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Book Review: Biswas Kora Jae Na by Amitav Ganguly

Amitav Ganguly is a terrific regular writer of short stories spanning across various genres. I have been reading him for last 4 books, which were collection of short stories. His ability to wind up the climax, sub themes, and character sketching in one story is superb, unmatched. For this reason, I strongly support him and feels that he is the best short story writer in a genre that is subtle horror, spooky, eerie, supernatural and of course thriller. Also, he writes with a finesse that matches with ghost stories of Ruskin Bond. The only difference is that Ruskin places his stories in the Himalayan region, while Amitav takes them across India i.e. West Bengal, Assam, Mumbai, Jharkhand, and so on.


Biswas Kora Jae Na is a Bengali title, literally meaning cannot be believed. It is apt and true, as each story unfolds and draws towards end, with it brings the ultimate confession, conclusion, and secrets unveiled – in one sigh you ought to say can’t believe.

The collection commences with ‘The Incredible Twins’ – a highway story.  A woman is caught in rain and storm, thus seeks shelter for a night. However, in strange turn of events, a killer guard accosts her and trouble begins. She is rescued by her husband. But as she reaches home, she finds her husband there. She couldn’t reason with the befuddling mystery. Then, the husband explains that his twin brother saved her who died in a road accident where she was stranded for a night.

Not only in this story, there are some more stories where a dead comes in the body to rescue others. Thus, the stories are plenty where doppelgangers, shadow figures, lost souls, unknown voices save their subject of interest and love. Not only has this but the collection also had a scoop of vampire and witch stories as well. The stories are eerie, spooky, filled with adventure that comes when someone is lost in an isolated place or sleeping in a haunted room. You think of any supernatural or unknown force, you will find it in the book. The beauty of the book is its diversified placement of stories. Not even a single story overruns other. Themes could be overlapping but the delivery is different and pleasing.

I fell in love with the last story. A husband is accused of killing his schizophrenic wife. Both were in deep love despite knowing the situation. The soul of the woman saves him by writing a note for police investigation. Maya is a Woman is another incredible story of love and lost soul.

No spoilers, you better pick up the book and have the treat by yourself. Though the book is written in Bengali, I read it using AI translation technology. For Bengali literature lovers, it is a must grab. Amitav shines once again with his terrific narrative and different league of genre. Highly recommended!

Buy the book from Amazon and Kindle

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