So it goes now without saying that i love love Ruskin bond writing, the use of language, the flow of words, the smoothness of landscape, its just something i found my peace in.
so moving on, the book has around, 11 stories, from different writers.
-Jerome K Jerome- the dancing partner
This is a beautiful story, showing the 'have it all' of human mind, the confusion, the perfect desires. In this a girl wishes to dance with a partner who doesn't get tired of her dancing, who can keep up a conversation with her, who can hold her waist tight enough and make her heart to feel light enough to rise above the ground and twirl. A great toy maker hears this and decides to create his greatest piece. But the situation takes a different turn when the toy boy dances with the girl, fulfilling her wishes, to the point where she forgets to stop, and he cannot feel the emotion of blood.
About the author- An author, play writer, editor, from England (2 may 1859- 14 June 1927) his forte was humour and though he began poor but he walked great. His best one is three man on a boat which he wrote soon after his honeymoon in a boat
O Henry, the story is named, the gift of magi.
Its actually a very famous story of how a woman sells her beautiful hair that she had grown with love and care, which her beloved loves, to get him something expensive for Christmas. And in return the husband who loves his wife so much wants to give his wife a lovely gift. So he gets her a comb. Its the epitome of irony and one of the most beautiful tale of gifts.
william Sydney porter, with the pen name o Henry, (11 September 1862- 5 jun 1910) a resident of US is better known for his short stories like, the gift of magi, the duplicity of Hargraves, the ransom of red chief and the novel cabbages and the king. His writings are witty, with a naturalistic observation and surprise ending. An award from porter's legacy called O Henry award is presented to great short stories.
-Mrs Moleswarth - the man with the cough
A beautiful loosely tied together story, where a man on a mission to deliver confidential papers to another country travels through the train through a time and space which feel unreal, where he reacgnises only one person, the man with cough, whether it keeps him at ease and disturbs his mind he can't figure out, and then he reaches the right location in a wrong train. The language is crisp. And at last when he reaches to deliver the papers he again hears that cough which puts him on reel and he feels a pit forming in his stomach. Going against the dealers on the other side of the table he decides and take a stand in a scary environment only to find out that he actually did the right thing and by that saved the information from falling in wrong hands.
About the author- Mary Louisa Molesworth (29 may 1839- 20 jan 1921) Netherlands, better known for tell me a story, carrots, tapestry room, a Christmas child, is also called the Jane Austen of the nursery.
-Saki- laura
Oh boy, this was an interesting one. So the story starts with a lady on her death bed, where she announces that she might be an otter in her next life as she has committed some very selfish sins. But that is who she is. May be next to next life has might be born as a human again. Next during and after she is engraved an otter creates havoc in their poultry who is caught later and killed. Days later the narrower gives birth to a child, who is no less than a devil in reincarnate.
About the author- a pen name for hector hugh Munro ( 18 December 1870- 14 November 1916) witty, mischievous writer of British India (Burma), raised in England.
-Frank Stockton- the lady or the tiger
So this story is set on a monarchy back drop where the king has different layout to punish his convict where he throws them in an arena, filled with people on a circular podium. He allows him to decide his fate by letting him to choose a door, behind one stays a tiger while in other lies a beautiful bride, none the matter if he married or has a beloved. The heed takes another toll when the daughter of the emperor commits the sin of falling in love with a man of not equal. Though he was very handsome and capable, and any girl would have been bethrothed him, but the fate of doors waited for him. He had the utter faith that his beloved will help him choose but will she? Because if he gets the girl, she will have to bear seeing him get married off to someone else and if he is eaten she will have to live with his memory. What willl she choose and that is where the writer decided to leave us.
About the author- (5 April 1834 - 20 April 1902) from US popular for innovative children fairy tales, like ting A long (first). Instead of moralising he chose to humorously poke fun at greed, violence, abuse of power, and other human foibles. He won Lewis Carroll shelf award for th griffin and the minor canon. The lady or the tiger was one of his most famous tale.
-Mark twian- The great French duel
I tried, i tried to fall for this story but i could i just dont feel the language in my bones like i did for others. Its about a man who has to decide a weapon that can be used for his employer and his opponent to fight the battle which ends up in a way which he is not happy about. And when the battle happens they decide to name it the the war for country but when the times arrives, he flinches and the bullet its the man standing behind him, guarding his back that is his employee and he lands in hospital.
About the author- Samuel Langhorne Clemens, (30 November 1835- 21 April 1910), US bron, was an humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, lecturer, writer, known for the celebrating jumping frog of calaveras county.
-Edgar Allan Poe-The masque of the red death
Its deep to digest, and i am planning to back to it again but lets talk for now. So the story is set on a stage where the dancers are trying to portray something, an arrogant, egoistic man, the king, who is sitting there, watching the play. The dance unfolds with all the deeper technicalities of the moves, where the man who rules the land realises that there is someone of the stage whose appearance is resembling him. Anger, he tried to oppose but ended up in the same fate without anyones doing, as had been in the play, the death.
About the author- 19 jan 1809- 7 oct 1849, US based writer, poet, author, editor, literary critic, was one of the earliest practioner of short story writing. Through born with silver spoon he died with little to no money. He became a well known writer, married his 13 year old cousin, and died in a mysterious situation.
-Mussoorie mystery- Ruskin bond
So the backdrop is Mussoorie and the title goes, where a lesbian couple into mysticism and black magic dwell. But soon one of them is found death with heavy amount of poison and the other had to flee from the country along with the family doctor to save themselves. There seems to appearance of many sickness after that event which no one can establish a connection between but the narrator has a bad feeling about this and ends saying that only even onion Doyle was here with his Sherlock Holmes he might have punished the guilty.
-Ambrose Bierce- the death of halpin Fraser
So the story is about a man who was equally loved and neglected by his parents, while the mother was sometimes confused as his lover, his father dint bother much with him due his academic non inclination. He wanted to be a writer like his natal grandfather but ended up deep in a slump because of the lack of strength and jeal. Few people latter find out that his mother was murdered.
About the author-24 June 1842- 1914, US born writer, poet, journalist, American civil war veteran. The 100 greatest masterpieces of American literature, was given to his book named the devil's dictionary and the groiler club as well, he is also known for an occurance at owl creek bridge, including the above story and tales of solider and civilians, chickmauga.
-Guy de Maupassant- the man with the pale eyes
So a very serious, staidfast attorney meets a man, one day, with pale blue eyes, with dark skin. He dint sound like a negro or behave like one, his skin though black was smooth and he addressed his as a familiar person with one of his friend. While talking he confessed that he has committed two crimes and that the righteous leader can never make him confess it or put him jail. After he left he called the acquaintance and she called his optical illusion as such a person cannot exist. Few months later he meets him and he tellls him a story where he doubted his friends because all of them were into practical joke because of which he slept on the floor when the met and was showered with extra love, waiting for the explosion which happened when he was in deep sleep. He felt the whiskers and hot fluid and ran out, the voice called upon his other friends who could not stop laughing when everyone realised what had happened. It was the valet who had bought him morning and accidentally fell on him.
-Mary Shelley- the mortal immortal
Oh god! Okay this might be a very typical age old type of story but i am not going to shy away from telling that it has left an imprint of my mind. So the story starts with two childhood friends. After the girl was orphaned she was adopted by a rich lady who became a hag to marry her off to a rich man. Of course she agreed because she was disappointed by the man, his poorness, his rightfulness, she wanted luxury but later she realised her dismay when she saw the alchemist outside the boundary, she broke all the gates and ran to him but by then he wasnt the same man he had met before he had become immortal. The elixir which his master had prepared and abstained him from drinking, instead of waking him up in the oiling point he had consumed it. The time passed, and wrinkles appeared on her, she grew more envious of him but he could only accept her with everything. Later they had to move to another country in her fragile state as the closed ones around her had started abandoning then calling her for associating with evil. She passed away and he stayed trying to find people, meaning of all this. The writer end the story with a glimpse that he is up to something now which will either change the world for better or kill him.
About the author- 5 august 1850- 6 July 1893, a French author, better known for depicting destinies, social forces in disillusioned, human lives, and often with a pessimistic tone, has published around 300 short stories, six novels, 3 travel books.
