Memories of Hills and Dales

by Ruskin Bond

BRAND NEW, Exactly same ISBN as listed, Please double check ISBN carefully before ordering.

144 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2018

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

[Aruna Kumar Gadepalli · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a kind of person who lived and believes in the stories of small places, hills this collection makes his reader to believe so. 14 stories to the regular Ruskin Bond readers some of them are already told, still makes them reread.

[Vaibhav · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ruskin Bond is a lover of nature. Having spent most of his time in Dehra, Landour and Mussoorie, various tales of his has been set up amidst the lovely and solitude hills.
With his stories, the hills have danced to his tunes, insects and creatures have bathed in the monsoon rains and flora of the distant lands have smelled the evening breezes.

Everybody can write a good story provided he sees out the window into the town life around it. This book ‘Memories of hills and dales’ contains 14 short stories as narrated by Ruskin Bond somewhere set up in hills and mountains. He has captured the soul of hills and people living around them and presented to us so that we should also learn from the patience, resilience and their care free living.
Every moment is a learning and an experience in itself; it is up to us how we perceive it and make the best out of it. These stories are based on everyday life and the author lefts to us how we gain from their journeys.

Themes of compassion and care are analysed in stories like ‘Most beautiful’ – how a deformed boy Suresh is overwhelmed when he develops a friendship with narrator, how Binya – local village girl yearns for narrator’s affection on her death bed and worries for his aftermath loneliness.

Life is a box of chocolates; you do not know what you are going to get. Life is a turn of unexpected events that is reflected in his stories such as ‘His neighbour’s wife’, Who kissed me in the Dark – sweet mysterious tale of old teen age crushes.

Cheer yourself up in the Adventure stories such as The Glacier – tale of his trekking up in the snow-clad hills, ‘Tiger, Tiger, burning bright’ - a story of a Tiger; his hunting adventures; walks in the deep jungles of hills; his turnaround with villages and meeting a fateful end at last.

My favourite story was ‘love is a sad song’ – a love story immortalised in the hills beneath the sky.
He remembers Sushila in many of his short stories such as Time stops at Shamli and Love and Cricket, but this tale describes their initial meetings, falling in love in the deep valleys, making love in the waterfalls and encounters of bond with her family in Delhi.
It’s the longest story in the book written as an imaginary letter to Sushila making her remember the old times. He filled the romance in air, with sun shimmering, streams murmuring through his words.
His day with Sunil, Dinesh all forms a part of this story and the struggle to win her back is an exciting read.

Try to be a better person everyday and laugh at yourself. To be able to laugh and to be merciful are the only things that make man better than the beast.
Some memories are best left untouched. Try to make good memories in life so when you look back at your life, the sweetness of mangoes and the toxic smell of your loved one are all that should come to your mind.

[Gayathri Jayakumar · Rating 5 out of 5]

As always, Ruskin Bond never ceases to enchant with his penmanship. The simple stories, all like picked out from little pockets in the heart are as welcoming and alluring as the Spring. Many a time have I found myself read and re-read through lines that were aesthetically and philosophically so accurate that I had to let my mind feast on the beauty crafted in language. The mellow tones of understanding, even while cloaked in the tales for juvenile are sure to open up portals into the mysteries of the world that have been given a shade of fantasy and an air of mysticism. Life itself looks enchanting through his observations. I have always felt this writer inspires an innocent hope of beauty in all things even while deep inside me the world is as plain and dry as it can get, it takes on a different, brilliant shade once eyes feast on the magic served in his works.

[Ekta Kubba · Rating 5 out of 5]

'There is always something to say about a place you've been for long and where you have been happy. It makes you want to record some of those events and the people involved in them.'

And this is what our favourite hill-man is doing for so many years. He lives in a small town, and is observant of everything around him, especially outside his window. And this window to the world when takes shape of alphabets on his writing pad, the world seems mesmerized.
Mr. Bond never fails to dazzle his readers with his stories. One feels totally enraptured after reading enchanting words from the pen of Mr. Bond. This book is one such book that creates its spell on readers. No matter some stories one must have read earlier, but you can't skip the pages without reading these again. All the stories are captivating and have feel-good factor. The stories are from hills, and the various shades of life on hills. There's happiness and there's sorrow. There is one majestic tiger, a cunning crow, and some loving owls. There's beautiful and mysterious damsel and there's lost love. There are some ordinary people who make life extraordinary with their simplicity. There's adventure and there's stillness and peacefulness of surroundings. The stories are such that one can't resist reading more than once.

[Shruti Raina · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first Book of Ruskin Bond, a set of 14 short stories from the Hills and Dales, and love the writing style. Each story opens a window to a separate life perspective. In "Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright", when the "maharaja" of the jungle is struggling with his hunger, one can see the effects of mankind on the habitats of the animals and their struggle. The king of the jungle also struggles under the rule of humans. With "A Crow for All seasons" you can understand how crows survive along with humans updating their ways of living as required. In"Most Beautiful", the impact of society not accepting someone who is not "beautiful" as per their standards is portrayed. These are just the one that were my favorites. Each short story in the book has something to give.

[Ritika Sarkar · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you want to experience the simple riches of life, read this book.
This easy-to-understand anthology presents stories filled with varied emotions and meanings, making you feel happy, sad, hurt, angry — and above all, human.
Ruskin Bond always has a way of melting and mending the heart.

Memories of Hills & Dales – 3.8/5 🌟

[Debasmita Dey · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book consists of many short stories, each bringing a light breeze of refreshment. Each story unravels the marvelous layers of the writer's imagination. The stories are just apt for light reading. Once again became fan of Ruskin Bond.