Samaresh Basu Rachanabali 3 [Hardcover]

Someone once said that Samresh Basu was the "Prince of Bengali literature." Critics may consider this statement an exaggeration. But can we deny that, in literature, he was a towering talent, like a massive tree? With a combative spirit that turned adversity into advantage, he rose from a very humble background to the heights of fame and recognition. Just as his literature, with its diversity of themes, has changed course over time like a flowing river, his life too moved forward in diverse ways, spreading the colors of living.

He had no intense moral pretensions or idealistic nonsense about life. In his way of living and approach to survival, he was entirely unique. Life and literature had merged for him, and that is why there was no deception in his creations. He himself wrote: "Whatever responsibility literature has, it belongs to life. Life is greater than literature; for this truth, a writer doesn't need deep practice, for it is always vividly alive." Flesh-and-blood men and women, firmly connected to the earth in every sense, were the subjects of his literary struggles. He never excluded anyone, never turned anyone away. He believed in finding the depths of humanity through physical relationships, which often led to him being misunderstood.

Samresh believed that to truly capture life, one couldn’t just be a life artist; one had to be a life hunter as well. And he seemed to embody exactly that: both a life artist and a life hunter. Samresh’s literary career began with Noyonpurer Mati (The Soil of Noyonpur), although his first published novel was Uttarang.

This third volume includes seven novels written during the third phase of his creative life (1962-1965): Duronto Chhori (The Wild Climb), Shesh Darbar (The Last Court), Dui Aronnya (Two Forests), Feraai (The Return), Dhusar Ayna (The Gray Mirror), Swarnapinjar (Golden Cage), and Bivor (The Abyss). While Ganga (1957) marked the first milestone in Samresh's literary career, Bivor (1965) represents the second. Before reaching this landmark, Samresh’s exploration ventured through various aspects, and after passing through many layers of experience, he arrived at his most controversial novel. As in the other volumes, in this one, his lifelong friend and distinguished critic, Professor Saroj Bandopadhyay, provides an extensive analysis of Samresh's journey and identity.