BOOK REVIEW OF KIRITI SENGUPTA'S MY GLASS OF WINE

Book Review

Kiriti Sengupta’s My Glass of Wine: It was not only the wine, but that the glass was mine. New Delhi: Author’s Empire Publications Pvt. Ltd., 2013. Paperback. Pp 90. Rs. 125. ISBN: 9788192861906

Dr. K. V. Dominic

Kiriti Sengupta’s My Glass of Wine is novelette based on autobiographic poetry. The author in this book has used a novel method of blending autobiographical elements with his poems. The cove page is alluring and telling—a wine glass full of red wine, tempting the followers of Bacchus and even teetotalers. The book is edited by Don Martin, the best-selling author and editor from USA. There is a fine foreword by Don Martin which really proclaims the contents of the book. Sengupta has dedicated the book to Dr. hulya yilmaz, a senior lecturer of the College of Liberal Arts, Pennsylvania State University, USA.

The book contains seven chapters in addition to a preface, introduction and comments about the book by other renowned writers. In the preface Kiriti writes about the presence English and English Literature in India, how native it is like other regional languages. He has also written on the persons who have influenced his writing—Shabana Azmi, the distinguished artiste of Indian cinema and theatre, and Suhl Seth, the quintessential agony-uncle from Calcutta. Kiriti’s Introduction of the book is about his first English language non-fiction The Unheard I, its theme, and how it was appreciated by the readers and critics. He then goes on to give an introduction to My Glass of Wine.

The seven chapters of the book entitled AS I TRAVERSED, MY GLASS OF WINE, MY SISTER’S BHAIYA, SOUTHERN AFFILIATION, RAINS, CLIPS, MY MASTER AND THE COVER are narrations of interesting anecdotes in Kiriti’s life written in very simple and lucid style. The book is so tempting for a reader to finish it in one sitting. The author has deftly blended incidents with poetry. The poems are composed of short lines, simple diction, but pregnant with lofty thoughts. Let me quote a few poems which attracted me most:

Coming Home

I deck up my two ships

with the water that sky leaks

In the one I put

my gold, wealth, and all

The other has you, the deity,

and my childhood call.

My Family

They are siblings;

the older fetches rain, while

the other burns my train.

They keep on hugging

enticing my hunger and greed.

To sum up this review, Kiriti Sengupta’s My Glass of Wine is an enticing drink not only for the laity but for the learned as well.

Dr. K. V. Dominic, English poet, critic, short story writer and editor has so far authored/edited twenty three books. He is the Secretary of Guild of Indian English Writers, Editors & Critics (GIEWEC), Editor-in-Chief of Writers Editors Critics (WEC), Publisher and Editor of International Journal on Multicultural Literature (IJML) and also the Publisher of New Fiction Journal (NFJ). He is a retired Professor of English, PG and Research Department of English, Newman College, Thodupuzha, Kerala, India.