Scan barcode
fishingbooksproceed's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
neeki's review against another edition
4.0
Satyajit Ray is undoubtedly a master storyteller. This book is a collection of 49 wonderful stories written by Satyajit Ray. The versatility of the stories throughout this book left me amazed with a lot of mystery, a pinch of humor, a bit of supernatural, and sci-fi. It was a delight to read each story with its own twists and turns, I loved the quirky humor in the stories. Some stories were so good, they compelled me to think about human behaviour, why we do what we do...overall it was a fantastic reading experience. Some of my favourites from this collection are 'The Pterodactyl's Egg', 'Patol Babu, Film Star', 'Barin Bhowmick's Ailment', and 'Fotikchand'.
peanotsilent's review
4.0
Satyajit Ray was a clever writer- his twists are fun, his plots crisp with nary a sentence wasted, and it is not surprising he and Dahl were contemporaries. However, much more than his cleverness, he was a kind writer. He doled justice, pity, charity, humour, friendships, and comfort like a kindly god, marvelling at the eccentricity of the world, but always fair.
I take away one star because apparently there is no space for a story featuring a woman. The prevailing societal norms might not have allowed women free-wheeling adventures around a lush Bengal countryside (Satyajit Ray continues to slyly use his literature to highlight the lesser-known delights of Bengal tourism), but it is hard to believe no woman ever faced a spook or missed an old friend or had an interesting enough experience for her to feature in this collection. Other than that, this is a rather delightful collection of stories and cannot be more highly recommended.
I take away one star because apparently there is no space for a story featuring a woman. The prevailing societal norms might not have allowed women free-wheeling adventures around a lush Bengal countryside (Satyajit Ray continues to slyly use his literature to highlight the lesser-known delights of Bengal tourism), but it is hard to believe no woman ever faced a spook or missed an old friend or had an interesting enough experience for her to feature in this collection. Other than that, this is a rather delightful collection of stories and cannot be more highly recommended.
More...