any of the books I read regularly. But it was such a delight, like trying a new dish which turned out awesome. Funny thing is I can’t even pinpoint exactly what made me like this book so much. No individual part or chapter was so great on its own, but together as whole it was a rather a delectable treat. Like the saying the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Take a bow Shirshendu da.

In my opinion of all the authors in India the Bengali authors are the least to shy away from writing works that try to break away from the conventions. The are never the ones to skim over with implicit sexuality and suggestive innuendoes, rather they try to voice the raw feelings just the way deserve to be expressed. This book doesn’t has anything explicit but the way it expressed the usually underdone emotions was remarkable. I’ve read quite a few Bengali books in the last couple of years and my respect towards them only grows stronger.

And kudos to the translator, Arunava Sinha. I’ve been following his works. When I first read one of his translations of the legendary Rabindranath ji I was somewhat critical and didn’t really like his work. It felt choppy. But his works only improved with time. And the books he put out for a while have been so smooth in translation that I didn’t even feel like I was reading a translation.

I’m inclined to call it a must read. A short volume that packs quite a punch.

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