The Final Adventures of Professor Shonku

by Satyajit Ray, Indrani Majumdar (Translator)

Just at the stroke of the half hour, the floor under our feet shook, and in that very instant, the sphere exploded into a thousand bits and scattered on the floor. Then, from the ruins was heard an eerie, disembodied voice declaiming, 'I know what comes after death!'[/b]
In this last volume of Professor Shonku's escapades, the brilliant and benevolent scientist travels around the world once more to face near death situations. Each nerve wracking experience is faithfully recorded in his diary. We learn of Shonku being outwitted by his own invention, the [i]Tellus[/i] computer; his helplessness when his arch-rival in Rome deliberately misplaces his wonder drug, [i]Miracurall[/i]; and the thrilling discovery of a [i]three-and-a-half-thousand-year-old[/i] sparkling diamond necklace and a papyrus in an ancient tomb in Cairo. Join the incredible Shonku on his many exhilarating adventures accompanied by his two long-time friends, his feline companion Newton, and his faithful retainer, Prahlad.
Presented in a brilliant translation by Indrani Majumdar and the late author, this volume brings alive the wildly imaginative world of the weird and wonderful Professor Shonku.

Genres: Fiction, Adventure

253 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2020

About the author

Satyajit Ray (Bengali: সত্যজিৎ রায়) was an Indian filmmaker and author of Bengali fiction and regarded as one of the greatest auteurs of world cinema. Ray was born in the city of Calcutta into a Bengali family prominent in the world of arts and literature. Starting his career as a commercial artist, Ray was drawn into independent filmmaking after meeting French filmmaker Jean Renoir and watching Vittorio De Sica's Italian neorealist 1948 film, Bicycle Thieves.

Ray directed 36 films, including feature films, documentaries and shorts. He was also a fiction writer, publisher, illustrator, calligrapher, graphic designer and film critic. He authored several short stories and novels, primarily aimed at children and adolescents.

Ray's first film, Pather Panchali (1955), won eleven international prizes, including Best Human Documentary at the Cannes Film Festival. This film, Aparajito (1956) and Apur Sansar (1959) form The Apu Trilogy. Ray did the scripting, casting, scoring, and editing, and designed his own credit titles and publicity material. Ray received many major awards in his career, including 32 Indian National Film Awards, a number of awards at international film festivals and award ceremonies, and an Academy Award in 1992. The Government of India honoured him with the Bharat Ratna in 1992.

Early Life and Background:
Ray's grandfather, Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury was a writer, illustrator, philosopher, publisher, amateur astronomer and a leader of the Brahmo Samaj, a religious and social movement in nineteenth century Bengal. Sukumar Ray, Upendrakishore's son and father of Satyajit, was a pioneering Bengali author and poet of nonsense rhyme and children's literature, an illustrator and a critic. Ray was born to Sukumar and Suprabha Ray in Calcutta.

Ray completed his B.A. (Hons.) in Economics at Presidency College of the University of Calcutta, though his interest was always in Fine Arts. In 1940, he went to study in Santiniketan where Ray came to appreciate Oriental Art. In 1949, Ray married Bijoya Das and the couple had a son, Sandip ray, who is now a famous film director.

Literary Works:
Ray created two of the most famous fictional characters ever in Bengali children's literature—Feluda, a sleuth in Holmesian tradition, and Professor Shonku, a genius scientist. Ray also wrote many short stories mostly centered on Macabre, Thriller and Paranormal which were published as collections of 12 stories. Ray wrote an autobiography about his childhood years, Jakhan Choto Chilam (1982). He also wrote essays on film, published as the collections: Our Films, Their Films (1976), Bishoy Chalachchitra (1976), and Ekei Bole Shooting (1979).

Awards, Honors and Recognitions:
Ray received many awards, including 32 National Film Awards by the Government of India. At the Moscow Film Festival in 1979, he was awarded for the contribution to cinema. At the Berlin Film Festival, he was one of only three to win the Silver Bear for Best Director more than once and holds the record for the most Golden Bear nominations, with seven. At the Venice Film Festival, he won a Golden Lion for Aparajito(1956), and awarded the Golden Lion Honorary Award in 1982. In 1992 he was posthumously awarded the Akira Kurosawa Award for Lifetime Achievement in Directing at the San Francisco International Film Festival.

Reviews

[Vikas Singh · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a delightful collection of 9 Sonkhu stories by Satyajit Ray- Tellus, Professor Rondi's time machine, Nefruder's tomb, Shonku and the Primordial Man, Shonkhu's date with history, Shonkhu and Frankenstein, Dr. Danielli's Discovery, Prophecies by Don Christobaldi and The tree with golden leaves. Beautifully translated in English by Indrani Majumdar, the first story Tellus has been translated by Ray itself. The illustrations by Ray make it a collector’s edition. Each story is set in a different location- Japan, Italy, Egypt, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Island in Pacific Ocean, London, and Kasauli.

[Aruna Kumar Gadepalli · Rating 4 out of 5]

With 9 stories of adventures of Prof. Shonku gives the readers a good vibe of science fiction.

[Trinanjana · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is very hard to describe all the emotions you go through when you are asked to talk about the book or author with whom your childhood is intricately associated. It is not just me who can equate with the impact of the works of Satyajit Ray. I can bet on my life that 90% of the Bengalis have atleast watched/read him. I do find it very difficult to talk when I have to review a work done by the masters. I am scared that I won’t be able to do justice that the book deserves.
You see, when I was asked to review this book I was jumping with joy cause its my childhood getting introduced to me in a new and fresh way. “Professor Shonku” does all sorts of things while making my imagination go wild. I remember how i was up late at nights simply because I was on a adventure with him. The power of Satyajit Ray's writing is so strong that even though things didn’t exist but I could visualise them scene by scene. If you watch any of his movies you can find how he gave importance to the minutest of the details. Do you want to know in how many formats I have experienced Professor Shonku? Through books, movies and last but not the least radio programs where they would perform audio drama. So I don’t want to talk about how the plot is. This is a part of my childhood and my childhood was beautiful. 
Something i always find is how regional works get lost due to the lack of translation or even worse improper translation. When I was reading the book I kept checking if I felt the same like I felt reading the original text. The answer would be a NO but the efforts the translator has put into it can be clearly seen. I loved how she went lengths in sketching up the plots. I liked the refreshing nature the book brought back and definitely would recommend reading.

[Aakanksha Mishra · Rating 4 out of 5]

The final adventures of Professor Shonku

This book is a collection of nine short stories and this was a very refreshing read for me. All of the stories were just amazing and I really enjoyed all of them. The stories' names are as follows- Tellus, Professor Rondi's Time Machine, Nefrudet's Tomb, Shonku and the primordial man, Shonku's date with history, Shonku and Frankenstein, Dr. Danielli's Discovery, Prophecies by Don Christobaldi, The Tree with Golden Leaves.
One story is about a supercomputer and the other is about the invention of time travel, while in one story Professor Shonku finds the secret to make gold, and in the other, he stumbles upon the rising from the dead formula of Frankenstein. Each story is filled with thrill, a new adventure, and fantasy.

This is an Indian science fiction novel written by Satyajit Ray. This book is the last one in three book series and even though I haven't read the other two books, I am very much excited to read them as I loved this book. The narration was beautiful and even though this was a translation of the author's original work it was wonderful. The language used was lucid and can be understood by even a beginner. The book is so captivating that it can be read in one sitting but I decided to read one story a day so that I could enjoy it even more. The way each story started and ended in a perfect manner is commendable.

The storytelling skills of the author are truly amazing and can keep you hooked. I so liked the cover of the book. It's simply cute and really nice. At last, I want to say that I would recommend this book to everyone.

[Manoj Unnikrishnan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book marks The Final Adventures of Professor Shonku by Satyajit Ray. Ray spellbinds the reader through these nine stories of wonder, as always. This book contains the following stories:

1. Tellus
2. Professor Rondi's Time Machine
3. Nefrudet's Tomb
4. Shonku and the Primordial Man
5. Shonku's Date with History
6. Shonku and Frankenstein
7. Dr Danielli's Discovery
8. Prophecies by Don Christobaldi
9. The Tree with Golden Leaves

I don't know if I've read all of the Shonku stories in the various books I've collected. Still, I'm glad I got to know Professor Shonku through these stories.

[Deepika M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing and adventurous short stories. Loved each one of them.

[Nikhil Nema · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like the simple writing and diary format of story telling. Very interesting stories and how simply they play out, I had a good time reading this book.

[KHLOARIS · Rating 4 out of 5]

Collection of sci-fi detective stories from the supernatural casebook of Professor Shonku - all written between 1978-90 by Satyajit Ray. Yes, the renowned Bengali filmmaker. His love for pulp crime, scientific brainteasers and oddball history shines strong. Since Professor Shonku’s debut in a 1961 newspaper serial, kids & adults have followed him through the decades in printed collections, comic books, cartoons, radio shows and films. The stories in this collection are short & sweet and will give you a lot to ponder, like why on earth don’t any of these stories have any women characters? All the characters are male. The way I understand it, Satyajit Ray did this as reference to some ancient religious text that also omitted female characters. It is very strange, and so are the stories.

In the story Tellus (1978) Professor Shonku must track down the world’s smartest robot, a sleek ball of AI chrome who suddenly gets a bad attitude. After rudely attacking its own security guard, it rolls off into a soccer field never to be seen again. In Rondi’s Time Machine (1985) Professor Shonku takes a trip into the past, where the act of murder is witnessed, as if through a mosquito-net haze. The past cannot be touched physically, only seen. With careful gaze Professor Shonku collects clues no court could ever admit as evidence. The Tree with Golden Leaves (1990) has Professor Shonku veering off into some pretty strange existential territory. It features historical figures like the anti-fascist Erich Fromm & pro-fascist Hermann Göring both sieg-heiling.