The Room on the Roof

by Ruskin Bond

Book Overview

Rusty, a 16-year-old Anglo-Indian boy, is dissatisfied with life in the declining European community at Dehra Dun. Unhappy with the strict ways of his English guardian, he runs away from home to live... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0143330799
• ISBN13: 9780143330790
• Release Date: September 2008
• Publisher: Penguin India
• Length: 173 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.0" x 6.9"

Customer Reviews

Great Novella For Kids

Ruskin Bond penned this novella when he was only 17 years old in 1951, and I think it is an excellent book for everyone but for young people in particular. The story started in this book is continued in "Vagrants In The Valley", and if you get this book, I suggest you also get "Vagrants" as it completes and complements this book nicely. Both books are semi-autobiographical and offer a very good glimpse into the "real India". Although it may be said to lack a certain depth or maturity, the book hold up surprisingly well with repeated readings due to its perennial freshness and wonder. We follow our young hero as he leaves a domineering and hostile, suffocating environment with his English guardian to explore the world beyond the protestant community that he was raised in. He essentially becomes a vagrant, but he discovers his freedom as well, and goes on to make friends with several other street children of the bazaar. He gets his first job, falls in love with an older woman, and grows a good deal in the book, before taking to the road and leaving his hometown when it no longer has anything to offer him. The end of the book will kind of leave you hanging if you don't read the sequel. By itself, I would give this book a three-star rating, but when combined with "Vagrants" I would promote it to a four-star. The innocence of a young writer and the yearning for adventure shine through particularly well in this little delight of a book.

Poignant, timeless

I read this book as part of my high school curriculum, many years ago. I have read it quite a few times hence. Bond brings out Dehradun so beautifully...

The Room On The Roof - by Ruskin Bond

This enchanting novel by Ruskin Bond is written in his trademark close-to-nature style. The world-renowned author writes from his true experience of the world. This story is autobiographical in nature.This novel takes the reader on a journey of rural India through the eyes of a 16-year old boy .The panorama of the advancing Indian Monsoon adds a melodious romance to the novel. Bond’s bold yet touching style of writing combined with the intriguing story and plot make this novel an engaging adventure. Winner of the John Llewellyn Rhys Memorial Prize in 1957, this book is a page-turner.Like the Indian bazaar itself, the book is filled with smells, sights, sounds, confusion and subtle organization of ordinary Indian life. Rusty, the hero of the novel is unhappy with his strict guardian & being confined to the declining Euopean community in Dehra Dun Finally, one day he is bold enough to venture into forbidden Indian Territory. He meets â€~Somi’ the Sikh boy. A boy of strange perpetual rejoices, he soon becomes Rusty’s best friend. â€~Ranbir’, Hindu by caste, and the strongest wrestler in the bazaar invokes in Rusty a rebellious spirit that earns him his freedom for life. Then there is Suri. Bespectacled and owlish to behold, Suri possesses an almost criminal cunning, and is both respected and despised by all who know him. His interests are confined to people and their privacies; which privacies, when known to Suri, are made public.After running away from home, his newfound friends’ shelter him and soon he gets a job as an English teacher of Mr. Kapoor’s son. Mr. Kapoor was once a rich man who has lost his job because of his addiction to alcohol. His only support is his lovely wife Meena who soon takes a special place in Rusty’s heart. But the most important member of the family is their son Kishan, who also becomes Rusty’s best friend. They have a lovely time together and Meena gives Rusty the best gift of his life. A lonely room on their house’s roof. His very own room! Scarcely furnished, but incredibly close to the Banyan tree, and nature in general. A place he could call home.He called it â€~ The room on the Roof ’ _______Review written by- Jatin Vij