Latest Release

• Author / Translator: Sukumar Ray / Niladri Roy
• Edition: Revised and Enlarged 2nd edition (2020)
• Language: English
• Pages: 254. Binding:  Paperback
• Cover: Color, glossy. Interior: Black & white on cream paper
• Format: 8,5" x 5.5" 

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• USA: [Amazon.com]  [Barnes & Noble] $19.99*
• CANADA: [Amazon.ca] CDN$26.44*
• UK: [Amazon.co.uk]  £15.29*
• INDIA: [Amazon.in]  [FlipKart] ₹600*. To get the ₹600 price on Amazon.in, look for 'other seller' named Just Books India on the Amazon page of the book.
• GERMANY: [Amazon.de]  €19,71*
• ITALY: [Amazon.it]  €19,16*
• FRANCE: [Amazon.fr] €19,43*
• SPAIN: [Amazon.es] €19,36*
• JAPAN: [Amazon.co.jp] ￥2,409 

[*Prices shown are for paperback editions, unless stated otherwise. Prices are based off the US price and may be subject to currency fluctuations and change by retailers depending on their individual promotions or ongoing supply situations.]

REVISED & ENLARGED SECOND EDITION.

Only very rarely comes along a book that both delights the senses and stimulates the intellect at the same time. This first and only complete translation of Abol Tabol in more than 100 years manages to do both with consummate ease. This book turns conventional wisdom about Sukumar Ray's Abol Tabol on its head, and irrevocably changes the understanding of this timeless work forever. A must-read for enthusiasts of humorous nonsense verse, as well as for academicians and students engaged in comparative literature and South Asian literature studies. This second edition has been revised and enlarged with 20% more content, and introduces substantially revised and entirely newly discovered information in the analyses.

Two books in one: With a total of more than 250 pages, this is a book in two parts: the first comprises the translated poems and original illustrations by Sukumar Ray. The second contains investigative analysis and some never-before-published commentary on the symbolism and hidden meanings woven skillfully into the poems.

Translations: With amazingly rhyme-accurate rendering that reads as if the poems had been penned in the English language to begin with, this translation preserves every single rollicking rhyme and the exact same cadences as in the originals. Each translated poem is one hundred percent line-accurate and evokes immediate nostalgia of the original in both rhyme and rhythm.

Analyses: Abol Tabol is, in fact, cleverly disguised socio-political satire, written to mock the state of society and administration of early 20th century colonial India. The book provides groundbreaking analysis, linking the poems to specific historical events and uncovering the targeted satire hidden in many of the poems. It answers questions like: Who is Knotty Woodoo (Katth Buro)? Which scandal in English parliament is the poem Sense of Essence (Gondho Bichar) about? Which Bengal-school painting is mocked in Ghostly Play (Bhooturey Khela)? Which three Indian statesmen were the The Delighted (Ahlaadi) in real life? The analysis is beautifully clear, concise and logical, and cites more than 50 separate bibliographical references .

This second edition includes minor revisions in translations, for improved correspondence to their originals and enhanced reader-experience in English. It also introduces substantially revised and entirely newly discovered information in the analyses. Original illustrations by Sukumar Ray have been incorporated by popular demand, replacing those in the first edition.