India’s Rabindranath Tagore was the first Asian Nobel Laureate and possibly the most prolific and diverse serious writer ever known. The largest single volume of his work available in English, this collection includes poetry, songs, autobiographical works, letters, travel writings, prose, novels, short stories, humorous pieces, and plays.

Unlike previous Tagore collections that focus on a single genre, Dutta and Robinson's anthology offers a full range of Tagore's talents--a play, poems, songs, a novel, selections from his memoirs, travel writings, and essays--in one graceful volume.

The Essential Tagore showcases the genius of India’s Rabindranath Tagore, the first Asian Nobel Laureate and possibly the most prolific and diverse serious writer the world has ever known. Marking the 150th anniversary of Tagore’s birth, this ambitious collection—the largest single volume of his work available in English—attempts to represent his extraordinary achievements in ten genres: poetry, songs, autobiographical works, letters, travel writings, prose, novels, short stories, humorous pieces, and plays. In addition to the newest translations in the modern idiom, it includes a sampling of works originally composed in English, his translations of his own works, three poems omitted from the published version of the English Gitanjali, and examples of his artwork. Tagore’s writings are notable for their variety and innovation. His Sonar Tari signaled a distinctive turn toward the symbolic in Bengali poetry. “The Lord of Life,” from his collection Chitra, created controversy around his very personal concept of religion. Chokher Bali marked a decisive moment in the history of the Bengali novel because of the way it delved into the minds of men and women. The skits in Vyangakautuk mocked upper-class pretensions. Prose pieces such as “The Problem and the Cure” were lauded by nationalists, who also sang Tagore’s patriotic songs. Translations for this volume were contributed by Tagore specialists and writers of international stature, including Amitav Ghosh, Amit Chaudhuri, and Sunetra Gupta.

Poet, novelist, painter and musician, Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) is the grand master of Bengali culture. Written during the 1890s, the stories in this selection brilliantly recreate vivid images of Bengali life and landscapes in their depiction of peasantry and gentry, casteism, corrupt officialdom and dehumanizing poverty. Yet Tagore is first and foremost India's supreme Romantic poet, and in these stories he can be seen reaching beyond mere documentary realism towards his own profoundly original vision.

The author of this book, Rabindranath Tagore, was a genius poet and thinker. This collection contains some of his most famous stories, like The Home-Coming, Once there was a King, The Child's Return, Subha, The Postmaster, and The Castaway. The author is a master of taking simple stories and adding complex plots, which are beautifully presented in the collection.

Rabindranath Tagore experimented with form in his novels and was bold in his choice of subjects. This omnibus edition brings together the Nobel Prize winner’s most popular novels in translation. It is a collection that will be loved and treasured. A Grain of Sand (Chokher Bali), The Shipwreck (Noukadubi), Gora, Quartet (Chaturanga), Home and the World (Ghare Baire), Nexus (Yogayog), Farewell Song (Shesher Kabita), The Garden (Malancha), Four Chapters (Char Adhyay) Arresting, Powerful And MovingThe Best-Loved Novels of Rabindranath Tagore

Discusses Tagore's uniquely varied output across literature, music, art, philosophy, history, politics, education and public affairs.