সুনীল গঙ্গোপাধ্যায়ের কবিতার দেশ ছাবির দেশ

Even without mentioning the name, it is easy to understand that this travelogue revolves around France. Someone once said that every artist has two homelands: one where they were born and the other is France. The term "artist" here refers not only to painters but certainly includes poets as well. For France is home to great artists like Degas, Monet, Manet, Renoir, Gauguin, Matisse, Rouault, and Picasso, as well as poets like Rimbaud, Verlaine, Baudelaire, Mallarmé, Valéry, Apollinaire, and Henri Michaux. Hence, France is the only country in the world that must be described as both the land of art and the land of poetry.

Sunil Gangopadhyay visited this celestial abode of poets and artists not once, but several times. This book combines his experiences from five such trips. Unlike typical travelogues, the flavor of this narrative is entirely different. It’s not just a recounting of mere wanderings and sightseeing, but rather an exploration of the very depths of France—its art, culture, and literary heritage, spanning not only this century but the previous one as well. Particularly from the time when painters and poets were becoming intertwined in various creative movements.

Naturally, the travelogue also touches upon Marguerite, a French friend, whose companionship during Sunil’s first stay in America helped him deeply understand France. Sunil Gangopadhyay has written numerous stories and novels about Marguerite, but for the first time, he candidly describes the details of his intimate relationship with her. Hence, the travelogue also carries a taste of a personal memoir. Through Marguerite, the narrative also brings in memories of lively conversations with the Beat Generation poets and Greenwich Village poets in America. Each chapter of this book begins with a quote from a famous French poet. In translating these, the prose writer Sunil Gangopadhyay is aided by the poet Sunil Gangopadhyay.