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“At that time, there were children you weren't supposed to play with. You knew why. Their parents had been informers during the war. And it hadn't been long since you could have got into trouble for singing a song. My grandfather hid all his Bengali poetry in the cellar.“I was a baby during the war. We stayed inside for months. All my aunts took turns in feeding me. I couldn't be heard to cry. You see, there were soldiers in the streets. They would have known what a crying baby meant. So I had to be kept silent. No, not everyone came out of the war alive.”One family’s life, and a nation – Bangladesh – being created through conversation, sacrifice, songs, bonds, blood, bravery and jokes. Narrated by Philip Hensher’s husband Zaved, ‘Scenes from Early Life’ is in part a memoir, part fiction and part a history of one of the most savage of twentieth-century civil wars. Heartbreaking, funny and gripping, it is a unique novel by one of our finest writers.
A young child’s survival during the brutal birth of a nation serves as the catalyst for a sweeping exploration of family, memory, and the cost of independence. The narrative follows the life of Zaved, whose early years are defined by the pervasive threat of violence during the Bangladesh Liberation War. As he navigates the precarious existence of a family caught in the crossfire, he must reconcile the intimate, domestic realities of his upbringing with the larger, often savage, political upheaval occurring outside his door. The story unfolds through a hybrid framework that blends personal recollection with historical reconstruction, emphasizing the tension between silence and expression in a time of conflict.
This work is characterized by its delicate balance between the intimacy of a personal memoir and the gravity of a national historical account. The narrative style suggests a focus on the sensory details of childhood, which contrast sharply with the harsh realities of the civil war described. Readers likely encounter a text that prioritizes the human element of history, emphasizing how individual lives are shaped by the larger forces of political upheaval. The prose appears to maintain a reflective tone, inviting an examination of how memory is constructed and preserved within a family unit.
Page Count:
320
Publication Date:
2012-01-01
Publisher:
Fourth Estate
ISBN-10:
0007433700
ISBN-13:
9780007433704
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