Book Review on 'THE WRECK : by Rabindranath Tagore'

The Wreck (1921) is a translation by Tagore of his Bengali novel Naukadubi (1906). It's one of the full length novels by Tagore and is based on the dilemma of mistaken identity which somehow leads to an exchange of wives. It is originally titled as "Naukadubi" and appeared in English version in Tagore's life time itself. In my opinion the book is beautifully narrated and interspersed with descriptions of varied human emotions, it is full of action and powerful human interest. Through this novel Tagore suggests the rift between the reformist and progressive Brahmosamaj and traditional conservatism of Hinduism.

Another important aspect I noticed was that the novel had an ingeniously constructed story unburdened with philosophy and ended on an optimistic note.

The novel started with a boat wreck, which had to play a large part in future course of the novel. Two marriage parties were drowned in a boat wreck. Many people met with death, the only survivors being one of the bridegrooms, Ramesh and the other party's bride, Kamala. Kamala and Ramesh hadn't seen their life partners before, so they thought that they were the recently married couple. They tried to forget all the misfortunes and tried to settle somewhere. Ramesh sooner realised the error, and was full of remorse. Meanwhile he remained attracted to Hemnalini. There started the gap between them. Later on in the course of story, Kamala met her real husband, Dr. Nalinaksha. He accepted Kamala thus leaving Ramesh free to marry Hemnalini. According to me the novel is full of improbabilities and coincidences, yet it continues to enjoy popularity because of the positive way in which the novel unfolds. Though the novel began on a tragic note, its optimistic ending would have satisfied any reader. Even though the characters and the turn of events are from another era, I didn't find any problem in connecting with the characters, thanks to the well-thought over way in which Tagore wrote the novel. I genuinely felt like going inside the book and giving each of them a sound thrashing for the way they are thinking & behaving.

What makes 'The Wreck' a good read is the poetic gems at almost every page of the book. Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) is One of India's most cherished renaissance figures, who put India on the literary map of the world when his Gitanjali was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913. Myriad-minded, he was a poet, short story writer, novelist, dramatist, essayist, painter and composer of songs. His worldwide acclaim as a social, political, religious and aesthetic thinker, innovator in education and a champion of the 'One World' idea makes him a living presence. His lyrical nature was pretty evident from the poetic way by which he managed to make me ponder over a sentence or phrase and hence amazed me at the simplicity and in-depth thought with which it was put in front of me... i feel it was really appraisable....

In short, The Wreck came across as a sensitive story, which was well woven around the lives of four people and kept me entangled throughout though sometimes the plot proceeded too slowly. Set in the Bengali background of 1920s the novel is based on the philosophy of true love, eternal loyalty and patience. These words might sound a tad bit dated to today's generation, but the story is progressive in its own way. It subtly takes on the social conventions and questions the credibility of marriage as an institution.