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Classic Ruskin Bond [Sep 13, 2010] Bond, Ruskin
Bond, Ruskin
496 pages, Paperback
First published September 6, 2010
37 people are currently reading
398 people want to read
About the author
Ruskin Bond
681 books3,565 followersRuskin Bond is an Indian author of British descent. He is considered to be an icon among Indian writers and children's authors and a top novelist. He wrote his first novel, The Room on the Roof, when he was seventeen which won John Llewellyn Rhys Memorial Prize in 1957. Since then he has written several novellas, over 500 short stories, as well as various essays and poems, all of which have established him as one of the best-loved and most admired chroniclers of contemporary India. In 1992 he received the Sahitya Akademi award for English writing, for his short stories collection, "Our Trees Still Grow in Dehra", by the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters in India. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1999 for contributions to children's literature. He now lives with his adopted family in Landour near Mussoorie.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
July 21, 2020
Ruskin Bond is like an old mango tree in the backyard of that house where you have lived some of your childhood days.
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You read through a story like savoring the sweet fruit of the season plucked from the dear tree. The distinct taste teleports you to that simpler time in past where you used to sit dreamy-eyed, stupefied, listening to your grandfather's telling of what seemed like a fascinating tale.
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I have read this omnibus of selected short stories over a period of two years and only at times when I used to visit my hometown. I had a wonderful time reveling in the stupefaction. What's left now is a lingering sweet aftertaste that has found home in a corner of my memory.
.
You read through a story like savoring the sweet fruit of the season plucked from the dear tree. The distinct taste teleports you to that simpler time in past where you used to sit dreamy-eyed, stupefied, listening to your grandfather's telling of what seemed like a fascinating tale.
.
I have read this omnibus of selected short stories over a period of two years and only at times when I used to visit my hometown. I had a wonderful time reveling in the stupefaction. What's left now is a lingering sweet aftertaste that has found home in a corner of my memory.
March 21, 2018
It was & will always be a wonderful experience to read a Ruskin Bond short story, novel, novella etc.
June 21, 2013
When you read a Ruskin Bond the world around you turns beautiful. Mr Bond's narration gives the saddest of plots a glimmer of joy and hope.
August 31, 2018
Ruskin Bond ended up disappointing me which was a surprise in itself. Of the six novels that this Classic Edition comprises not one presented itself as anything unique.
Bond, it seems, has a kind of template setting for all his stories with only few details that defer here and there. All his stories have the same mix - a small town somewhere in the hills of North India, a protagonist who is usually a writer and wanderer, a friend who has seen bitter circumstances and ends up selling trinkets off a tray, going on an adventure to some other part of the hills with said friend or a boy the protagonist just happened to meet, a train, a Peepul tree, stories about jinns and ghosts, a prostitute who is charming, a few other people like your friendly grocer/barber/dhobi/beggar. It's the same theme but with different names and addressed in different persons (either first or third). I can almost imagine 'Delhi is not Far' to be the third instalment of a trilogy following 'Room on the Roof' and 'Vagrants in the Valley' even though it's (supposedly) different. What shocked me the most was to read an exact same passage involving the village mute person following the protagonist and his friend in both Delhi (Chapter 8) and Vagrants (Chapter 3). The only difference in the excerpts was the names of the people (barring that of the mute man who is called Goonga -which is literally the word for 'mute' in Hindi - in both the stories) and the point of view the text was written in. I have to say I do not expect it of any author worth their salt to copy their own text almost verbatim from one novel to the next and quite pointlessly too, as it had no bearing on the rest of the story in the case of Delhi.
'A Flight of Pigeons' had a promising storyline but failed to excite me for the duration of it. After the exciting beginning with reference to the 1857 Sepoy Mutiny, its subsequent effects on the people around were almost mundane, especially since the narrator, a young girl, hardly brings any emotion or excitement into her narration but rather seems to be giving a chronicle of her life for the one year, where almost nothing happens except in the very beginning and the very end.
When I started reading 'The Sensualist' and the narrator comes across the man in the cave who offers to tell his story, I frankly felt that if I was the narrator I would have rather walked off into the forest than listen to the egotistical ramblings of the man's sexual conquests. The only redeeming quality of the story is that in the end the narrator finds the man in the cave to be a shallow, coward of a person and goes on his way. But that doesn't take away the fact that you've wasted time plodding through the rest of the man's story before the narrator comes to this splendid conclusion. Like I said, if I was him I'd have left the cave sooner.
I had thankfully read 'Handful of Nuts' long back and hence I was able to have a better opinion of it then, if I had read it as part of this series, I'd surely have grown irritated at yet another pointless story of a life in the hills with good-natured friends.
In Bond's defence, he is not a bad writer. When I first read his books I found it quite interesting and the simplicity was refreshing. In retrospect, those books also followed similar plots and characters but at the time it was a good read. Reading his works in succession makes the same simplicity seem tedious. He also seems to draw inspiration from one thing - life in the hills with good-natured friends, good-natured locals, good-natured bad guys and a good-natured but promiscuous girl or a prostitute or two. Yes, I'm aware of the repetition of the word 'good-natured' but if you read his books you will know what I'm getting at. Everybody is just too darn nice apart from having a few character flaws which can be easily overlooked. I honestly found his Children's Omnibus better and think he should have stuck to writing stories for children, even though his novels have some adult content it is written in a childishly simple way without even being too explicit about said adult matter.
I think partly the fault lies with the publisher for putting his novels together under one title and partly with me for reading them one after the other in succession.
My recommendations are as follows:
- Read Bond's book by keeping a considerable gap of a good few months between each book. Years would be even more helpful
- Read it when you want to read something light and simple
- Make sure its predecessors are not too rich, complex and/or mentally stimulating in content because this will definitely pale in comparison
Bond, it seems, has a kind of template setting for all his stories with only few details that defer here and there. All his stories have the same mix - a small town somewhere in the hills of North India, a protagonist who is usually a writer and wanderer, a friend who has seen bitter circumstances and ends up selling trinkets off a tray, going on an adventure to some other part of the hills with said friend or a boy the protagonist just happened to meet, a train, a Peepul tree, stories about jinns and ghosts, a prostitute who is charming, a few other people like your friendly grocer/barber/dhobi/beggar. It's the same theme but with different names and addressed in different persons (either first or third). I can almost imagine 'Delhi is not Far' to be the third instalment of a trilogy following 'Room on the Roof' and 'Vagrants in the Valley' even though it's (supposedly) different. What shocked me the most was to read an exact same passage involving the village mute person following the protagonist and his friend in both Delhi (Chapter 8) and Vagrants (Chapter 3). The only difference in the excerpts was the names of the people (barring that of the mute man who is called Goonga -which is literally the word for 'mute' in Hindi - in both the stories) and the point of view the text was written in. I have to say I do not expect it of any author worth their salt to copy their own text almost verbatim from one novel to the next and quite pointlessly too, as it had no bearing on the rest of the story in the case of Delhi.
'A Flight of Pigeons' had a promising storyline but failed to excite me for the duration of it. After the exciting beginning with reference to the 1857 Sepoy Mutiny, its subsequent effects on the people around were almost mundane, especially since the narrator, a young girl, hardly brings any emotion or excitement into her narration but rather seems to be giving a chronicle of her life for the one year, where almost nothing happens except in the very beginning and the very end.
When I started reading 'The Sensualist' and the narrator comes across the man in the cave who offers to tell his story, I frankly felt that if I was the narrator I would have rather walked off into the forest than listen to the egotistical ramblings of the man's sexual conquests. The only redeeming quality of the story is that in the end the narrator finds the man in the cave to be a shallow, coward of a person and goes on his way. But that doesn't take away the fact that you've wasted time plodding through the rest of the man's story before the narrator comes to this splendid conclusion. Like I said, if I was him I'd have left the cave sooner.
I had thankfully read 'Handful of Nuts' long back and hence I was able to have a better opinion of it then, if I had read it as part of this series, I'd surely have grown irritated at yet another pointless story of a life in the hills with good-natured friends.
In Bond's defence, he is not a bad writer. When I first read his books I found it quite interesting and the simplicity was refreshing. In retrospect, those books also followed similar plots and characters but at the time it was a good read. Reading his works in succession makes the same simplicity seem tedious. He also seems to draw inspiration from one thing - life in the hills with good-natured friends, good-natured locals, good-natured bad guys and a good-natured but promiscuous girl or a prostitute or two. Yes, I'm aware of the repetition of the word 'good-natured' but if you read his books you will know what I'm getting at. Everybody is just too darn nice apart from having a few character flaws which can be easily overlooked. I honestly found his Children's Omnibus better and think he should have stuck to writing stories for children, even though his novels have some adult content it is written in a childishly simple way without even being too explicit about said adult matter.
I think partly the fault lies with the publisher for putting his novels together under one title and partly with me for reading them one after the other in succession.
My recommendations are as follows:
- Read Bond's book by keeping a considerable gap of a good few months between each book. Years would be even more helpful
- Read it when you want to read something light and simple
- Make sure its predecessors are not too rich, complex and/or mentally stimulating in content because this will definitely pale in comparison
July 31, 2019
This is a collection of 6 noveks of author. Some of the nolvels are stand alone, though read them earlier are worth spending rereading.
December 6, 2020
The magic of Ruskin Bond. "Room On The Roof" is a classic and beautiful story. "Vagrants In The Valley" is a story of hope and friendships. Friendships which are imperfect but still cherished. Overall, the book has some masterpieces. Such simplicity in prose is hard to attain. Human emotions are described without imposing any judgement or societal values.
November 30, 2015
Simplistic and Uncomplicated... Ruskin Bond's books are for people who find love and happiness in the simple things of life... You won't find those thrilling up-downs in this book... Its those plain beautiful story-telling, capturing every detail of the set and the plot in small sweet words.
October 18, 2018
This book is a collection of six novels by Ruskin Bond. The book features Room on the Roof, Vagrants in the Valley, Delhi is not Far, A Flight of Pigeons, The Sensualist and A Handful of Nuts. Ruskin Bond was only seventeen when he authored Room on the Roof, and he was awarded the John Llewellyn Rhys Memorial Prize for the work in 1957. It was a wonderful start to a great career which has made readers happy over all these years of his writing.
The major part of the collection is occupied by the Room on the Roof and Vagrants in the Valley. I have read Ruskin Bond’s autobiography, Lone Fox Dancing, and the first two novels come across as reflections of his childhood. Bond had a disturbed childhood, where his parents went through separation and he lost his father, whom he loved a lot, when he was very young. His mother was remarried to an Indian, and he could never reconcile family life with his new father and his half siblings. All this is reflected in the first two fictional pieces in the book, wherein the protagonist has a rebellious streak as he himself had in real life. The protagonist in these two stories tend to keep away from his foster parents and has an independent life aided by the camaraderie that he had with his bosom friends. Room on the Roof and Vagrants in the Valley seem to be strangely similar in its setting with the theme of loneliness, independence, friendship and rebelliousness running through them.
A Flight of Pigeons is more of a historical fiction, which are based on actual events that took place in 1857 at the time of the Mutiny during the British Raj. It is an account of the events that took place in those fateful days, narrated by an English family who survived the massacre with the help of generous Hindus. The events unfolded in Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh. In a foreword to this novel, Bond records a quote from Pascal- “Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction”. Doesn’t that ring true even today?
The Sensualist is a very interesting tale as narrated by a mendicant discovered by Bond during one of his sojourns through the hills of Uttarakhand. Bond imparts a wonderful message about the aspect of true love through this story. The conflict between love for self and the destructive power of ego, which in turn can be an impediment to the fruition of true love has been wonderfully explained in this narrative.
A Handful of Nuts, again, is a story about growing up in Dehra and the struggle for existence as a young writer. It is almost in the same vein as the first two novels.
This collection is Classic Ruskin Bond all the way. The only drawback that I thought there was, in reading this collection, was that since a couple of the novels are faintly similar, it does cause a bit of dreariness in terms of the settings and the plot. But as standalone novels, each of the works featured in this collection are gems in their own right and will definitely be a treat for Ruskin Bond fans.
The major part of the collection is occupied by the Room on the Roof and Vagrants in the Valley. I have read Ruskin Bond’s autobiography, Lone Fox Dancing, and the first two novels come across as reflections of his childhood. Bond had a disturbed childhood, where his parents went through separation and he lost his father, whom he loved a lot, when he was very young. His mother was remarried to an Indian, and he could never reconcile family life with his new father and his half siblings. All this is reflected in the first two fictional pieces in the book, wherein the protagonist has a rebellious streak as he himself had in real life. The protagonist in these two stories tend to keep away from his foster parents and has an independent life aided by the camaraderie that he had with his bosom friends. Room on the Roof and Vagrants in the Valley seem to be strangely similar in its setting with the theme of loneliness, independence, friendship and rebelliousness running through them.
A Flight of Pigeons is more of a historical fiction, which are based on actual events that took place in 1857 at the time of the Mutiny during the British Raj. It is an account of the events that took place in those fateful days, narrated by an English family who survived the massacre with the help of generous Hindus. The events unfolded in Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh. In a foreword to this novel, Bond records a quote from Pascal- “Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction”. Doesn’t that ring true even today?
The Sensualist is a very interesting tale as narrated by a mendicant discovered by Bond during one of his sojourns through the hills of Uttarakhand. Bond imparts a wonderful message about the aspect of true love through this story. The conflict between love for self and the destructive power of ego, which in turn can be an impediment to the fruition of true love has been wonderfully explained in this narrative.
A Handful of Nuts, again, is a story about growing up in Dehra and the struggle for existence as a young writer. It is almost in the same vein as the first two novels.
This collection is Classic Ruskin Bond all the way. The only drawback that I thought there was, in reading this collection, was that since a couple of the novels are faintly similar, it does cause a bit of dreariness in terms of the settings and the plot. But as standalone novels, each of the works featured in this collection are gems in their own right and will definitely be a treat for Ruskin Bond fans.
September 8, 2021
The special thing about Ruskin bond is the vivid descriptions that transports you to a completely new yet relatable world. With it’s simple yet vibrant style he appeals to all audience .
A collection of his six famous novels Ruskin takes you together on an adventure. Be it the roads of Dehra, or beating the heat of summer in Delhi, or in Haridwar or getting down at one random station in North India you live a completely different life through the writings of Ruskin Bond.
The novel starts with the “Room on the roof” one of the most popular writings of Ruskin will also gives some hints to the actual life of Ruskin. Through the novel you get to feel the love of hills in his writing. The writing is so simple yet so artistic , you don’t have an option but to fall in love.
A collection of his six famous novels Ruskin takes you together on an adventure. Be it the roads of Dehra, or beating the heat of summer in Delhi, or in Haridwar or getting down at one random station in North India you live a completely different life through the writings of Ruskin Bond.
The novel starts with the “Room on the roof” one of the most popular writings of Ruskin will also gives some hints to the actual life of Ruskin. Through the novel you get to feel the love of hills in his writing. The writing is so simple yet so artistic , you don’t have an option but to fall in love.
June 7, 2020
All-time favourite author @ruskinbondofficial....since forever, to forever!! He charms me, mesmerises me, astonishes me, soothes me, delights me, calms me with his writing. He expresses even the simplest things, events and encounters with such finesse that it just blows my mind away. He awakens the child in me. Not to forget, his amazing observation and sense of detail. His world of adventure is the one I want to jump in right now. .
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This one is a collection of his six short stories-The Room on the Roof, Vagrants in the Valley, Delhi is not far, A Flight of Pigeons, The Sensualist & A Handful of Nuts.
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This one is a collection of his six short stories-The Room on the Roof, Vagrants in the Valley, Delhi is not far, A Flight of Pigeons, The Sensualist & A Handful of Nuts.
November 3, 2016
Like most other Ruskin Bond books, this one too takes you on a walk down memory lane. Being amidst people and experiencing wonders of nature while living a simple yet fulfilling life as a child is what comes back to me easily as I read through Bond's work. "The Room on the Roof" and "Vagrants in the Valley" are my favorites in this collection. It's a must read for people of all ages.
February 18, 2018
Bond's stories are full of old-world charm, showing you the India that once was, reminding you of the simpler things in life. This compilation of his stories deviates to many other genres, which at first comes as a surprise, since we are used to a certain kind of theme from him. Nevertheless, makes for a good read.
August 7, 2021
Like an old mango tree in your backyard, Ruskin Bond pulls so many visuals from the quaint small town childhood days. It's tough not get absorbed in the pages and day dreaming as if you are in Dehra. It's hard to find an author who can paint with words as well as Ruskin Bond. Rusty, call me when you are going to the chaat shop next time.
December 21, 2019
Bond is able to narrate his life's experiences in a very mesmerizing way which keeps the reader fixed to the book wanting to read more and more .He can create the right mix of suspense ,fiction and reality keeping the reader glued to the book enjoying each and every part of it.
May 29, 2021
A writer that the nation has cherished. Beautiful writing. A classic to be in your book shelves.
February 13, 2013
This book is one of the glories of my shelf- a 6-in-1 edition of one of my all-time-favorite authors.
The collection opens with the author's first book- 'The Room on the Roof'. It revolves around the adventures of Rusty just before and after he leaves his tyrannous guardian's home. Although he lived with him just on the outskirts of Dehra, he had never really been into the town. That is, not until he met his new friends- Somi, Ranbir, Kishen and others. This book provides an insight into the 'bazaars' and life of semi-urban town in India. Choosing this book would be a good choice for all the adolescents out there, provided they are interested in looking for themselves as a character. The plot isn't a fast moving one, but Bond doesn't really need one...he holds you in one time, one place, and yet changes you from the inside.
It certainly is the best story in the book.
Next comes 'Vagrants in the Valley' , which takes up just where Room on the Roof left. Not as inspiring as it's predecessor, it certainly is a nice one from bond. Though I must not give away anything from the book, or I'll be giving away spoilers for Room on the Roof. Although I must say it failed to work the 'Bond magic' on me.
'Delhi is not Far' is set in a remote town of Pipalnagar-a small town with small dreams. The Rickshaw puller dreams of trading his rickshaw for a less demanding auto in Delhi.
Ali, the barber has a dream of opening a bigger and better shop in Delhi, and hopes of giving the Prime Minister a haircut. The protagonist, an Urdu thriller-fiction writer wants to travel Delhi and get a good plot for his story, or perhaps a job there. No one makes the journey, though and the story has not got a very great ending, I must say.
'A Flight of Pigeons' portrays the struggles of a British family in India the 1857 revolt. The story is told from the view point of Ruth Labadoor, the British girl. Facts meets Fiction here.
'The Sensualist' -well, I'd better say nothing about this one.
'A Handful of Nuts' -deals with the events in the 21st year of the narrator's life. It depicts the narrator's closest friends-a handful of nuts, they are, but still the main characters of another great story from Bond.
The stories aren't really Rusty's(as we-I and my friends-now call him, on the basis of the main character in most of his stories) autobiographies, but just pieces from his own life with some made-up details. But since he has lived just once, there are quite a few repetitions- some phrases recur at times, or some memory is referenced in a different book. These don't pose any problem to a new reader of Bond, but enhance the reading experience- make the reader feel like he is some old friend of the author, someone's who's known him for years and been there with his adventures; and somehow, before you know, he'll have a made a small-but-cozy Room in your heart...
~Sj( www.facebook.com/ReadersandWritersUnited )
The collection opens with the author's first book- 'The Room on the Roof'. It revolves around the adventures of Rusty just before and after he leaves his tyrannous guardian's home. Although he lived with him just on the outskirts of Dehra, he had never really been into the town. That is, not until he met his new friends- Somi, Ranbir, Kishen and others. This book provides an insight into the 'bazaars' and life of semi-urban town in India. Choosing this book would be a good choice for all the adolescents out there, provided they are interested in looking for themselves as a character. The plot isn't a fast moving one, but Bond doesn't really need one...he holds you in one time, one place, and yet changes you from the inside.
It certainly is the best story in the book.
Next comes 'Vagrants in the Valley' , which takes up just where Room on the Roof left. Not as inspiring as it's predecessor, it certainly is a nice one from bond. Though I must not give away anything from the book, or I'll be giving away spoilers for Room on the Roof. Although I must say it failed to work the 'Bond magic' on me.
'Delhi is not Far' is set in a remote town of Pipalnagar-a small town with small dreams. The Rickshaw puller dreams of trading his rickshaw for a less demanding auto in Delhi.
Ali, the barber has a dream of opening a bigger and better shop in Delhi, and hopes of giving the Prime Minister a haircut. The protagonist, an Urdu thriller-fiction writer wants to travel Delhi and get a good plot for his story, or perhaps a job there. No one makes the journey, though and the story has not got a very great ending, I must say.
'A Flight of Pigeons' portrays the struggles of a British family in India the 1857 revolt. The story is told from the view point of Ruth Labadoor, the British girl. Facts meets Fiction here.
'The Sensualist' -well, I'd better say nothing about this one.
'A Handful of Nuts' -deals with the events in the 21st year of the narrator's life. It depicts the narrator's closest friends-a handful of nuts, they are, but still the main characters of another great story from Bond.
The stories aren't really Rusty's(as we-I and my friends-now call him, on the basis of the main character in most of his stories) autobiographies, but just pieces from his own life with some made-up details. But since he has lived just once, there are quite a few repetitions- some phrases recur at times, or some memory is referenced in a different book. These don't pose any problem to a new reader of Bond, but enhance the reading experience- make the reader feel like he is some old friend of the author, someone's who's known him for years and been there with his adventures; and somehow, before you know, he'll have a made a small-but-cozy Room in your heart...
~Sj( www.facebook.com/ReadersandWritersUnited )
May 21, 2017
I started the book with high hopes but was disappointed. Standalone would have rated it 3 but given the disapointment have pushed it down to two. The two good stories are about Rusty and Ruskin Bond. The others were average at best. There is one full sequence that is repeated in a story from another one where only the characters' names change!! The low point was The Sensualist which bordered on soft porn.
All in a book i could have done better to avoid.
All in a book i could have done better to avoid.
January 30, 2016
I have always loved Short stories and Ruskin Bond has been one of my favorites since childhood. This one had 6 stories. The first 2 : 'Room on the Roof' and 'Vagrants in the Valley' were classic and highly enjoyable. 'Delhi is not far' is also captivating....set in the Sepoy Mutiny era but the rest of the stories were so la la. Frankly, I had to do some soul searching before choosing to rate the book not to leave a wrong impression.
June 2, 2013
A good book for travel
October 2, 2014
Six of Mr. Bond's longer works! A collection to treasure, a set of stories to read, reread and reread... There is no one like Mr. Bond!
September 5, 2014
Feel connected :)
May 15, 2021
If looking for small town charm and it’s innumerable characters and stories, go for it.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews