Segupta, rightly, refrains from upgrading the names of places in the text (Zimbabwe is Rhodesia, Harare is Salisbury), which adds a quaintness to the story. With an easy-going simplicity (to the point of terseness for some) in a narrative that spans across several minute chapters, Jayanta SeguptaвЂ™s translation, not employing words that have you scurrying off for the dictionary, indicates the copious amount of geographical research undertaken and a possible proclivity for the fiction of Rider Haggard (among others) on the part of Bandyophadyay. The Mountain of the Moon, a translation of Bibhutibushan BandyophadyayвЂ™s (renowned for his novel Pather Panchali) Chander Pahar written in the 1930s, is a survivalist adventure story with sprinklings of the Bildungsroman and a cleverly insinuated horror element (the unspeakable Bunyip, the dreadful three-toed guardian of the elusive diamond cache). Up against threats as colourful and varied as lurking snakes, prowling lions, ferocious tribals, poisonous roots, the fury of an active volcano and a seemingly supernatural horror that did AlvarezвЂ™s former partner in, the seasoned outdoorsman and Shankar, displaying alacrity through thick and thin, stalk their dream with grit and single-mindedness. The love of adventure and the lure of riches fuel a spirited odyssey where the two risk life and limb, traversing hitherto unexplored dense forests, verdant grasslands and arid plains of the Dark Continent. One day, after Shankar saves the life of Portuguese explorer and gold prospector Diego Alwarez, the latter informs him of a quest he had once undertook for el dorado-like diamond mines in the treacherous Richtersveld Mountains. Translated from Bengali by Jayanta SenguptaДЇaced with the prospect of having to eke out a living as a jute mill clerk in his impoverished village for the rest of his life, Shankar Ray Choudhuri, having just come of age, bids farewell to his family and beloved Bengal to work as a railway construction camp storekeeper in Pre-World War I Uganda and, later, as a station master.

Chander pahar review