The Book of the Hunter

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This charming, expansive novel set in sixteenth-century medieval Bengal draws on the life of the great medieval poet Kabikankan Mukundaram Chakrabarti, whose epic poem Abhayamangal, better known as Chandimangal, records the socio-political history of the times. In the section of that epic called Byadhkhanda—the Book of the Hunter—he describes the lives of the hunter tribes, the Shabars, who lived in the forest and its environs. Mahasweta Devi explores the cultural values of the Shabars and how they cope with the slow erosion of their way of life, as more and more forest land gets cleared to make way for settlements. She uses the lives of two couples, the brahman Mukundaram and his wife, and the young Shabars, Phuli and Kalya, to capture the contrasting socio-cultural norms of rural society of the time. Mahasweta Devi acknowledges her debt to Mukundaram, ‘who wrote about men and women, not Gods and Goddesses. The hunter tribes’ refusal to cultivate and settle down, as described by him, is true of surviving forest tribes today. The villages and rivers mentioned by him still exist.’ The Brahmaputra (Silent Screams along the River). The book The Brahmaputra : (Silent Screams along the River) reflects on the contemporary society. Starting with a romantic tune, the story takes an intriguing twist which will hold the reader’s attention till the end…. silent screams along the Brahmaputra, but is anyone listening.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Mahasweta Devi

Mahasweta Devi is one of India's foremost writers. Her powerful, satiric fiction has won her recognition in the form of the Sahitya Akademi (1979), Jnanpith (1996) and Ramon Magsaysay (1996) awards, amongst several other literary honours. She was also awarded the Padmasree in 1986, for her activist work amongst dispossessed tribal communities.

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Bibliographic information

Title
The Book of the Hunter
Author
Edition
1st ed.
Publisher
ISBN
8170462045
Length
xii+138p., 23cm
Subjects