Bangladesh Authors: Must Books for Every Library Collection
We tend to gauge periods of history by the quality and nature of books written in that age. Fact and fiction are able to record the values of communities with equal power. The style, in which books are written contribute as much to the impression conveyed to readers, as the content and graphics. Many new terms are often coined for the first time in books, while others drop out from popular usage, but remain in their crypts of pages.
Books are special when they surface from depths of repression. We can see insides the minds of people who have been persecuted for their views. Books can build bonds between endless readers and a single author, and remain as enduring expressions of the personalities of unusual people.
That is why all books written by Taslima Nasrin have timeless value on every bookshelf. It is never easy to be a woman in the conservative climes of Bangladesh, because boys and men have such overwhelming advantages. Most women accept their given stations in life without open or active rebellion: therein lie the superlative qualities of this incredibly brave lady from Bangladesh.
Even those who castigate Taslima’s literature in public may admire her writing in the secret groves of their brains. She is shockingly honest and direct, and you really feel the power of her pen wherever your political and spiritual loyalties may reside. These books are not for the faint hearted, and one has to embark on the arduous treks they require, in steps of mental acclimatization.
Taslima is shamefully young. Readers of her books, who were born well before she was in 1962, will feel lumps in their throats at thoughts of such a young person having to suffer the travails that she has, yet you can still put any of her books down with some sense of satisfaction. That is because she remains unbowed to the last page. No amount of attack daunts this woman with a spirit of tempered steel. Each of her books is brave, undaunted and full of courage.
Though Taslima has been exiled from Bangladesh, she lives in the heart of this verdant countryside through her books. Buy copies of them all, and discover new reservoirs of strengths in the human psyche!
