Out of India: Selected Stories
by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
On This Page
Description
Chosen by The New York Times Book Review as one of the best books of 1986, this volume of stories, selected by the author from her own early work, represents the essence of her Indian experience. Bearing Jhabvala's hallmark of balance, subtlety, wry humor, and beauty, these stories present characters that prove to be as vulnerable to the contradictions and oppressions of the human heart as to those of India itself.Tags
Recommendations
Member Recommendations
Member Reviews
As an Indian living abroad, I found the introduction quite a bit irritating. But don't let that stop you from reading the beautiful stories. Little love stories mostly with women protagonists, they are refreshingly real. Each story is like a little tour to a small town, a family home, a market place in India. Ruth's writing is full of realism. My favorite story is Rose Petals.
Not sure why these languished for so long on the bedside table, constantly set aside. The stories are very good but not grabbing. The satirical ones are best, esp. the ones with gurus but what I've found to be typical Jhabvala, the enigmatic ending, is every present.
Chekhovian, greater praise than which there is none. Each story is about love.
Ratings
Members
- Recently Added By
Author Information
58+ Works 4,150 Members
Ruth Prawer Jhabvala was born in Cologne, Germany on May 7, 1927. She had to emigrate to England in 1939 with her family because of their Jewish faith. She earned a degree in English literature at London University. In 1951, she married an Indian architect, moved to India and raised three daughters. She began writing in 1955 and has written a show more dozen novels. Several novels were set in India such as The Nature of Passion, Esmond in India, Travelers and The Householder, which was also her first motion picture project. Shakespeare Wallah was her first collaboration on an original project. She also wrote screenplays such as Roseland and Jefferson in Paris. Her other fiction works included In Search of Love and Beauty, Three Continents, Poet and Dancer, Shards of Memory, East into Upper East and My Nine Lives: Chapters of a Possible Past. She won numerous awards including Britain's Booker Prize for her novel Heat and Dust in 1975, the BAFTA award for Best Screenplay for the filmed adaptation of Heat and Dust in 1984, an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for A Room With a View in 1986, the Best Screenplay Award from the New York Film Critics Circle for Mr. & Mrs. Bridge in 1990, an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for Howards, the MacArthur Foundation Award in 1984 and the Writers Guild of America's Screen Laurel Award in 1994. She died on April 3, 2013 at the age of 85. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Awards and Honors
Distinctions
Common Knowledge
- Dedication
- For C.S.H.J. as always
- Original language
- English
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 231
- Popularity
- 140,889
- Reviews
- 3
- Rating
- (4.05)
- Languages
- English, German
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 10
- ASINs
- 1
