The Home and the World
Rabindranath Tagore · 1861–1941 · India (Bengal)
Originally Ghare Baire (Bengali)
Why it matters
A liberal zamindar, his awakening wife, and a charismatic nationalist in one Bengali household: nationalism weighed against conscience decades early. Tagore's great novel; the arguments have only grown louder since.
At a glance
political novelromance
Difficulty 6/10medium pace264 pagesThree shifting first-person narrators and dense political-philosophical debate slow the pace.
Deep dive
A close look at how Sandip's nationalist rhetoric and his seduction of Bimala are the same act — and why Tagore, a nationalist himself, wrote his movement's most damning novel about it.
Where to go next
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