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Incredible Adventures of Professor Shonku
English (translation)
Original Bengali
Original Bengali
196 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1994
21 people are currently reading
596 people want to read
About the author
Satyajit Ray
678 books1,532 followersSatyajit 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
May 25, 2013
I have read it in Bengali(in which it was originally written). Undoubtedly, it is the greatest ever sci-fi series written in the history of Indian literature.It has all elements in it--mystery,thriller,science fiction,suspense, everything that you desire.Steven Spielberg has also based his film E.T. on one of it's story.
December 31, 2021
The Incredible Adventures of Professor Shonku
Satyajit Ray - Translator - Surabhi Banerjee
Rating 5/5
One of those beautiful books which I never came across as a kid and then time just went by. Now as a grown up reading these and enjoying them. Nothing more than a guilty pleasure. Satyajit Ray's writing opens up new horizons. Makes me want to read more about science, geography about various places he has mentioned in the book.
Such is the charm. Translation by Surabhi Banerjee does not dampen the beauty of the book. Much respect to Satyajit Ray, whom I have been a huge fan of. In this book reader gets to enjoy the journal entries of Prof Shonku which mentions his travels to many a place and the reader also gets to enjoy the bizarre happenings during his travels, expeditions or experiments. Presence of Nakurbabu has been welcome who can foresee future and warn about dangers lurking ahead.
Twists in the plot have been very interesting and each story is precise, compact and makes you seek more of such stories.
Cheers.
Satyajit Ray - Translator - Surabhi Banerjee
Rating 5/5
One of those beautiful books which I never came across as a kid and then time just went by. Now as a grown up reading these and enjoying them. Nothing more than a guilty pleasure. Satyajit Ray's writing opens up new horizons. Makes me want to read more about science, geography about various places he has mentioned in the book.
Such is the charm. Translation by Surabhi Banerjee does not dampen the beauty of the book. Much respect to Satyajit Ray, whom I have been a huge fan of. In this book reader gets to enjoy the journal entries of Prof Shonku which mentions his travels to many a place and the reader also gets to enjoy the bizarre happenings during his travels, expeditions or experiments. Presence of Nakurbabu has been welcome who can foresee future and warn about dangers lurking ahead.
Twists in the plot have been very interesting and each story is precise, compact and makes you seek more of such stories.
Cheers.
March 26, 2019
Nice mix of adventure, mystery, entertainment. May be the considered as the start of writings close to science fiction genre in India.
October 21, 2019
My first encounter with Prof Shonku and his companions..a brilliant introduction to the series, the translation does full justice to the original
July 13, 2022
One of the best sci-fi books for children.
March 30, 2023
This book is so creative - from AI to aliens, Satyajit Ray's imagination is truly impressive. The stories flow well and I enjoyed the characterisation and plots.
September 20, 2024
Good one ahead of its time
August 8, 2016
This book consists of journal entries written by Professor Shonku himself. While reading this book, you will find yourselves reading it from Professor Shonku's perspective. Professor Shonku is an Indian scientist who has endless interests in everything that is science related. He loves what he's doing and this book also emphasizes on how Professor Shonku deals with common ethical issues faced by scientists across the globe.
I would say that the only reason I didn't enjoy this book as much as I hope is because I am a bit too old for simplified science fiction. I believe if I read this when I was younger, I would enjoy it much better. While reading this, I have a lot of questions in my mind. Some of the responses by the characters didn't really make much sense to me. A lot can be questioned.
Since the book consists of short stories told by Professor Shonku, most of these short stories can be read on its own without having any relations to other short stories. There are very good ones but I read most of it without paying too much attention to the details or else, it would take bigger portion of my time to finish it. It could be because I am no longer a science student, so I found myself not interested at all in the detailings of the inventions mentioned in the book.
Also, I don't think this book has strong plots. There are so many things can be done with the stories but the stories keep on repeating on the same plots. Same kind of villains and issues.
Not just that, I found that the stories are monotonic. They have no feelings and surely, I can't feel anything at all. No excitement, no sadness. Not even surprised. I have no issues with Professor Shonku but I have no way to relate to his feelings. He is nice and I understand him, but I can't feel him. I have no sympathy or sadness for him. I'm simply sorry for this one character.
It could be due to the fact that the book is translated, which make sense to me. Maybe if I read the book in its original language, it would be more emotional. Or maybe, this kind of books are not meant to emphasize on emotions.
If you want something heavy yet not emotional, I surely suggest you this one. It will be even better if you have interest in science. Maybe you can relate to the characters more than I could.
I would say that the only reason I didn't enjoy this book as much as I hope is because I am a bit too old for simplified science fiction. I believe if I read this when I was younger, I would enjoy it much better. While reading this, I have a lot of questions in my mind. Some of the responses by the characters didn't really make much sense to me. A lot can be questioned.
Since the book consists of short stories told by Professor Shonku, most of these short stories can be read on its own without having any relations to other short stories. There are very good ones but I read most of it without paying too much attention to the details or else, it would take bigger portion of my time to finish it. It could be because I am no longer a science student, so I found myself not interested at all in the detailings of the inventions mentioned in the book.
Also, I don't think this book has strong plots. There are so many things can be done with the stories but the stories keep on repeating on the same plots. Same kind of villains and issues.
Not just that, I found that the stories are monotonic. They have no feelings and surely, I can't feel anything at all. No excitement, no sadness. Not even surprised. I have no issues with Professor Shonku but I have no way to relate to his feelings. He is nice and I understand him, but I can't feel him. I have no sympathy or sadness for him. I'm simply sorry for this one character.
It could be due to the fact that the book is translated, which make sense to me. Maybe if I read the book in its original language, it would be more emotional. Or maybe, this kind of books are not meant to emphasize on emotions.
If you want something heavy yet not emotional, I surely suggest you this one. It will be even better if you have interest in science. Maybe you can relate to the characters more than I could.
March 28, 2019
Professor Shonku was my first experience with SciFi world.
I loved the series because it encouraged me to stretch my imagination far and beyond. The series introduced me to time travel, spaceships, space travel, robotics, genetic engineering, and the concepts of utopian and dystopian worlds. For a girl of 6-7 it was wonderful and as a 30 something year old I still find it funny at times and entertaining always.
I loved the series because it encouraged me to stretch my imagination far and beyond. The series introduced me to time travel, spaceships, space travel, robotics, genetic engineering, and the concepts of utopian and dystopian worlds. For a girl of 6-7 it was wonderful and as a 30 something year old I still find it funny at times and entertaining always.
July 18, 2014
The ideas behind these stories are fantastic but I think the translation ruined the seriousness behind them. I'm sure these would've sounded terrific in Bengali. The English translation is strictly only for young readers.
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November 14, 2013very good book
March 8, 2018
The language and style of writing is simple yet really lucid. The stories are well detailed with some good references. This professor's inventions are remarkable.
June 19, 2012
A simple yet intriguing sci-fi book on the adventures of one Prof Shonku - the genius scientist.
October 28, 2014
Solely Sci-fi, but manages to charm any young reader. I wish Prof. Shonku were real!
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews