The Kitemaker: Stories By Ruskin Bond
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I had heard a lot about Ruskin Bond, so picked up this short collection of stories. The style is very endearing, and easy to read. I can see why he became a known author. The stories themselves are very varied. A couple I just did not like at all, but most were written in the first person. The start was autobiographical, and so the most interesting stories for me were those where weird and wonderful characters turned up, and I was never sure if he was still being autobiographical or not! Ruskin Bond Its a great collection of stories by Mr. Bond.
All stories are more than just interesting. I enjoyed all of them, but quite scared when reached to the 'A face in the dark'. That's somewhat scary. Short but SCARY.
The story I enjoyed the most are:
Life with Father
Time stops at Shamli
The Tunnel
The most funny was the The Boy who broke the Bank.
The writing skills of Mr. Bond is far better than any other Indian writers of his times. Very well known as the Children's Writer, Mr. Ruskin bond is the epitome in his category of Literature. One should learn from his writing for how to mold the stories and how to become one good writer?
This is the first book of him, that I read and it amazed me to the depth. Very soon I'll pick one more from his shelf of classics.
For me it deserves: 5.0/5.0
Ruskin Bond The best thing about reading Ruskin Bond is his simple yet compelling art of narrating the details of the surroundings that we usually miss out. This book is a collection of some of his acclaimed short stories. Three of them are on his autobiographical account describing his correspondence with his father, his father's love towards him and how the failed marriage set off ripples of insecurity and stress on his childhood.
There are a couple of stories which reveals his romantic side. An affair at an age of 32 gives this author a reason to leave the hills for Delhi to convince the girl's relatives for her hand in marriage.
The ones that I liked the most are 'Time stops at Shamli' and 'He said it with Arsenic'.
If anyone enjoys reading short stories which give you a nice, lively feeling with fleeting bits of humor, this one is surely a treat for you. Ruskin Bond Reading Bond is always an adventure, of the slow kind. One can feel time slowing down its pace as one goes over his carefully chosen words. This one is a collection of his short stories that has accrued the status of 'classics' over time, as well as a few autobiographical entries. Because I grew up on his stories, I remember most of the shorts and it was a joy going over them again. Reading this edition, in particular, had the effect of hearkening me back to an older, simpler time - a time I was not a part of but had yet managed to catch a last breath of before its extinguishment by our current modern days. It is a mark of an excellent writer if they can transport you to another time and move your emotions through words; Bond achieves this with remarkable ease. The simplicity that he is master of eases its way into hearts and settles in cozily, and his style of writing with his fluid movement across genres mischievously makes sure the reader is engaged throughout. The selection of stories is also excellent, as the book begins with reminiscences about his father and closes on his mother in the hospital bed. Complex emotions are given the most magical of touches through the sheer humanness that Bond captures so well - life, love, death and laughter are all intertwined and given lives of their own. Little wonder, then, that this book is now occupying a special spot in my heart.
If you liked my review, do feel free to stop by my Instagram here! Ruskin Bond was there really a leopard in the tunnel ? i just adore whatever ruskin bond writes . every single story of this collection captivates imagination . i love the way ruskin describes solitude , how beautifully he creates those unbelievable images in readers mind .
KUDOS to ruskin bond . >_< Ruskin Bond
Well this is the first book of Ruskin Bond I have read. And it is very good. All stories are well written and what I love most about this book is Ruskin’s great style of narrating details of the surroundings. I enjoyed almost all the stories. Though which I liked most are:
Life with Father
My father’s last letter
The photograph
Time stops at shamli
The kitemaker
He said it with Arsenic
The last time I saw Delhi
..
Must Read. If you like short stories then this book is a treat for you.!! Ruskin Bond “It's fine to dream, provided we can deal with the reality when we wake up”.
Published by Evergreen classics, The Kitemaker: Stories, comes another of Bond’s compilation of 13 short stories, which like him are immortalized in the pages of history by his ball point pen.
Harmony of two minds is what makes relationships endure. His stories reflect his failed love stories and sometimes a regret of being a bachelor all his life. The first two stories are autobiographical in nature and tells his relationship with father, his early years in Jamnagar and Delhi and also has an extract of his last postcard from his father before dying two weeks after, an extract bearing the conversation with his dying mother and many more stories.
The title of this book comes from a famous story about a kitemaker, Mehmood, who was a renowned kitemaker of his times, even served the Nawabs of his times. Bond in his story mentions about the times when men flew kites, great battles were fought, the kites swerving and swooping in the sky, tangling with each other until one of them was severed. Theme of changing times has been explored as to how people worship you in your famous and good times but then forgot you eventually when you are no longer in your prime and as your grow older. A coming-of-age tale finely woven into a narrative, thoughtful and provoking, emphasizing about the sad realities of life.
Be it any book or any stories, Ruskin Bond books are hard to turn down. I found this book on the internet through an unexpected advertisement popping on my screen but I am glad it did and that too on the right time.
An exhilarating and a refreshing read, filled with characteristic warmth, gentle humour and keen observation on daily life, mixed with a tinge of nostalgia, sweet and sour memories of his childhood, immerse yourself in the world of India’s favorite author once again.
Ruskin Bond This collection is really interesting, though all the stories are good
I like the following stories
1. The Boy who broke the bank
2. The Kitemaker
3. A face in the dark
4. He said it with arsenic
5. The last time I saw Delhi
Ruskin Bond “The Kitemaker: Stories” (by Ruskin Bond, publishers: Penguin Evergreens)- A Review
The first story, ‘Life with Father’, is a fitting start to the book. At once, in its beguiling simplicity and compassionate monochrome, it embodies all good things Ruskin Bond has come to be known for. In this story, he paints the picture of a year spent with his father. It is a picture in retrospect, painted not with CGI but on a drawing sheet with water colors, 32 in a set. The story tangentially also speaks about the days of the ‘Raj’, Ruskin’s life in a boarding school (more of this life would be depicted in the next story, ‘My Father’s Last Letter’), the separation of his parents, tidbits about his sister and grandmother and importantly, the various houses (and bungalows and tents and apartments) Ruskin and his father lived in, during an eventful year when as the World War-II raged on, a young boy’s world was breaking apart as well.
‘Untouchable’, also included in the collection is the first story Ruskin Bond had written. Written as a sixteen year old and a year before ‘Room on the Roof’, his John Llewellyn Rhys prize winner that would break him into the mainstream, ‘Untouchable’ is a disarmingly awkward account of the friendship between two children, each from different strata of society. The theme of friendship is further explored in the fifth story, ‘The Fight’, that evokes R.K. Narayan’s ‘Malgudi Days’ in its wholesome charm and innocence.
‘Time stops at Shamli’ is perhaps Bond’s best loved story. And it pleases me no end that it has aged well. Playing around with facts and fiction, this story tells the untold tale of a small, languid town where nothing much ever happens. ‘Shamli’ is intriguing because we realize that it has come to become a microcosm of the other India we know so little about, the India that grazes by our urbane train windows and continues to lead a life of anonymity, the India that would soon be lost on us like Atlantis. Yes, the second act is probably contrived, but the atmosphere that the author manages to create is unparalleled and the story is a success.
‘The Kitemaker’ takes me back to my school days because I remember having read this story in our those N.C.E.R.T standard seven English books. Nostalgia aside, this again is a strong short story, a commentary on the changing times, migration and industrialization. Mehmood, the story’s protagonist, is a composite picture of many lost souls in this rat-race.
‘A Face in the Dark’ is another famous Bond story, a story you may have heard of as some urban legend, while not knowing then who the author was. Well, here is that very story and it is just as scary in print as it is in narration. ‘He said it with Aresnic’ is almost a misfit in the collection: a dark, noir-ish tale of a planned crime and its consequences. It is quite a gripping tale in its own way but not the quintessential Ruskin Bond.
‘The Last Time I Saw Delhi’ is a touching end to the collection, with the author (or the narrator, difficult to say which one) describing a taxi-ride he had taken in one late-August to meet his mother in Delhi. Again, the story talks about the burgeoning urbanity and how it is impacting the things and people of yore. He succeeds in making the reader so disarmed with his non-threatening prose that if and when he does make statements on capitalism, education and politics, then the reader is quietly receptive to give those statements the gravitas they deserve because Bond rarely rants or lashes. He describes and he describes so heartbreakingly.
“The Kitemaker: Stories” is a must-read collection of short stories by one of India’s foremost storytellers. Ruskin Bond Ruskin Bond is and will be my all time favorite author. I'm not an avid reader. But Bond's easy but intense stories made me read more. This is a collection of amazing short stories by Ruskin Bond. My favorite story in this collection is Love is a sad song ❤ it's been a really different experience, crying your heart out after reading a book with our imaginary characters in our imaginary world. Must read book for short story lovers and all readers. Ruskin Bond
Filled with characteristic warmth, gentle humour and keen observations on daily life, this collection brings together some of the finest short fiction by one of India’s best-loved authors. The Kitemaker: Stories
