Angry River
Rating: 4.4/5
Author: Ruskin Bond
Publisher: Puffin Books
Publishing Date: 30th April, 1974
Language: English
Genre: Fiction
ISBN-10: 812911948X
ISBN-13: 978-8129119483
ASIN: 8129124556
Format: Paperback
Pages: 64
Cost: Rs. 102 (Paperback), Rs. 25 (Kindle edition)
Plot:
It was a small island in the middle of a big river and just large enough for Sita and her grandparents to live with their three goats, the hens, a vegetable patch and a peepul tree. But one day, the river flooded and took everything with it, including Sita.
How will Sita survive when the angry river sweeps her away?
This is a classic story of courage and friendship, in a completely new look.
Review:
Angry River is a 1972 children's novel by Indian author Ruskin Bond illustrated by Trevor Stubley. It was published in India and England and translated into Dutch, French, and Hindi.
Angry River is a simple story about the flooding of an island and nearby villages and its impact on Sita, the little girl. Even though the story may seem simple and plain, it has deep rooted meanings hidden in it. It talks about how life even after struck by extreme calamities can never stop for anyone and how people have no choice but to start afresh.
It talks about how nature can flip all of a sudden - calm and peaceful one moment and boiling with anger the next. It also talks about how strength of character it needs to be mature and handle things when not in your favour. Besides, it shows a beautiful relationship between a grandchild and grandparents.
Another relationship aspect of the book is the relationship between Sita and Krishna, her saviour. Ruskin Bond has an excellent ability of making his characters meet in strange and bizarre situations and then forming a wonderful relationship among them.
Meena Khorana in her study of Ruskin Bond's life and works cites Angry River as an example of his works' rootedness in the culture and traditions of India.
This book has some of the many wonderful illustrations. The book length counts to barely 65 pages but enough to make you relive those childhood days.
About the Author:
Ruskin Bond was born in Kasauli in 1934. He grew up in Jamnagar, Dehradun and Shimla, worked briefly in Jersey, London and Delhi and moved to Mussoorie in the early 1960s to write full time. One of India’s best loved and most popular authors, Ruskin Bond has written over a hundred books of fiction, non-fiction and poetry, including the best-selling classics Room on the Roof (winner of the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize), A Flight of Pigeons, The Blue Umbrella, Time stops at Shamli, Night Train at Deoli, Our Trees Still Grow in Dehra (winner of the Sahitya Akademi Award) and Rain in the Mountains. He was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India in 1999 and the Padma Bhushan in 2014.
