Syed Ashfaqul Haque's Top Book Recommendations

Syed Ashfaqul HaqueThis story is also set in undivided India and it describes how we came to be separated. After 1947 many Hindus went to India and many Muslims came to Bangladesh. But although the country was divided, the people were not. The people wanted to live together peacefully but the state did just the opposite. This book is still relevant because our freedom of movement is restricted. There are border... (Source)

Syed Ashfaqul HaqueIt’s a masterpiece and hugely read. If you go to any house in Bangladesh or West Bengal you will find a copy of this collection of stories. In it you will discover everything about the lives of Bengali families. It would be very unfair of me to single out one or two stories because it will undermine the others – the collection is so good. (Source)

Syed Ashfaqul HaqueThis is my childhood favourite. It is a novel about a boy called Opu growing up in a very poor family. His father is a Hindu priest but he leaves the family to take up a job in very rich Hindu businessman’s house. The mother fights with her elderly sister-in-law until her death and it is only when she herself becomes old that she can understand her. It’s very touching, the way the writer depicts... (Source)

Syed Ashfaqul HaqueWhile Days of 1971 is the recollections of a mother, this is a different generation writing about the Liberation War. Tahmima based her book on the memories of her grandparents. She also paints a bigger picture of 1947 and how we were separated again and again. The main character is a Pakistani woman living in Bangladesh, and she sided with Bangladesh during the war. This was a very emotional... (Source)