Synopses & Reviews
"This is a love story based on the author's ongoing affair with an exotic land.... [Novak] captures the reader's attention, admiration and sympathy and then describes straightforwardly the external and internal elements of thinking and policy that are detrimental to the country's survival." --Foreign Service Journal
"... personal and well-informed analysis... Another fine addition to the 'Essential Asia Series'." --Asiaweek
"This rich meditation on the land and people but especially the waters of Bangladesh is a masterpiece of journalism." --The Reader's Review
"... beautiful, even lyrical account... " --Orbis
"As an introduction to Bangladesh this book is invaluable... " --Current History
A positive and hopeful presentation of Bangladesh by a writer who loves the country while recognizing its many faults. It is both a scholar's and an insider's view of Bangladesh, its history, geography, politics, and culture.
Synopsis
Bangladesh: Reflections on the Water is a personal and penetrating overview of the land and its people. James J. Novak examines the economy, the importance of seasonal fluctuations in the lifestyle and psychology of the people, geography, history, music, art, poetry, ways of thinking, and political life. He also offers a novel interpretation of the Bangladesh independence movement, the only full-fledged expression of nationalism to appear in the country's modern history. This nationalism, expressed in poetry, prose, and song, is used to illustrate the interaction between religion and secular thought, language and culture, cultural expression, poetry, and art, and the transformation of culture into political thought.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. [222]-228) and index.
About the Author
JAMES J. (JEREMIAH) NOVAK, a writer, has lived and traveled in Asia for thirty years. He was Resident Representative of The Asia Foundation in Bangladesh from 1982 to 1985 and has been a columnist and reporter for numerous newspapers and magazines.
Table of Contents
Foreword by David I. Steinberg
Preface
1. The Scene
2. The Seasons
3. Pride and Poverty
4. Aspects of the Bangladeshi Mind
5. I Am the Cyclone; I Am Destruction
6. Further Tales of Murder and Politics
7. Bangladesh and the United States
8. Will Bangladesh Survive?
Investing and Visiting
Bibliographical Essay
Index