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NOVELS
& ESSAYS
In Europe, the Renaissance had embellished the folk-tongue
to a tremendous extent. Realistic stories, much earthly in essence,
began to be composed in the European languages. But they had to wait till the 18th century to reach the
zenith in the sphere of novels. Richardson, Goldsmith etc. in English and Goethe in German, introduced
the novel as an exquisite art form. The 19th century saw the origin
and growth of several classic novels in English which later inspired the birth of Bengali
novels.
BANKIM
CHANDRA CHATTOPADDHAY (1838-1894)
Bankim Chandra was the first novelist in Bengali literature. He
In the last 22 years of his life's tenure, Bankim composed 14 novels
(1865-1887). His first Bengali novel 'Durgesh Nandini', though authored much earlier,
was published in 1865.
The 14 novels of Bankim Chandra are enumerated below according to chronological order
of publication : 'Durgesh Nandini' (1865), 'Kapal Kundala' (1866), 'Mrinalini' (1869), 'Bishabriksha' (1873), 'Indira' (1873), 'Chandra Sekhar' (1875), 'Rajani' (1877), 'Jugal Angoorio' (1878), 'Krishnakanter Will' (1878), 'Raj Singha' (1882), 'Ananda Math' (1884), 'Devi Chaudhurani' (1884), 'Radha Rani' (1886), 'Sitaram' (1887).
Bankim had composed an astonishing variety of novels. Sometimes, his novels are based on history and romance (e.g. 'Chandra Sekhar', 'Raj Singha'
etc.). Sometimes, they are steeped in patriotic fervour as in 'Ananda Math' or 'Devi Chaudhurani'.
In other places, he relies on the confusion and impasse of social and conjugal life as in 'Bisha Briksha', 'Krishnakanter Will' etc. Bankim was the first exponent of Bengali novels and took it to
its zenith.
RAMESH CHANDRA
DUTTA (1848-1909)
Ramesh Chandra composed several books chiefly on
archaeological and historical subjects. Then he picked up as a novelist. En masse, he
has written 6 novels. They are 'Banga Bijeta' (1874), 'Madhavi Kankan' (1877), 'Maharashtra Jeevan Prabhat' (1878), 'Rajput Jeevan Sandhya' (1889),
'Samsar' (1886) and 'Samaj' (1898). He had prudently selected romantic themes, historical events or social occurrences as
plots for his novels.
SANJEEV
CHANDRA CHATTOPADDHAY (1838-1889)
Sanjeev Chandra, the elder brother of Bankim Chandra, was an exceptional talent. He wrote 'Palamau' (1887-89) which remains till date as
a unique travelogue. This is unparalleled in view of its descriptive
beauty, poignant philosophy and natural ecstasy. Some of his other popular novels were 'Jaal Pratap Chand' (1883), 'Rameshwarer Adrishta' (1877), 'Katha Mala' (1877),
'Madhavi Lata' (1885) etc. He possessed the gifted genius to be a novelist of the first bracket but could not reach the expected heights due to his whimsical nature and gross
indifference to life.
TARAK NATH
GANGOPADDHAY (1843-1891)
Tarak Nath Gangopaddhay had attained immense popularity and fame as a novelist.
He was a contemporary of the stalwart Bankim Chandra. 'Swarnalata' (1878), the first novel of Tarak Nath was also his best creation. Besides, he wrote other magnificent novels as 'Lalit Saudamini' (1882), 'Harish-Bishad'
(1887), 'Bidhi Lipi' (1891), 'Adrishta' (1892) etc.
ESSAYS
Essays are the accumulative products of various streams of knowledge like science,
technology, philosophy, history, socio-political history, literature, art & culture
etc. which are based on facts and practical experience of
mankind through ages. The name of Bankim Chandra comes to
immediate reckoning as the epitome of essayists in Bengali
literature. Besides novels, he had made a bright impression as a composer of many
sedate essays.
In 1872, Bankim felt the urge of writing essays while working as the editor of 'Banga Darshan'. He has a great number of essays to his
credit. 'Lok Rahasya' (1874), 'Bijnan Rahasya' (1875), 'Kamalakanter Daptar' (1875), 'Bividha Samalochana' (1876), 'Samya'
(1879), 'Krishna Charitra' (1886), 'Dharma Tattva' (1888) are some notable creations.
Apart from him, some other contemporary essayists can also be named. Some important names are Yogesh Chandra Bidya Bhusan, Chandra Nath Basu, Chandra Nath
Mukhopaddhay, Thakur Das Mukhopaddhay etc. Besides them, Haraprasad Shastri,
Keshab Chandra Sen, Swami Vivekananda had attained tremendous popularity as
essay writers.
MEER MUSARRAF
HUSSAIN (1847-1912)
Among the Muslim writers in the second half of the 19th
century, the name of Meer Musarraf Hussain deserves mention.
Some of his notable creations are 'Bishad Sindhu', 'Gazi
Miyanr Bastani' etc.
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