gKey Highlights
- Aleph Book Company’s Translation Series, Greatest Stories Ever Told, is the perfect option if you are looking to build a book collection
- The series, which started with Arunava Sinha’s The Greatest Bengali Stories Ever Told, features well-known tales by literary stalwarts from different Indian states and languages
- The translation series currently has 15 books of short stories, each spotlighting regional literature from a specific part of the country
- The overarching anthology, The Greatest Indian Stories Ever Told, brings together 50 stories, out of which 43 are translated from various Indian languages, whereas the remaining are originally written in English
Are you a connoisseur of collections? Are your mugs paired, do your T-shirts twin, are you always on the lookout to add to that growing stamp album? Do you feel a sense of satisfaction in being able to add elements to a collection – watching likeness and contrast merge with symmetry and balance? And it’s not because you’re persnickety; the Gestalt psychologists of the 1920s have explained how our brains automatically group together objects that look similar and that we tend to seek closure when a composite whole seems incomplete. In the Collections for Collectors series, we lead you to collections you might want to own.
The first book collection I was drawn to, was the set of aging orange Penguin classics on my mother’s bookshelf, with the uniform white band around the middle that made it look like a row of slim diaries. Perhaps the lure was greater because I was told to wait until I was older before I could read the adult versions of the mini Illustrated Classics series stacked in my room.
Since then, I’ve eyed and started building several book collections, the most charming among them being the translation series by Aleph Book Company – Greatest Stories Ever Told. Every book in this collection comprises tales translated from a different Indian state and language, featuring some literary stalwarts and other distinguished authors selected by the editors. While a uniform colour palette often brings together book covers belonging to a collection, each book of “greatest stories” – Bengali/ Urdu/ Marathi/ Tamil etc – boasts a different vibrant colour and an illustration to complement the region, such as an ambassador taxi for Bengali stories, a rhinoceros for Assamese stories, and waves for Goan stories.
The first of the collection, The Greatest Bengali Stories Ever Told, selected and translated by award-winning translator Arunava Sinha, was launched in 2016. Twenty-one stories by all the greats of Bengali literature, from Tagore to Ray, makes it an immediate keeper while the production quality makes it eminently giftable as well. The Greatest Urdu Stories Ever Told was released the year after that, a bright aquamarine cover in contrast to the Bengali red, with 25 stories translated by Urdu scholar, Muhammad Umar Memon. Odia Stories followed in 2019, with 22 stories and a mustard-yellow cover. And there you have it; it takes three to kick off a collection after all.
The latest in the series, published in 2023, is The Greatest Stories from the Northeast Ever Told, selected and edited by writer, teacher, and researcher from Meghalaya, Jobeth Ann Warjri. In her introduction, Warjri presents how short stories gained popularity in the northeast as a result of oral traditions as well as the advent of the printing press that “introduced English as a lingua franca in the region.” Which explains why most of the stories featured in this volume have been originally written in English, while some are in translation.
The opposite is true of the overarching anthology which brings the smaller anthologies together – The Greatest Indian Stories Ever Told: Fifty Masterpieces from the Nineteenth century to the Present. It is a book that stands apart in this collection both in structure and design — it includes 50 short stories, of which 43 are translations from various Indian languages (some taken from the separate anthologies in the collection) and the rest originally written in English. As Arunava Sinha, editor of the anthology, explains in the Introduction, it is “the diversity and the variances that enable this selection to stake a claim to being called the greatest modern Indian stories ever told.”
Today, the series comprises 15 books of short stories which serve as gateways into regional literature, making indigenous tales accessible to the English-reading audience who might be curious about languages apart from their own mother tongue. Now all you have to decide is whether you want to begin this collection with the overarching title or the translations from a language whose literary heritage you’re familiar with or perhaps curious about. Either route is going to make your bookshelf a corner of envy for friends who care for short stories and translations.
What is the Greatest Stories Ever Told book series?
It is a translation series by Aleph Book Company that features short stories from different Indian states and languages, spotlighting regional literature from across the country.
Where can I read Indian regional stories in English?
Aleph's Greatest Stories series serves as a gateway, offering translated works from languages like Bengali, Urdu, Marathi, Tamil, and more into English.
What are some good books for a Book Collection?
The Greatest Stories series is highly recommended for collectors due to its high production quality, vibrant covers with regional illustrations, and literary significance.
What are some good books for a Book Collection?
For collectors interested in short stories, translations, or Indian literature, the Greatest Stories Ever Told series is an ideal entry point. The uniform editorial approach, high production quality, and region-focused anthologies make the series a strong addition to any bookshelf. Comparable collectible categories include Penguin Classics, contemporary Indian fiction, translated works, and curated anthologies around themes, eras, or literary movements.
What are the best good books for gifting?
Short story anthologies and translated collections make thoughtful gifts for book lovers because they offer a range of voices within a single volume. The Aleph series, with its distinct covers and literary pedigree, is particularly suitable for gifting. Individual titles may be chosen based on a recipient’s regional affinity or curiosity, while the overarching anthology, The Greatest Indian Stories Ever Told, works well as a standalone present for readers who appreciate Indian stories, translations, and modern classics.
