Born in 1953 in Old Dhaka, Shahidul Zahir published only six works in his short life - but these are some of the most unique and powerful works of fiction to have come out of the subcontinent, blending surrealism, folklore, oral storytelling traditions, magic realism, a searing understanding of social and political reality, and rare clarity of vision.
I See the Face is an alternative telling of the story, or history, of Bangladesh, beginning with the War of Liberation in 1971. Moving effortlessly from the past to the present, and back again, Zahir paints a picture of the crisis of post-independence Bangladesh and describes how society or the State drives a poor but brilliant boy to destruction. There is biting wit and humour, and above all, a kind of ethereal understatement which make the reading experience an incomparable one. With I See the Face, Shahidul Zahir surpasses himself.
