The Gift of a Cow: A Translation of the Classic Hindi Novel Godaan

Front Cover
Indiana University Press, Sep 20, 2002 - Fiction - 442 pages
Premchand is the most famous name in modern Hindi fiction, and Godaan is Premchand's most celebrated novel. It is the story of Hori, a poor peasant who yearns to own a cow and to make the pious Hindu's traditional gift to a Brahmin when he dies. Through Premchand's vivid character portrayals we witness the efforts of Hori's family to survive the conflicts of village politics and the webs spun by colonial landownership patterns. Counterposed to the culture of rural connectedness but also constriction is the isolation but also freedom of the city. Here the rigors of industrialization and empty materialism only can be offset by the promise of Gandhian idealism. An engaging introduction to north India before Independence, Godaan is at once village ethnography, moving human document, and insightful colonial history.
 

Selected pages

Contents

Section 1
v
Section 2
xviii
Section 3
xxviii
Section 4
15
Section 5
23
Section 6
28
Section 7
40
Section 8
63
Section 22
246
Section 23
251
Section 24
266
Section 25
281
Section 26
297
Section 27
311
Section 28
322
Section 29
330

Section 9
71
Section 10
96
Section 11
125
Section 12
134
Section 13
144
Section 14
153
Section 15
163
Section 16
173
Section 17
185
Section 18
194
Section 19
209
Section 20
219
Section 21
233
Section 30
337
Section 31
351
Section 32
360
Section 33
372
Section 34
384
Section 35
396
Section 36
400
Section 37
414
Section 38
420
Section 39
430
Section 40
439
Copyright

Common terms and phrases

asked become began better Bhola bring brother brought bullocks cane carry coming completely consider couldn't course Datadin Dhaniya don't door eyes face father feel feet felt fields fire five gave getting girl give given Gobar gone hands happiness he'd head heart Hira hold Hori Hori's hundred I'll interest It's Jhuniya keep Khanna kind least leave live look Malti marriage married matter mean Mehta milk mind Mirza Miss months mother never night once play poor Rai Sahib reached returned Rupa rupees seemed Siliya someone Sona standing started taken talk tears tell there's thing thought thousand took trouble trying turned village What's whole wife woman women you're young

About the author (2002)

Premchand (Dhanpat Rai) was born in Banaras in 1880 and died in 1936, a few months after the publication of Godaan. He began writing while teaching at a government school, and adopted this pen name after his first book of short stories was labeled inflammatory and burned by the British colonial government. His other works include Sevesadan, Nirmala, and many other novels and short stories. Gordon C. Roadarmel (1932-1972) was Assistant Professor of Hindi in the Department of South and Southeast Asian Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. Vasudha Dalmia is Professor of Hindi and Chair of South and Southeast Asian Studies at the University of California, Berkeley.

Bibliographic information

QR code for The Gift of a Cow
TitleThe Gift of a Cow: A Translation of the Classic Hindi Novel Godaan
AuthorPremchand
Editionreprint
PublisherIndiana University Press, 2002
ISBN0253215676, 9780253215673
Length442 pages
Subjects ›  › 

Fiction / Classics
History / Asia / General
Social Science / Anthropology / Cultural & Social
  
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