Strangers In The Night

by Ruskin Bond

The perils and pleasures that attend growing up... In ???A Handful of Nuts', the first of the novellas in this book, the reader is treated to vintage Bond??"a gloriously funny and unexpectedly tender story of being young and adventurous in small town India. The central character would like to establish himself as a writer but he is constantly diverted from his task by assorted escapades, romances, friends and other distractions. Containing some of Bond's finest writing it is a classic coming of age story, told in a fresh and compelling way. ???The Sensualist', the second novella, is altogether more sombre but deals with a similar theme??"the trials and tribulations of a young man's coming of age. Gripping, erotic, even brutal, it explores the demons that its protagonist must grapple with before he is able to come to terms with himself...

Genres: Fiction, India, Contemporary

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Ruskin 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.

Reviews

[VerseVoyager · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strangers In The Night consists of two novellas; 'A Handful Of Nuts' and 'The Sensualist'. Both of these are very diverse and exceptional from each other. There is no inter-relation or similar thread between these two stories.

'A Handful Of Nuts' is a humorous as well as heart-touching story of young Bond being in a small town of India. The young protagonist is an aspiring author but comes across many distractions in his journey. He has distractions from his friends, he is left with barely any money to survive and over all these disasters he gets trapped in a romantic relationship with the Queen while he has feelings for the Princess. The farther he tries to run from the problems, the more he is tangled in the new ones. The central character feels more safe and himself when he is with one of his closest friend Sitaram. Knowingly and unknowingly Sitaram taught Bond a lot of things and ways to live. Some of these were already adapted by him and helped the protagonist feel better.
There are a few things to be learnt from the author's experience, a few moments to laugh at and a few to feel sad about.

'You may break, you may shatter
the vase if you will,
But the scent of the roses will linger
there still.'

'The Sensualist' is the second novella in this book. The Sensualist being a cautionary tale, I felt that it wasn't really a 'Ruskin Bond' style of writing. This is a story of a boy who has lost his manhood when he was a kid. This was done by a sex addict house maid. And eventually the boy was also attracted to Mulia the house maid. Days later he had been in a physical relationship with one of his cousin. Then he started paying visit to Shankhini, a woman who lived by the night and had many men immersed in her. There was a point when the man was trying to get away from all these happenings in his life but again found himself in the same maze of sex addiction. The story has an abrupt ending which leaves the readers behind with a few questions. But, it was overall a brutal, erotic and repellent story at times.

[Smitha Murthy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I haven’t read much of Ruskin Bond, but this was a very un-Ruskin book. No sweet nature tales or trembling children’s stories here. This is a Bond who is bold and provocative; whimsical and humorous, and dare I say it? Also a Bond who comes off as a misogynist with all these pages of big-breasted women who are voluptuous and drain men of their manhood.

I can’t believe what I read - the writing is Bondish, but the themes left me slightly disturbed. You don’t want your idyllic children’s author suddenly writing about overhanging flesh from seductive women. And paint the men as suffering from their clutches. No woman is painted in a good light here - their physicality is all that matters to Bond. And that physicality is usually the chunky flesh meat of womanhood ready for the poor man's taking.

So, forgive me for being scarred by this reading experience. Should I read another Bond now?

[Asra Ghouse · Rating 2 out of 5]

Stranger in The Night consists of two novellas:

1. A Handful of Nuts
2. The Sensualist

A Handful of Nuts
He says he cannot write poetry, Ruskin Bond does. However, he has written quite some good short rhymes in this one.

"Yes, money talks. And it is usually saying goodbye."

This story albeit not completely an autobiography, is based on true life incidences of Ruskin Bond's life. It is about how Bond in his early 20s struggled as a writer. The petty challenges he faced in terms of his own procrastination, fantasies and lust. The story describes all these in little but effective details. As one finished the book, the titles of the story comes out to be the best thing that it has to offer.



The Sensualist

"A woman of true passion can only diminish a man."

This, is a very bad novella. I will perhaps gift it to a person I hate! It is an overtly erotic story of a man who Ruskin Bond meets in his life. Now, apparently it is a true incident of his life. I can only say, if such people actually exist in reality, it's a loser world out there for them.

I guess the only good thing that happened to me by reading this is that I can appreciate the good books in a better way. A complete disappointment and disgust Bond gave me by this book.

[Sangeeta Sharma · Rating 1 out of 5]

Horrible so far with disgusting comparisons..
I never liked his books but this was quite a malfunction of writing..

[Abhishek · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book consists of two Novella by Ruskin Bond.

"A Handful of Nuts" is quintessential Ruskin bond work, carrying the simplicity and warmth that we have gotten used to in his work, it is loosely based on his struggling days as writer when he was about 21 years of age in Dehra.

"The Sensualist" is vastly different from any of the Ruskin Bond work, its philosophical in nature
that follows the journey of a man who goes from being rich and sex addict to being a caveman renouncing the material world or so he thinks

[GRUBBYRAMBLER · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book explored a timeline of when I was even born. A place close to my heart – Dehradun, as I also spend my summers as a kid there.
The sensualist explores how the notion of “me” can destroy a man.

[Ashmit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read, it’s really fun to see ruskin bond explore the more adult genre. It’s fun and the mature themes and storylines do manage to deliver an impact. However sometimes certain adult aspects of it feel a little forced and may make the reader cringe.

[Nathan Hurst · Rating 3 out of 5]

Classic Ruskin Bond: breezy yet introspective, brief yet deep.

[Manish · Rating 5 out of 5]

Strangers in the night is a collection of two novella's of Bond - "A Handful of Nuts' and 'The Sensualist'.

The 5 star rating is for the former. The latter would probably be just 2 in my opinion. In "...Nuts", Bond narrates a series of real life incidents which marked the 21st year of his life in Dehradun. A dhobi as a roommate, unemployed chums, the mother of his school crush with whom he shockingly loses his virginity, a travelling circus' members and the slow paced life in the hills made it such a pleasurable read. Finished it in one sitting.

In the "Sensualist", a 30 year old who lived a life devoted to the pursuit of sex suddenly ends up losing his virility and decides to spend the rest of his life in a cave with opium for company. He narrates his escapades to a wanderer who chances upon him in the cave. Weird for my liking!

[Siddharth Nishar · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first story, A Handful of Nuts, is a typical Bond treat. It invokes nostalgia heavily even though you are pretty sure you weren't alive in the 1950s. It is a coming of age story that weaves around absolutely nothing and everything at the same time.

The second story, The Sensualist, is much longer than it needs to be. It felt like Bond was experimenting with a bunch of literary devices since a lot of it seemed novel (not just the fact that he was trying to discuss sex). The end result was underwhelming despite a nice resolution. One of those stories that suffered from an extended narrative.

[Aruna Kumar Gadepalli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two novellas meant for the adults. The author is know for his fiction for children makes these novellas interesting without loosing his writing styles known for witty and narrative style.

[Aatmaja · Rating 3 out of 5]

good