Possessions

Kuberer Bishoy Ashoy, translated as Possessions, is a masterpiece. Published in 1967 it tells the story of a young man turned ‘dream merchant’ selling real estate in a rural neighborhood while reshaping its future. He transforms himself into a paddy-lord on an uncharted island – but a savage storm wrecks his crop and sends his dream crashing. His body is already showing signs of a sin committed long ago, when he commits another by murdering his friend’s runaway wife, bearing his unwelcome seed. He then returns to a near empty house to face what remains of his family, or sanity. The end comes in snakebite. It was the snake he had met on the day he began as a man of possessions.