Apocalypse

A novel of memory, the dead, and a political killing in a village.

The man returns to his village home after twenty years. Every inch of soil in this house is familiar to him. Surpassing the pond's ghat, the jackalover tree, and the haunted palmyra tree, his late aunt appears beside him. Amidst the tug-of-war of his childhood between his mother and aunt, Abbas Bhai arrives. Abbas Bhai was abducted and murdered by the Hasina regime's forces because he engaged in Jamaat-Shibir politics. The man's adolescent friend arrives to announce that he will take revenge for this murder. But the man declares that he no longer practices Abbas Bhai's politics. Does he really not? Then why does he search for Abbas Bhai's killers? Amidst the theological flaws of Jamaat-e-Islam, the all-consuming form of enforced disappearances during the fascist era, and the mythological narrative of Ghazi Kalu, Nowrin glimmers. Though we do not get to see the heroine very much, the elegance of her presentation makes her truly unique. Yet, there remains more to be said. That there is more to understand becomes clear in the man's dialogue with Abbas Bhai in the spiritual realm. We have reached the final days of the world. The ultimate battle between truth and falsehood is imminent. We must prepare. Abbas Bhai seems to meet the man, defying all worldly rules, just to say these very words. What happens next? To find out, one must read Dipra the Great Hasan's novel, Apocalypse.

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