GHALIB IN THE GLASSHOUSE: Image, Style, Idea

Description

Reading Ghalib is challenging, exhilarating, edifying, amusing, frustrating all at once. His readers find him highly engaging, yet are not always sure what it is that moves their heart. His verses are a veritable treasury of rhetorical eloquence and diverse human conditions. This book is an attempt to highlight the variety of poetic features and themes that underline his ghazals. It will make Ghalib Stand up in his own metaphorical glasshouse where readers can see his multiple poetic images that emerge from the textual survey of his Divan, to help them discover and define their own affinity with him. As we read this classified portrayal of Ghalib, we will see that he does not come up as one romantic poet, but a whole package of worldly and spiritual wisdom – of human frailty, endurance and courage, besides being a master composer.

Gurupdesh Singh is a retired Professor of English from Guru Nanak Dev University. He has published two books and scores of articles on English language and literature, besides ‘Signs, Stories and Sallies‘ a light-hearted book on social and cultural attitudes and ‘Midnight Songs of Nasir Kazmi‘ a book of Nasir’s 100 ghazals in translation.

Praises for the book:

‘Here’s a book that develops an entirely different perspective on Ghalib. For any reader willing to know him for his poetics, this is the book to keep close to. Open it to appreciate Ghalib’s subtext, his rhetoric, and his critical concern with himself and the other. Hail its enriching study for the vital difference it makes to our critical readership. – Anisur Rahman, author of The Essential Ghalib and Winner, Sahitya Akademi Award.

‘It is a deeply thought-out work by a critic and a translator who alerts us to the idea that the ghazals we admire for their complex verbal play, diction, metaphoric ambiguities, startling structural turns and subtle musical inflections, are also profound meditations on the frailties of the human condition. The book establishes a close linkage between the grandeur of Ghalib’s writings and his romantic and metaphysical doubt.’ – Alok Bhalla, critic and translator, author of Partition Dialogues

‘Gurupdesh Singh aims at breaking new ground. He focuses on the poetic syntax of the Divan to expand our understanding of the poet’s complex knowledge and practice of rhetorical devices. His critical examination of Ghalib’s poetic techniques, including metaphors, lyrical strains, and intricate wordplay is sure to enrich our reading.’ – Amritjit Singh, Langston Hughes Professor Emeritus, Ohio University.

‘The book is extraordinary and enriching. A valuable addition to Ghalib hermeneutics. Fresh perspectives evolve …new insights emerge with focus on Ghalib’s poetic language and prism-like worldview. A path-breaking study indeed.’ – Bhupinder Aziz Parihar, Editor Urdu Alive.