Rabindranath Tagore: The Myriad-Minded Man
Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941)—poet, philosopher, painter, novelist, playwright, composer, traveller, political commentator and Asia’s first Nobel Laureate—was one of his era’s cultural icons. Proclaimed as the greatest poet India has ever produced, Tagore left an astonishing legacy undimmed nearly 70 years after his death. But he was also an enigmatic, complex and contradictory figure, torn between India’s spiritual values and the spirit of the West. In this definitive biography, Krishna...
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Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941)—poet, philosopher, painter, novelist, playwright, composer, traveller, political commentator and Asia’s first Nobel Laureate—was one of his era’s cultural icons. Proclaimed as the greatest poet India has ever produced, Tagore left an astonishing legacy undimmed nearly 70 years after his death. But he was also an enigmatic, complex and contradictory figure, torn between India’s spiritual values and the spirit of the West. In this definitive biography, Krishna Dutta and Andrew Robinson explore the man behind the myth, presenting the power of his person, the power of his name and the power of his work. The result is an enlightening and exquisitely rendered portrayal—not of the legend but, to quote Tagore, of "the figure that once moved."
List of Illustrations ixAcknowledgements xiiiNote on the spelling and pronunciation of Bengali xvForeword Anita Desai xviiIntroduction 11 The Tagores and 'Prince' Dwarkanath 172 Maharshi Debendranath 273 The House of the Tagores 344 Rabi 435 A Journey to the Himalayas 526 Adolescence 577 England 678 Renaissance in Bengal 789 Marriage and Bereavement 8510 Peripatetic Litterateur 9211 Manashi, The Lady of the Mind 10112 The Shelidah Years 10813 Family Life 12414 Small Beginnings in Shantiniketan 13315 The Swadeshi Movement 14116 The Voice of Bengal 15117 England and the USA 16318 The Nobel Prize 18019 Never at Rest 18820 Japan and the USA 20021 Anti-Imperialist 20922 The Founding of a University 21923 Anti-Non-cooperator 23724 China and Japan 24625 Argentina 25326 Arguing with Gandhi 26027 Italy, Mussolini and After 26628 Nationalism versus Internationalism 27429 Farewell to the West 28730 Against the Raj 30231 The Great Sentinel 30832 Last Travels 31533 Shantiniketan in the Thirties 32334 The Self-destruction of Bengal 33535 War, Tagore and the West 34336 The Myriad-Minded Man 354Postscript 371Appendix 1 Tagore Family Tree 373Appendix 2 Tagore's Travels 374Notes 377Bibliography 466Index 481
\ From the PublisherPraise for the hardcover:\ "One has waited a very long time for a biography of Tagore that did justice to a far more complex and curious mind and life than simply respectful and circumspect accounts allowed. Here it is: thorough, fair, balanced, intelligent, and addressing every aspect of a truly astonishing artist, his life and times." — Anita Desai\ "This seems to exemplify a sort of biography little dared anymore; an enquiry into the spirit and mind of a man whom the authors trust and admire and do not presume to overinterpret." —Independent on Sunday\ "Enjoyable, astute and highly readable." —Amit Chaudhuri, Spectator\ "Judicious, sympathetic and exceedingly well documented." —The Times\ "A painstaking, informative, well-written biography." —Daily Telegraph\ "Excellent… admirably straightforward, readable, lively, informative." —Financial Times\ "Dutta and Robinson’s lively narrative steers clear of facile categories...so revealing the subtle nuances of East and West in the poet’s sensibility." —Guardian\ "The entire book was a revelation to me… it brings out very clearly that Tagore was intellectually more perceptive than Gandhi." —Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, Nobel Laureate\ "A fascinating book about a fascinating man, a work that addresses the profound conflict between eastern spirituality and western rationality." —Ilya Prigogine, Nobel Laureate\ "An excellent book… as an elegantly argued and subtly shaded portrait it will be difficult to supersede." —Literary Review\ ‘This book offers a very detailed and perceptive portrayal of a man and his times and, since it is co-written by an Englishman and an Indian, it provides an understanding and appreciation from both perspectives.’ - John Green, MORNING STAR, 9 March 2009\ ‘An ambitious and altogether brilliant biography… exceptionally fair-minded.’ — Sunday (Calcutta)\ ‘Krishna Dutta and Andrew Robinson have established themselves as the pre-eminent Tagore scholars.’ — K. Natwar Singh, Asian Age\ \ \
