Sudhir K Arora. Literary NECTAR for Competitive Examinations in English. Bareilly: Prakash Book Depot, 2017. Pp. 346. Price: Rs. 298/-. ISBN: 978-81-7977-616-2.
Reviewed by Abnish Singh Chauhan
Dr Sudhir K Arora, an eminent critic and writer, is a popular figure in Indian Writing in English. His latest book titled 'Literary NECTAR for Competitive Examinations in English' (An Acquaintance with Major Works of Major Authors) is methodologically designed for PGT, TGT, NET and similar Examinations conducted in India. But, this is not the limit of the book and, therefore, it works beyond the limit of aforesaid competitions as the author himself remarks in his preface— “Competition is competition— competition with your own self to make yourself better day by day, and competition with others to prove yourself better in the competitive field for making your claim for success.”
One may think. Competition is nowhere if one believes in the philosophy of love and learning; competition is everywhere if one wants to strive for a goal which cannot be shared. In both the cases, some authentic source of information along with productive interpretation of the material is necessarily required for developing proper understanding of the subject. Knowing this, the author has produced a consistent and reliable book— 'Literary NECTAR' worth passing along to the lovers of English literature with the specific aim to make a difference in this competitive world.
The book is a magnificent gem that brings to light a complete study (in brief) of life and works of popular authors and critics of English literature, such as— William Shakespeare, John Milton, William Wordsworth, John Keats, P B Shelley, Matthew Arnold, Alfred Lord Tennyson, T S Eliot, Robert Lee Frost, Walt Whitman, John Milton, Charles Lamb, Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy, Ernest Miller Hemingway, William Faulkner, John Galsworthy, Kamala Das, Mulk Raj Anand, Nissim Ezekiel, etc. It also introduces noteworthy popular quotes of these authors along with critical insights on their life and works as penned by distinguished critics of the literary field. The book also realistically and cautiously covers pen names of English authors, history of English literature (A screenshot of ages), periods of English literature, authors in history of English literature (ages/century/period wise), events (important years at a glance), popular authors and their works (with years), popular commonwealth writers, popular post-colonial writers, some British dramatists (1955 onwards), popular British dramatists and their dramas (1945-1990), some British poets (1955 onwards), some Irish poets, some Scottish poets, popular contemporary poets, popular English poets (1945-1990), some popular post-war novelists, popular contemporary novelists, popular contemporary British novelists (since 1980), popular British novels of twenty first century, popular recent novels, novelists from other literatures (around 1990) along with literary awards and winners of Nobel Prize, the Booker Prize, the Sahitya Akademi Prize, Poet Laureate, the Pulitzer Prize, etc.
The book 'Literary NECTAR', written in Historical Present, is a result of author’s close observations of literary world, useful communications with eminent scholars and extensive readings of significant books of English literature. It is intended for several groups— not only for students, research scholars, teachers, professors and other lovers of literature, but also for those who read merely for getting systematic information for self-learning and self-fulfillment through English literature.
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About the Reviewer:Dr Abnish Singh Chauhan (1979) is a bilingual poet, critic, translator and editor (Hindi and English). His significant books include Swami Vivekananda: Select Speeches, Speeches of Swami Vivekananda and Subhash Chandra Bose: A Comparative Study, King Lear: A Critical Study, Functional Skills in Language and Literature, Functional English, The Fictional World of Arun Joshi: Paradigm Shift in Values and Tukda Kagaz Ka (Hindi Lyrics). His deep interest in translation prompted him to translate thirty poems of B S Gautam Anurag under the title Burns Within from Hindi into English and some poems of Paddy Martin from English into Hindi. He can be contacted at abnishsinghchauhan@gmail.com.
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