The Barn Owl's Wondrous Capers

infobox Book |
name = The Barn Owl's Wondrous Capers
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption =
author = Sarnath Banerjee
illustrator = Sarnath Banerjee
cover_artist = Chandan Crasta
country = India
language = English
series =
genre = Graphic novel
publisher = Penguin Books (India)
release_date = January 2007
media_type = Print (Paperback)
pages = 280 pp
isbn = ISBN 0-14400-108-X
preceded_by =
followed_by = "The Barn Owl's Wondrous Capers" is a 2007 graphic novel by Indian graphic artist Sarnath Banerjee. It is the author's second graphic novel after "Corridor", which was the first Indian graphic novel.

Plot Introduction

The novel reinvents the legend of The Wandering Jew as a Jewish merchant called Abravanel Ben Obadiah Ben Aharon Kabariti who once lived in 18th century Kolkata (Calcutta) and who recorded the scandalous affairs of its British administrators in a book called "The Barn Owl's Wondrous Capers". Although it has several subplots, the novel is basically about the narrator's quest to find the "Barn Owl's Wondrous Capers" which his grandfather Pablo Chatterjee found at an old Jewish trinket shop in Montmartre, Paris, in the 1950s. Pablo's wife gave away the book, as well as her husband's other belongings, upon his death; the narrator tries to recover the book, which was one of his childhood favourites.

Explanation of the novel's title

The title is the English translation of "Hutum Pyanchar Noksha" [ [http://www.telegraphindia.com/1050403/asp/calcutta/story_4569300.asp] "The Telegraph", retrieved on 30th March, 2007] , which was the title of a 19th century novel in the Bengali language, written by Kaliprasanna Singha. It was originally published as a series and later in novel form in two parts (1862 and 1864).

Main characters

*Narrator: A young man of about thirty, he was living in Hackney, London at the time of his grandfather's death.
*Pablo: The narrator's deceased grandfather appears as a spirit from time to time, encouraging him to find the book. He had worked for Indian Railways for 35 years and had in fact serendipitously discovered "The Barn Owl's Wondrous Capers" in Paris while attending an international conference on broad gauge railways.
*Digital Dutta: A character from Banerjee's first novel "Corridor", Digital is a computer engineer living in Kolkata. He befriends the narrator and also encourages him to find the book.
*Kedar Babu: A "babu" or clerk at Writers' Building, Kolkata, and an amateur occultist, he aids the narrator by creating a "psychic map" for him to follow if he wants to find the book.
*Mandar Dey: An aristocratic Bengali cheating on his wife, he is one of several possibles to have taken the book. While at Mandar's home, the narrator is treated to a history of "Babu"-dom in the Dey clan.
*The Wandering Jew: He takes several guises in the novel — a mystic in the 15th century, a French lord in the 16th or the Jewish merchant Abravanel in 18th century Kolkata. As Abravanel, he supplies the Kolkata elite, both British and Indian, goods like corsets, aphrodisiacs and even zebras; his connections give him material for his book.

References

External links

* [http://www.penguinbooksindia.com/Books/BookDetail.asp?ID=6440 penguinbooksindia.com] Penguin Books webpage on "The Barn Owl's Wondrous Capers".
* [http://www.sarnathbanerjee.net/ sarnathbanerjee.net] Author's page.
* [http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/Mar252007/books1816102007324.asp deccanherald.com] Book review by "Deccan Herald", retrieved on 31st March, 2007.
* [http://www.hindu.com/lr/2007/03/04/stories/2007030400050100.htm hindu.com] Book review by "The Hindu", Retrieved on 31st March, 2007.
* [http://sacredmediacow.com/?p=352 Images from Barn Owl on SacredMediaCow]