Table of Contents

The Way to Pather Panchali
Pather Panchali: Apu's Childhoogd
Aparajito (The Unvanquished): Apu's Youth
Apur Sansar (The World of Apu): Apu's Maturity
Parash Pather (The Philosopher's Stone): A Turn to Comedy and Satire
Jalsaghar (The Music Room): The Passing of the Old Order
Devi (The Goddess): The Tragedy of Incarnation
Rabindranath Tagore: The Brahmo Geritage
Teen Kanya (Three Daughters): The Shorter Form
Kanchanjungha: Ray's First Examination of Contemporary India
Abhijan (The Expedition): A Good Man Gone Wrong
Mahanagar (The Big City): The Woman Leads the Way
Charulata: The Seeds of Reform
Kapurush-O-Mahapurush (The Coward and the Holy Man): A Love Story and a Satire
Nayak (The Hero): A Star Falls
Goopy Gyne Baha Byne (The Adventures of Goopy and Bagha): A Children's Story
Aranyer Din Ratri (Days and Nights in the Forest): Finding the Way
Pratidwandi (The Adversary): The Job Seeker
Seemabaddha (Company Limited): The Price of Success
Ashani Sanket (Distant Thunder): Starvation Comes on Slowly
The Inner Eye and Two: Two Short Films
Sonar Kella (The Golden Fortress): A Detective Film
Jana Aranya (The Middleman): Urban Corruption
Shatranj Ke Khilari (The Chess Players): The British Takeover
Joi Baba Felunath (The Elephant God): More Detective Action
Hirok Rajar Deshe (The Kingdom of Diamonds): Political Protest
Pikoo's Day: An Awakening
Sadgati (Deliverance): The Caste System at its Worst
Ghare-Baire (The Home and the World): A Return to Tagore

About the Author

BEN NYCE is Professor of Literature and Film at the University of San Diego. He has been Fulbright Professor of American Literature at Rabat, Morocco and Nairobi, Kenya. He has published articles on literature and film in such journals as Modern Language Quarterly and New Orleans Review.

Reviews

?. . . Nyce's understanding of filmmaking is crucial in providing insightful interpretations of Ray's methods and skills. . . . In addition, a complete filmography and a bibliography that includes books, aritlces, films and general studies on Ray and his work are useful for exploring the subject further. Of all the works on Ray, this is the only one to focus systematically on the films, essentially in chronological order of production. . . .?-The Journal of Asian Studies

?The primary value of the book for film studies rests especially on some of these passages of close analysis, earning it a place beside the books of Henri Micciolo (in French) and Chidanandan Das Gupta on the director's work and Robin Wood's monograph on the Apu Trilogy.?-Chicago South Asia Newsletter

"The primary value of the book for film studies rests especially on some of these passages of close analysis, earning it a place beside the books of Henri Micciolo (in French) and Chidanandan Das Gupta on the director's work and Robin Wood's monograph on the Apu Trilogy."-Chicago South Asia Newsletter

." . . Nyce's understanding of filmmaking is crucial in providing insightful interpretations of Ray's methods and skills. . . . In addition, a complete filmography and a bibliography that includes books, aritlces, films and general studies on Ray and his work are useful for exploring the subject further. Of all the works on Ray, this is the only one to focus systematically on the films, essentially in chronological order of production. . . ."-The Journal of Asian Studies