Set in India and Africa in the early twentieth century, Moon Mountain is a classic of the Bengali ‘kumar-sahitya’ genre or young-adult literature that smoothly blends narrative elements of the thriller, the fantasy and the travelogue into an action-packed adventure story. The language of Pradeep Sinha’s translation is fast-paced and contemporary without compromising in the least either the charm of the old world it narrates or the flavour of the Bangla original.Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay (born 1894) was a renowned Bengali novelist and writer. His literary career began in 1921 with the publication of his first short story Upekshita in Probashi, a prominent Bengali literary magazine of the day. In 1928, the epic Pather Panchali was published and Bibhutibhushan instantly became a household name in the world of Bengali culture and letters. Pather Panchali and its sequel Aparajito were later immortalised in Satyajit Ray’s cinematic rendition of the ‘Apu’ trilogy. His other major works, including Aranyak, Icchamoti, Adarsha Hindu Hotel, Heera Manik Jwale, Maraner Danka Baje, Debjan, Jatrabadol and Dristi Pradeep, encompass an impressive range of genres and themes.
Pradeep Sinha was born on 28 August, 1942. He graduated with honours in Economics from St. Xavier’s College, Calcutta, and worked in several firms as a marketing executive before joining Orient Blackswan in 1987. Moon Mountain, his translation of Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay’s Chander Pahar, was his first literary project. He died on 2 February, 2001.
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