Love among the bookshelves, Author: Ruskin Bond, Publisher: Penguin Books
Nausheen Rahman
Ruskin Bond is not known as "Our very own resident Wordsworth in prose" and "one of India's best-loved writers" without good reason. The list of popular novels, novellas, short story collections, essays, articles, poems, children's books, he has penned, is a very long one, indeed. "Love among the Bookshelves", which is an anthology-cum-memoir, can be considered one of his most interesting works.
This book is a delightful one for a number of reasons: his remarkably witty and arresting style, his talking about the writings of different authors, extracts from some writers' works, the impact of certain books and authors on him when he was a young boy and as he grew older, and most importantly, his bringing to life the characters (mostly from classics), many of us also grew up with.
"Love among the Bookshelves" begins humorously and, in only 179 pages, gives us much to savour, to mull over and to hold to. It kept me captivated till the end. The conclusion is reflective and beautiful; albeit, the words are borrowed from "The Story of my Heart", by Richard Jeffries.
One of Bond's most endearing qualities is his lack of pretension. A blurb in one of his books, "The Lamp is Lit. Leaves from a Journal", says "Ruskin Bond has championed simplicity and quietude in life and in art". In "Love among the Bookshelves", this facet of his is quite pronounced.
As I turned the pages, I felt I was flipping back the years -- going back in time -- to those happy days when reading was a privilege and a pleasure, and books our treasure and our friends in leisure. Bond's narration of incidents from his life, of his aspirations, his self-analysis and of his deep love of books, interspersed with excerpts from the works of some of his favourite authors. There are interesting bits of information about various writers, some of whom, we, in general, may not be familiar with. As a reader, I feel this is a service to all those who love books and their authors.
Bond makes a valid point about how short stories are remembered for longer than novels. He shares some of his very personal experiences and opinions with us -- in a way that is both appealing and enlightening. He also makes helpful observations about writing in the first-person singular. We learn that some of his early stories were read out by radio actors in London. His love for India shines through his writings. It was fulfilling to reread pieces from the works of P.G. Wodehouse, Somerset Maugham, Charles Dickens, etc., whose books my childhood home was filled with.
Recently, I had reviewed a book about a cat and recommended it to others (cat-lovers and non-cat-lovers). I believe firmly that the narration would have a positive impact on all who read it. Likewise, it is my conviction that Ruskin Bond's love of books is so contagious that his "Love among the Bookshelves" will cause book aficionados, as well as, those not too enthusiastic about reading, to fall in love with books, with authors, with reading. To top it all, it has a charming cover, very worthy of adorning our bookshelves.
Nausheen Rahman is a teacher and bibliophile
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