Bankim Chandra Chattejee, translation by S. N. Mukherji and M. Maddern

Penguin Books Ltd. (400 Pages)
ISBN 0-14-025219-3

Hindu Voice UK, June 2006

Bankim Chandra Chatterjee (1838-1894) was the greatest writer of nineteenth-century India. He is remembered mainly for his patriotic masterpiece Anandmath (1882), which contained the renowned poem Vande Mataram, the anthem of the Indian freedom struggle. Aside from this, his other numerous other works have been largely forgotten in the winds of time. It is for this reason that the translators, S. N. Mukherji and M. Maddern, sought to bring out some of Chatterjee's works into English. This book consists of a translation of three of his novels into English (they were originally written in Bengali). The three novels are "The Poison Tree" (after which this book is named), "Krishnakanta's Will" and "Indira".

The themes of the novels are a complex mixture of love, tragedy, morality, relationships, and the way that society influences them. The way the narrative of each story is crafted is such that you'll find it hard to put the book down until you've finished. In each of them, is next to impossible to predict what will happen next.

Some features of these novels really stand out. Firstly, the stories are crafted in very short chapters, seldom more than three pages long. This makes them easy to read and to follow. Secondly, the novels are also an educative experience for the reader in that they are an authentic portrayal of life in mid-19th century India. Several aspects of the stories are likely to seem strange or shocking, for the reason that we are far removed from the mindset of the society being portrayed in the novels. Thirdly, the author does not shy away from very sad endings to his stories. Even in his own day, he was widely criticized by readers who couldn't stomach the sad nature of some of these tales.

All regular readers of novels are sure to love The Poison Tree: Three Novellas, and find it a refreshing change from the norm. The main criticism for this book is that it had a painfully boring and tedious introductory essay (about 50 pages in length). I'm normally one to read forwards/prefaces in the hope that they will enhance my understanding of the rest of the book. But I definitely suggest that readers skip this one out and go straight on to the stories, and come back to it at the end if you can be bothered.

Score: 7/10