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Stories on Animals [Hardcover] PREMCHAND
A new English translation of the stories of the classic Hindi writer, Premchand
144 pages, Hardcover
Published August 10, 2018
4 people are currently reading
23 people want to read
About the author
Munshi Premchand
1,156 books1,162 followersMunshi Premchand (Hindi: मुंशी प्रेमचंद) was an Indian writer famous for his modern Hindustani literature. He is one of the most celebrated writers of the Indian subcontinent,and is regarded as one of the foremost Hindustani writers of the early twentieth century.
Born Dhanpat Rai, he began writing under the pen name "Nawab Rai", but subsequently switched to "Premchand", while he is also known as "Munshi Premchand", Munshi being an honorary prefix. A novel writer, story writer and dramatist, he has been referred to as the "Upanyas Samrat" ("Emperor among Novelists") by some Hindi writers. His works include more than a dozen novels, around 250 short stories, several essays and translations of a number of foreign literary works into Hindi.
Premchand is considered the first Hindi author whose writings prominently featured realism. His novels describe the problems of the poor and the urban middle-class. His works depict a rationalistic outlook, which views religious values as something that allows the powerful hypocrites to exploit the weak. He used literature for the purpose of arousing public awareness about national and social issues and often wrote about topics related to corruption, child widowhood, prostitution, feudal system, poverty, colonialism and on the India's freedom movement.
Several of his early works, such as A Little Trick and A Moral Victory, satirised the Indians who cooperated with the British colonial government.
In the 1920s, he was influenced by Mahatma Gandhi's non-cooperation movement and the accompanying struggle for social reform. During this period, his works dealt with the social issues such as poverty, zamindari exploitation (Premashram, 1922), dowry system (Nirmala, 1925), educational reform and political oppression (Karmabhumi, 1931).
In his last days, he focused on village life as a stage for complex drama, as seen in his most famous work Godan as well as the short-story collection Kafan (1936).Premchand believed that social realism was the way for Hindi literature, as opposed to the "feminine quality", tenderness and emotion of the contemporary Bengali literature.
Born Dhanpat Rai, he began writing under the pen name "Nawab Rai", but subsequently switched to "Premchand", while he is also known as "Munshi Premchand", Munshi being an honorary prefix. A novel writer, story writer and dramatist, he has been referred to as the "Upanyas Samrat" ("Emperor among Novelists") by some Hindi writers. His works include more than a dozen novels, around 250 short stories, several essays and translations of a number of foreign literary works into Hindi.
Premchand is considered the first Hindi author whose writings prominently featured realism. His novels describe the problems of the poor and the urban middle-class. His works depict a rationalistic outlook, which views religious values as something that allows the powerful hypocrites to exploit the weak. He used literature for the purpose of arousing public awareness about national and social issues and often wrote about topics related to corruption, child widowhood, prostitution, feudal system, poverty, colonialism and on the India's freedom movement.
Several of his early works, such as A Little Trick and A Moral Victory, satirised the Indians who cooperated with the British colonial government.
In the 1920s, he was influenced by Mahatma Gandhi's non-cooperation movement and the accompanying struggle for social reform. During this period, his works dealt with the social issues such as poverty, zamindari exploitation (Premashram, 1922), dowry system (Nirmala, 1925), educational reform and political oppression (Karmabhumi, 1931).
In his last days, he focused on village life as a stage for complex drama, as seen in his most famous work Godan as well as the short-story collection Kafan (1936).Premchand believed that social realism was the way for Hindi literature, as opposed to the "feminine quality", tenderness and emotion of the contemporary Bengali literature.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
May 10, 2021
Such a wonderful collection. It's been a while I read stories on animals.
The stories have some life lessons to tell, filled with emotions and good endings (well, except for a few).
Based on the lives of struggling villagers, these stories tell about the difficult lives they live and how animals play a part in their lives.
*Contents:
1. The Story of Two Bullocks
5 🌟
*Studied a better translation in school
*Exactly about what the title says, their struggles and their unshakeable bond
2. Money for Deliverence
5🌟
*About devotion, love of domestic lives and it's about money, money and money
3. The Sacrifice
4 🌟
*Beliefs about death and rituals, social pressure
4. The Roaming Monkey
4 🌟
*I don't support entertainment using animals.
This story was written a long time ago and it tells the story of a monkey whose owners loved him as their own child
*Cruelty towards animals
5. Reincarnation
4 🌟
*Caste differences, wealth and destiny, celebration of domestic animals and the title is relevant but ridiculously,l
6. Turf War
4🌟
*Reality bites, struggles of the wild and homeless animals; one of those Panchatantra stories I read before.
7. The Price of Milk
4 🌟
*Gender discrimination, caste discrimination, motherhood, sacred bond between a canine and a small boy
8. Defending One's Liberty
5 🌟
*About a pedigree bay horse, cruelty towards animals when we human see animals as merely for use for our own selfish purposes
*Even animals know how to defend its own liberty
*The best story in the collection
9. Two Brothers
3🌟
*Domestic dilemma
*Not happy with the ending
10. The Bookfinder
3 🌟
*About the life of an ardent animal lover, death and grief, "misery personified" living with insensitive and extravagant people
Loved the whole collection. Totally recommended.
The last book in the hardcover short story set by the author. I am so glad I am doing good at reading the books I already have!
The stories have some life lessons to tell, filled with emotions and good endings (well, except for a few).
Based on the lives of struggling villagers, these stories tell about the difficult lives they live and how animals play a part in their lives.
*Contents:
1. The Story of Two Bullocks
5 🌟
*Studied a better translation in school
*Exactly about what the title says, their struggles and their unshakeable bond
2. Money for Deliverence
5🌟
*About devotion, love of domestic lives and it's about money, money and money
3. The Sacrifice
4 🌟
*Beliefs about death and rituals, social pressure
4. The Roaming Monkey
4 🌟
*I don't support entertainment using animals.
This story was written a long time ago and it tells the story of a monkey whose owners loved him as their own child
*Cruelty towards animals
5. Reincarnation
4 🌟
*Caste differences, wealth and destiny, celebration of domestic animals and the title is relevant but ridiculously,l
6. Turf War
4🌟
*Reality bites, struggles of the wild and homeless animals; one of those Panchatantra stories I read before.
7. The Price of Milk
4 🌟
*Gender discrimination, caste discrimination, motherhood, sacred bond between a canine and a small boy
8. Defending One's Liberty
5 🌟
*About a pedigree bay horse, cruelty towards animals when we human see animals as merely for use for our own selfish purposes
*Even animals know how to defend its own liberty
*The best story in the collection
9. Two Brothers
3🌟
*Domestic dilemma
*Not happy with the ending
10. The Bookfinder
3 🌟
*About the life of an ardent animal lover, death and grief, "misery personified" living with insensitive and extravagant people
Loved the whole collection. Totally recommended.
The last book in the hardcover short story set by the author. I am so glad I am doing good at reading the books I already have!
September 30, 2018
Premchad is one of the most important writers of the Hindi - Urdu canon, or so says Penguin. I don’t know if I have ever read a book by an Hindi - Urdu author before so I thought why not? If this collection is any representation of him and the Hindi - Urdu mainstream short stories then I now know that it's not my cup of tea.
It was alright, barely. It is a good thing that it is short. It reads like something you read in school. His short stories are like fables. The animals have human-like qualities or behaviours and the stories often include a moral that is revealed at the end...except the last story which is unresolved, uninspiring, tiring and left me agitated as you can see. Or talking about school reads maybe the genre of novella would be fitting as well. I'm thinking of Boccaccio’s Decameron and the story with the hawk. They were definately situated in India as far as the culture and the worldview of the characters go. Recurring themes were money money money, family, love for animals as well as humans, pride, honor, and the cast system. His stories or parts of them are at times very observant and detailed but at times also hurried. He always quickly brushes over death. When someone dies there are four sentences, one that he is dead, one about the cause, and two about the emotions involved. This also happens in other instances and only furthers the impression of a short story with a moral that might be taught to children. Anyhow, the animal aspect is what I liked most about the stories and thus I won’t read any of his other two collections on women and on caste.
Some words about the content of some of the stories:
It was alright, barely. It is a good thing that it is short. It reads like something you read in school. His short stories are like fables. The animals have human-like qualities or behaviours and the stories often include a moral that is revealed at the end...except the last story which is unresolved, uninspiring, tiring and left me agitated as you can see. Or talking about school reads maybe the genre of novella would be fitting as well. I'm thinking of Boccaccio’s Decameron and the story with the hawk. They were definately situated in India as far as the culture and the worldview of the characters go. Recurring themes were money money money, family, love for animals as well as humans, pride, honor, and the cast system. His stories or parts of them are at times very observant and detailed but at times also hurried. He always quickly brushes over death. When someone dies there are four sentences, one that he is dead, one about the cause, and two about the emotions involved. This also happens in other instances and only furthers the impression of a short story with a moral that might be taught to children. Anyhow, the animal aspect is what I liked most about the stories and thus I won’t read any of his other two collections on women and on caste.
Some words about the content of some of the stories:
July 22, 2024
3.25⭐
June 4, 2022
A really good collection although I'd love to find it in Hindi. A lot of this read too obviously like a translation which was frustrating
October 30, 2020
Premchand is one of the best writer in Hindi literature and even his work after translation will touch your heart. His stories will take you back to to the india before independence. I recently started listening to hindi podcast of premchand's stories and very much fascinated by his writing. And recently got good deals on the second hand books of his translated work, without much delay started reading stories on animals.
Stories in the book are simple, characters are kind of character which we see in old hindi films and the setup will take you to the days when even aanas and paisas had so much value.
Writing style is simple and even after translation will not lose its impact.
If you want to read some really good short stories here is your best option.
Stories in the book are simple, characters are kind of character which we see in old hindi films and the setup will take you to the days when even aanas and paisas had so much value.
Writing style is simple and even after translation will not lose its impact.
If you want to read some really good short stories here is your best option.
July 15, 2021
This book was like a trip down the memory lane, because I remember having Munshi Premchands' book as my coursework in school. I liked only the first few stories though, and this would not be the top book to recommend to English readers who would like to get a taste of Hindi literature. This can be blamed on choice of stories and, for a few translations, choice of words.( I remember few stories really impacting me, forcing to think about social evils like, discrimination against widows, caste system, but when read in English the impact was lost in translation)
I remember Premchands stories as a satire against social evils in the Indian Society which still impact a large chunk of population till today. I can only imagine how many people Munshi Premchand would have literally woken up from slumber of social evils.
I remember Premchands stories as a satire against social evils in the Indian Society which still impact a large chunk of population till today. I can only imagine how many people Munshi Premchand would have literally woken up from slumber of social evils.
December 31, 2019
All the stories has been beautifully translated from Hindi or Urdu, where the core the story remained intact in all places. His stories always try to expose the horror of poverty and social injustice , all these stories are no exception to them. His enduring appeal cuts across class, caste and social groups. Premchand's deep interest in simple life of peasants extended to his love for animals, particularly draught animals, treated most cruelly in India. Very few writers have depicted such an intimate bond between animals and human beings. With some dramatic elements and animal talking his stories opened up the bared skeleton of our ugly society.
Read
April 16, 2021Some stories were thought provoking, a lot of it got lost in translation too.
July 12, 2022
Quick and easy but touched my heart,teary eyes . Love this book.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews