Our Trees Still Grow In Dehra - Book Review

-

Book - Our Trees Still Grow In Dehra

Author - Ruskin Bond

  Publisher - Penguin Books

Pages - 108

How long it took me to read - 7 days 



Review :-  It is a collection of 16 short stories taken from various life stages of the author himself. As all his stories are, the stories in this book too have elements of friendship, love, bonhomie, natural beauty and vivid humor in them. Few stories that I cherished are :-
1. Escape from Java - Its about the author's memories of World War 2, how he and his father got out of the island and the people he left behind . The story is full of little emotional bursts.

2. Untouchable - This story is heart warming and never fails to make me smile. How much a human needs another irrespective of the caste/creed they belong to, is the lesson of this story.

3. The Last Tonga Ride - It portrays friendship and natural beauty so vividly that I felt like I'm a part of the story! 

4. Calypso Christmas - Celebrating a festival far from your family is tough but it can be turned into an absolute joy if we take in some strangers! This story teaches you just that.

5. From Small Beginnings -
           "As I walked home last night
              I saw a lone fox dancing
               In the cold, moonlight...
          ...I'm like a lone fox dancing 
               In the morning dew."
These lines beautifully capture the essence of this story and Ruskin's life, he felt lonely and longed for a companion. The story also throws light on the author's family with whom he lives presently.

I also adored these stories - What's your dream?, Death of the Trees, The bar that time forgot and Desert Rhapsody. 

One story I felt not worth finding a mention in this book is Binya Passes By. Its just a personal opinion but I think such an awkwardly romantic story wasn't needed here.

General Rating - 4/5 

Emotional Appeal - 4/5

Entertainment Quotient - 5/5


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Night Of Happiness - Book Review

-
Image
Book - Night Of Happiness Author - Tabish Khair   Publisher - Picador (PanMacmillan) India Pages - 154 How long it took me to Read - 2 days Isn't it a gorgeous cover ?! Review -  This was quite a short read and could've been finished in a day if I didn't had other works to do, but as it went, I read it in two days. This was my first read by Tabish Khair and I fairly enjoyed it. The book has elements of suspense, surprise and mystery ,just as it says on the blurb of the book.  It deals with a pragmatic entrepreneur - Mr. Anil Mehrotra and his right-had - Ahmed. A mysterious story is formed around the latter which the former seeks to resolve and know the truth about his old friend. Ahmed is said to have no wife but then is suspected to have kept his wife imprisoned as Mr. Anil gets to know him more.  Is Ahmed innocent? Or is he a culprit? You need to read the story in order to find out the truth!  Now coming to what I liked about this book. First
Read more

Little Women - Book Review

-
Image
Book - Little Women Author - Louisa May Alcott Publisher - Penguin Classics Pages - 248    How Long It Took Me To Read - 7 days Insta: @bookbeliever Review - I don't know what should I start with, the unique characters or the beautiful plot! Probably I should start with when this story is set and where. So, lets begin and see where this goes. "Little Women" - the story of 4 sisters- Meg (the lady), Jo (tomboy, wanna-be author), Beth (homely and warm) and Amy (spoiled, charming). It is set during the civil wars (1860's) in England.    It is said that these 4 girls are writer and her sisters.  The novel discovers ordinary life of this family in extra-ordinary situations, it depicts the contradictions arising in the lives of these girls. It also has elements of young love, sacrifice and family bonding to it. What I Liked - First of all, I loved the contrasting characters of the 4 sisters and though all of them were adorable at some or th
Read more

Black Beauty - Book Review

-
Image
Book - Black Beauty Author - Anna Sewell Publisher - Penguin Classics Pages - 193 How Long It Took Me To Read -  4 days Review -    "...he said that cruelty was the devil's own trademark, and if we saw any one who took pleasure in cruelty, we might know who he belonged to...On the other hand, where we saw people who loved their neighbours, and were kind to man and beast, we might know that was God's mark, for 'God is Love'."  The story is about Black Beauty, a horse. It explores his feelings as he grows up, passing from one hands to another, being used by humans with  different attitude  for different purposes. It throws light on the relationship we humans share with mock and "dumb" animals.  Its both heart warming and heart wrenching, depending on various anecdotes given. I loved the writing style adopted by the author and how she made me feel the emotions and feelings of a horse so deeply. If you love animals and
Read more