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the complete review - fiction

Krishnakanta's Will

by
Bankim-Chandra Chatterjee

general information | review summaries | our review | links | about the author

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Our Assessment:

B : not enough follow-through, but has considerable charm and appeal

See our review for fuller assessment.

  From the Reviews:

• "The story of 'Krishna Kanta's Will' glides on with a certain purpose, but with little method, through a succession of scenes and incidents full of dramatic meaning and pathetic charm, lit up at times by a playful humour or darkened by a cloud of crime or a gust of wild passion." - The Athenæum
  
  
• "(I)t is an excellent type of the author's strength and weakness. To Western minds, the plot may seem somewhat weak, not from lack of striking incident (...) but because of the descriptive matter which checks the progress of the story as a story." - The Nation
  
  
• "The story is very readable and obviously expurgated. (...) The descriptive passages are clear and graphic. Doubtless in the original it is a powerful and elevating work, but folks to whom Krishna is only a name and Hindu life and customs are hardly understandable will respect it only as a curiosity in literature." - The New York Times

Please note that these ratings solely represent the complete review's biased interpretation and subjective opinion of the actual reviews and do not claim to accurately reflect or represent the views of the reviewers. Similarly the illustrative quotes chosen here are merely those the complete review subjectively believes represent the tenor and judgment of the review as a whole. We acknowledge (and remind and warn you) that they may, in fact, be entirely unrepresentative of the actual reviews by any other measure.

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The complete review's Review:

       Krishnakanta's Will begins as a typical tale of disgruntled future heirs and forged wills. Krishnakanta and his brother, Ramkanta, owned a valuable piece of land, but the property had been bought in the name of Krishnakanta. Ramkanta had a son, Govindalal, and Krishnakanta always wanted to do right by his nephew, and make sure he would eventually control that portion of the land that would be rightfully his -- but he never managed to draw up the right papers during Ramkanta's lifetime. When Krishnakanta does finally draw up his will he bequeaths half the land to his nephew -- which ticks of his own oldest son, the no-good Haralal.
       Haralal complains to his father, leading Krishnakanta to leave even less of his property to his son, and even threats such as Haralal's that he was now going to go marry a widow -- newly legal at the time, but socially and religiously still very much frowned upon -- can't move him to change his mind. So Haralal decides to do the next best thing: change the will himself, by substituting a forged one. This isn't easy, but after a few tries he seems to manage the trick -- with the help of the beautiful young Rohini. But Rohini has second thoughts and tries to set things right again -- landing herself in a heap of trouble.
       Here Govindalal steps in. He is married to a girl known as Bhramar (her real name having: "become obsolete through disuse"), whom he loves very much, despite her very dark complexion (as opposed to, for example, the very fair beauty Rohini ...). Bhramar is a mere seventeen when all this happens, but they're quite happily married -- until Govindalal tries to help out the bewitching Rohini.
       Govindalal is eventually torn between the women -- his wife: "has virtue, Rohini beauty" --, and with matters complicated by pride, miscommunication (and lack of communication), and misunderstandings between some of the actors, things get messy and complicated. Considering or actually attempting suicide is something that goes through the minds of those involved in the love triangle, and it comes to worse, too. And even if after Krishnakanta's death the way his estate is divided up ultimately does reflect what's just, the beneficiaries are unable to truly enjoy what's theirs.
       With later chapters jumping ahead over the years, Krishnakanta's Will peters out a bit, but when Chatterjee gets up close it's an often compelling and heart-breaking story. An occasional authorial presence sometimes plays it a bit too coyly, but also offers amusing commentary on the writing and presentation of the story, as in noting:

     Now I have a special need of this Rohini, and must therefore say something about her appearance and her character -- although descriptions of appearance are not much in demand these days, and it is risky under recent laws to describe anyone's character but one's own.

Then Kumati and Sumati began to exchange blows and pull each other's hair.

- M.A.Orthofer, 28 November 2011

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Links:

• New Directions publicity page
• Gallimard publicity page

• See Index of Indian and Bangla literature
• See Index of Books Written Before 1900

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About the Author:

       Bankim-Chandra Chatterjee (Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, বঙ্কিমচন্দ্র চট্টোপাধ্যায়) was a leading Indian novelist, writing in Bengali and English. He lived 1838 to 1894.

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© 2011-2022 the complete review

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