Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love: Stories
by Rumer Godden, Jon Godden
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Description
A collection of stories set in India that explores themes of courage, the coming of manhood, the worship of different gods, and the clash of culture between East and West.Tags
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Member Reviews
Read during Summer 2003
A rather mixed bag of stories about life in Calcutta, Bengal and Kashmir. I'm not much of a short story reader and I found a few of them heavy handed. I was not familiar with Jon Godden but I'm not sure I would seek out her writing again. I think I'll keep to the short works of Isak Dinesen and Doris Lessing, which I enjoy much more.
A rather mixed bag of stories about life in Calcutta, Bengal and Kashmir. I'm not much of a short story reader and I found a few of them heavy handed. I was not familiar with Jon Godden but I'm not sure I would seek out her writing again. I think I'll keep to the short works of Isak Dinesen and Doris Lessing, which I enjoy much more.
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Author Information
88+ Works 15,215 Members
Margaret Rumer Godden was born Dec. 10, 1907, in Sussex, England. She was nine months old when her family moved to India, where her father ran a shipping line. She returned to London at age 20 to learn how to teach dance to children, and opened a school back in India. Returning to England while she was pregnant, she wrote her first book, "Chinese show more Puzzle," published in 1936. Her marriage to a stockbroker, Laurence Sinclair Foster, ended in 1941, leaving her penniless. In an effort to pay off her former husband's debts, Godden moved her family into a mountain cottage where she ran a school, made herbal teas for sale, and wrote books. Another novel of India, "The River," published in 1949, was one of her most acclaimed books and was made into a film by Jean Renoir in 1951. She returned to England to stay in 1945. Rumer Godden was the author of more than 60 books, including novels, short story collections, poetry, plays and non-fiction. She published her 21st novel, "Cromartie vs. the God Shiva," in 1997. Rumer Godden died a year later on November 8, 1998, in Thornhill, Scotland, at the age of 90. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
15+ Works 513 Members
Common Knowledge
- Original title
- Stories: Mercy, Pity, Peace and Love
- Alternate titles
- Mercy, Pity, Peace and Love; Indian Dust: Stories
- Original publication date
- 1990
- Important places
- Bengal, India; Calcutta, India; Kashmir, India
- Dedication
- For Sarasvati
- First words
- Sarasvati is India's goddess of pen and ink; even as children she was our favourite partly because, unlike other Hindu goddesses, Sarasvati is not always multiple-armed but usually modelled as a graceful young woman with flow... (show all)ing black hair; she is dressed in a tinselled sari and holds a vina, the beautiful stringed instrument like a long-necked guitar made from a gourd. Beside her is a swan, her symbol.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)It was the same when I was a child and will be the same when I am long gone but, then, the Hindi word for yesterday and tomorrow is the same.
~R.G.
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 36
- Popularity
- 795,207
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (3.25)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 5
