Memorial Club
"Steeped in memory, magic and meditation . . . [an] exploration into human ethos and existence." -Alam Khorshed, winner of the Bangla Academy Literary Award 2022
One man's wrongful detention leads to a meditation on power, perversion, and paternity.
Hasan is a young journalist in Dhaka, disillusioned about his job, dissatisfied with his pregnant wife, and yearning for his independent-minded colleague, Bilu. One fateful night, he stumbles into a hapless, embarrassing situation that turns his life upside down. At the mercy of an unforgiving society for a crime he did not commit, Hasan is haunted anew by memories of other victims of injustice he has known. Meanwhile, Bilu struggles too against insidious forms of patriarchal expectations and control that hold her back from expressing her full self.
Told in a meandering, poetic voice, Memorial Club immerses us in the worlds of Hasan and Bilu, creating a vivid, complex portrait of Bangladeshi society. The novel takes a hard look at social ills such as gender discrimination, class frictions, and sexual assault. Yet it is at times also nostalgic and lyrical, bearing us from the crowded streets of the capital city to the luminous mustard fields of Hasan's childhood village, while invoking the lessons of the Mahabharata and the poetry of Rabindranath Tagore. Written by one of Bangladesh's most reputed writers, this novel is an intoxicating meditation on desire, dreams, and the limits of justice.
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Become an affiliate"Steeped in memory, magic and meditation, this exploration into human ethos and existence
leaves us wondering about the true meaning of life, longing, and love. Reading this magnificent and multilayered novel is a precious literary experience-highly recommended!"
-Alam Khorshed, winner of the Bangla Academy Literary Award 2022
"A fascinating novel about private lives threatened and even shortened because of the societal boundaries imposed on sexuality. Drawing on his considerable experience as a journalist and commitment to social advancement, Mozid Mahmud gives us a captivating story about Bangladeshi men and women dealing with traditional pressure and restrictions and who become entangled in the nets of prejudice and disapproval."
-Fakrul Alam, Professor (retired), Department of English, University of Dhaka