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Bengal Nights
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Bengal Nights (1933) (edit title/settings)

by Mircea Eliade (Author) (edit contributors)

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Set in 1930s Calcutta, this is a roman á clef of remarkable intimacy. Originally published in Romanian in 1933, this semiautobiographical novel by the world renowned scholar Mircea Eliade details the passionate awakenings of Alain, an ambitious young Romanian engineer flush with colonial... read more

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Maitreyi (La Nuit Bengali, French; Bengal Nights, English) is a 1933 Romanian novel written by the author and philosopher Mircea Eliade.

It is a fictionalized account of the love story between Eliade, who was visiting India at the time, and the young Maitreyi Devi (protegée of the great... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

Maitreyi (La Nuit Bengali, French; Bengal Nights, English) is a 1933 Romanian novel written by the author and philosopher Mircea Eliade.

It is a fictionalized account of the love story between Eliade, who was visiting India at the time, and the young Maitreyi Devi (protegée of the great Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore, who became a famous writer herself). The novel was translated into Italian in 1945, German in 1948, Spanish in 1952, Esperanto in 2007. Its most famous translation is the one in French, published as La Nuit Bengali in 1950.

For many years, Maitreyi Devi was not aware that the story had been published. After reading it, she wrote her own version of the relationship in 1974. Entitled Na Hanyate, it was originally published in Bengali. It was published in English as It Does Not Die.

In fulfillment of a promise Eliade made to Maitreyi that his novel would not be published in English during their lifetimes <1> an English translation, of Mayitreyi, Bengal Nights did not appear until 1993. In 1994, the University of Chicago Press published the two works in English as companion volumes.

Characters/People edit see section history

  • Maitreyi: a beautiful young bengal
  • Alain: an european who goes to India
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Quotes edit see section history

  • “În dragoste nicio certitudine nu e definitivă... Lucrul acela elementar - sentimentul că eşti iubit - trebuie necontenit verificat, căci o singură îndoială, o singură greşeală surpă totul în nebunie şi extaz.”
  • “Parcă fusesem rupt în zece bucăţi, căci îmi simţeam trupul numai o rană, sufletul risipit, nu mai aveam nici voinţă, nici putere să mă dezmeticesc o clipă.”
  • “Iar fetele lor sunt sfinte, nu târfe ca ale noastre. Să mă căsătoresc cu o albă?”
  • “Nu mai era sete trupească aceea, ci sete de mine tot; ar fi vrut sa treacă în mine toată, aşa cum trecuse sufletul ei.”
  • “Cum te-aş putea eu pierde pe tine, când tu eşti soarele meu, când razele tale mă încălzesc pe acest drum de ţară? Cum să uit eu soarele?”
    Maitreyi
  • “Maitreyi e neînchipuit de senzuală, deşi pură ca o sfântă. De fapt, acesta e miracolul femeii indiene: o fecioară care ajunge amanta perfectă în cea dintâi noapte.”
  • “Dumnezeu îşi exprimă dorinţele prin prejudecăţi.”
    Maitreyi
  • “Atunci am inteles ca nimic nu dureaza in suflet, ca cea mai verificata incredere poate fi anulata de un singur gest, ca cele mai sincere posesiuni nu dovedesc niciodata nimic, caci si sinceritatea poate fi repetata, cu altul, cu altii, ca, in sfarsit, totul se uita sau se poate uita ...”
  • “Nu puteam crede ca sunt si eu asemenea celorlalti mii de muritori nefericiti, care iubesc si uita, si mor fara sa socoteasca nimic etern, nimic definitiv.”

First Sentence edit see section history

IFI hesitate in beginning, it is because I still have not managed to remember the exact date of my first meeting with Maitreyi.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Mircea Eliade (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: Romanian
Publisher: Add the publisher.
Country: Romania
Publication Date: 1933
ISBN: Add the ISBN.
Page Count: 250

Classification edit see section history

More Books Like This edit see section history

   
  • Two Strange Tales
  • It Does Not Die
  • Youth Without Youth
  • A Father's Words: A Novel (Phoenix Fiction Series)
  • Convergence (Phoenix Fiction Series)
  • Golk (Phoenix Fiction Series)

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