“My Writings Attempted to Bring New Wave in English Literature”: Sabarna Roy

Every novelist or poet is a product of his or her time. Naturally, they portray in their works what they see, feel and chronicle the happenings taking place around in the society. The characters created by the author also are in a way replica of the same. 

Now the mastery of a writer lies in telling them in unique relatable thematic formats be it a story, a poem, an essay or a novel. We find this in all the five bestselling novels, plays and anthology of poems by Sabarna Roy.

On reading his books, we find that he really is chronicling whatever is happening in post-modern urban society in India and narrating them through themes that are penchant and thought provoking. Of course, it is the human being who acts as the pivot around which the society revolves. 

Different characters who appear in Sabarna’s literary pieces that the readers experience in his books, practically etch a universe of intricate human beings in blood and flesh wedded in the fabric of his rich narrative. Among the many characters, Rahul, Kingshuk, Nina, Nandana, Bimala, Rohini and Gabbar are the ones who seem to be conversing with you. 

They represent the undercurrents of our society. Very easily his stories and characters are relatable. That is why you feel you are conversing with them while reading Sabarna’s books. His analysis and dissection of human nature in their circumstantial perspective is the reason that makes the characters so alive. 

A unique matrix of dialogues and conversations between the characters in most of his novels and novellas, and even within his poems, certainly marks the beginning of a new era in English literature. Another significant thing is the easy way in which he flips genres in the same book or within one genre is revolutionary. The Last Plunge in Frosted Glass is a brilliant example.The Prank is a black comedy to its core and Instantaneous Death is an outrageous piece of prose writing.  

Whether it is Pentacles, Frosted Glass, Abyss or Winter Poems, we notice the writer portrayed the societal undercurrents in relation to the human beings through very powerful characters.This is the reason we find the element of realism in his works and at times highlighted through metaphysical metaphors and dreams. He is a keen observer of human nature with all its essential elements like love, hate, betrayal, loss, greed, cruelty and wasting. 

Starting with his first successful literary venture Pentacles (a novella and four long narrative poems, the scheme of rhyme of which, is a marked departure from the traditional ones) that created a massive intellectual flutter world over; all his creations show this artistic trait. 

When Sabarna’s Frosted Glass hit the bookstores, it received massive literary acclaim as he provided newness in thematic representation. It is what may be termed in literary sense a thematic product-mix based on Calcutta and Kolkata.

That is why the anthology of 14 long-short stories and a cycle of 21 narrative poems of Frosted Glass appeared to be new wine in a new bottle and not old wine in a new bottle. Clouds of Life in Frosted Glass is particularly remarkable as it touched a number of penchant issues related to human life. 

Sabarna’s play Abyss, in two acts, created a new boundary in the realm of English literature. This crime thriller proves the abyss to which a human being often falls due to greed and lust. The conflict of edgy personalities as appearing in this play is something that creates an independent genre in its own right. 

Random Subterranean Mosaic is a kaleidoscope of random, yet mysteriously structured to a pattern, fiction, semi-autobiographical and biographical pieces, covering poems, short-shorts, opinions, observations, and conversations. The lucid language is the beauty of this book. 

Sabarna, a product of post-modern urban India himself and a Senior Engineering Professional from Jadavpur University of Kolkata having published numerous technical papers in peer-reviewed national and international journals, sketched through Winter Poems myriad of shades of human life. His description of mild season that prevails in Kolkata following the festivities like Kali Puja and Durga Puja is extremely vivid. Metaphors used in Winter Poems are something that the readers would have an instinctive liking to.

Source: www.deccanherald.com