Revisiting ruskin bond has made me so nostalgic for childhood.

To me Sudha Murthy and Ruskin Bond are quintessential for early and mid teens.

This volume brings together the best of Ruskin Bond’s prose and poetry. For over four decades, by way of innumerable novels, essays, short stories and poems, the author has mapped out and peopled a unique literary landscape. This anthology has selections from all of his major books and includes the classic novella ‘Delhi Is Not Far’.What review can you write about somebody whose mere name evokes a sense of nostalgia about the hills? Whose writing transports us directly into the markets of Dehrad...

I wanted to write this review for a long time but was holding back as my writing skills are not good enough to do justice to a writer of the stature of Ruskin Bond. No matter how many more great books that I read or things that I learn, Ruskin can never be replaced. Ruskin will always have a special place in my heart and let me explain why...Like any typical North Indian kid, I used to look forward to my summer holidays away form the school. I, along with my cousins, would rush to complete our s...

Happened to find this book by chance. Once I started reading it I was unable to put it down. The scenes from the mountains sounded a bit too familiar, and I got drifted off -- to the mountains which has always something to charm the weary soul. The writing is simple, the setting mundane, the characters too real, and the feelings right from the heart. All adds up to create a wonderful world. Every story is charming, may it be the squirrel trying to build a nest in Ruskin's pocket, or the owlet sn...

The book’s blurb reads: “This volume brings together the best of Ruskin Bond’s prose and poetry. For over four decades, by way of innumerable novels, essays, short stories and poems, the author has mapped out and peopled a unique literary landscape. This anthology has selections from all of his major books and includes the classic novella ‘Delhi Is Not Far’.What review can you write about somebody whose mere name evokes a sense of nostalgia about the hills? Whose writing transports us directly i...

You can't always put your thoughts into words, especially when you have just finished savoring the works of Ruskin Bond. You feel as light as a feather while reading them, no intense build up but just the right amount of cuddling under a quilt of words - it always feels the same. This time, it is more special as for the first time I encountered the beautiful poems by Bond. Also, travelogues are something that makes you go visit places like right now. A fabulous collection has been put together i...

Skipped poetry part, may be some other day!I love Ruskin Bond, his writing appeals to me. Whenever I need reminiscence about the good old days, I look to Ruskin Bond.Whenever I miss the simplicity of life in the hills, I read Ruskin Bond.Ruskin Bond reminds me of days when growing old was fun, something to look for each day/week/year. These days with lives filled with everything apart from simplicity and originality, I look for solace in the hills or at-least in Ruskin Bond's writing when I am i...

Bond with the best!

This book is very exhilarating and refreshing. Every time I read Ruskin Bond books, I fall in love with his writing style, especially his sheer observations on his surroundings. At the very beginning, I felt it’s a quite lengthy book, as I usually don’t prefer books having more than 400 pages, but reading this book didn’t make me feel like such. I was completely driven. Even this book is a collection of poems, essays, short stories, extracts from novels, travel experiences, and other two unpubli...

3.5 star ratingCan't say much except -Reaf the book yourself . Sometimes it got a little tiring and boring since i was so used to sci-fi , and too much adventure, but it was brought back on track of interesting with the next stories

This book is a collection of Bond's 6 novels as it says, namely- The Room on the roof, Vagrants in the Valley, Delhi is not Far, A flight of pegions, The Sensualist and A Handful of Nuts.As i began the first of the 6 novels- written by Bond when he was only 17!- I found myself being leisurely drawn into the world of this young orphan anglo boy as he drifted through his days in his quaint hilly town of Dehra. The story takes you on a journey with this boy, maintaining a relaxed pace, just like th...

This book is a set of carefully selected short-stories, travelogues, novellas and personal experiences of Ruskin Bond. If I am to enlist some Indian authors whom a student reads (other than his academic textbooks), then Ruskin Bond and Chetan Bhagat would be on the top. (Although I find Chetan Bhagat's writing a bit mediocre as it reminds me of Indian soaps and sub-standard story lines which don't invoke any emotions and lack depth). On the other hand, Ruskin Bond's lucid and happy-go-lucky writ...

“It is always the same with mountains. Once you have lived with them for any length of time, you belong to them. There is no escape.” – Ruskin BondThere are only a few writers who can make you yearn for a place that you have never been to before. And Ruskin Bond makes one ache for his beloved hills. The book “The Best of Ruskin Bond” is a collection of his different writings from various novels including his masterpiece “Delhi is not Far”. The book is warm, lucid, full of reminiscing, making you...

I am still reading this book, but since it is a collection of his essays and short stories, I can already tell that it will be a favorite book, and that I will want to read other books by this author. Having completed the book, it was a good read, and I enjoyed the perspective of the Indian author. Some of the words he used were unfamiliar to me, and my knowledge of the geography of his country is not as good as it should be. I feel some motivation to improve on this deficit!

A good winter read. I had read many if Ruskin Bond's short stories as a child. Reading the book again brought back a lot of memories... the stories still hold all their charm, the picture of hills, trees, flowers, birds and mountains are no less vivid... it transported me to a happy place, long gone.

I was fortunate enough to read this while in Kashmir, often overlooking the very ranges Bond is so found of. It makes for quite an experience, although Bond's chief strength is in weaving environments with simple words. His simplicity can awe the reader who has tried to write. However, what makes his stories stick is the tender honesty of the sentiment around which they are woven. The collection has poems, travelogues and essays in addition to the short stories. I found myself smiling at some of...

This book,as the name suggests, compiles some of the best works of Ruskin. The beauty of Bond’s writings lie in the simplicity of thoughts and clear presentation to the readers . He mostly writes on his own days, childhood, adulthood and on his contemporary times. He has beautifully put moments in stories which sometimes seems to be a mundane routine in one’s life. It is clear that a writer certainly has keen observatory skills over an average human being. Sometimes repetitions are visible but t...

It's taken me 25 days to finish my first book in the new year. Looks like the curse of 2020 hasn't been lifted yet. I'd never read anything by Mr. Bond before so this was overwhelming to my literary senses. Back to back stories, poems, novellas of Mr. Bond around the themes of friendship, nature and India can be a little too much. However, the simplicity and innocence dripping out of every page of his writing is refreshing. Mr. Bond is an author from a dying breed of writers who can personify th...

Ruskin Bond is James Bond of short stories. He is everything. Simple, clever and deep-sighted. At many occasions, he seems to be afflicted with strong homosexuality . Common man, so what! give him a break!Even in his very long stories like "Delhi is not far", he does not bore the reader by writing about the unnecessary details of the scenery or of the characters. The characters are simple and Bond never passes any judgments about them. He leaves it to the reader. The story flows very smooth. You...