A FLIGHT OF PIGEONS: A review
The Commentator says; A Flight of Pigeons is a short novel says the publisher in one of those unqualified statements in the blurb. This book, in truth, could easily qualify for a novella. The Old Man and the Sea is a novella; a long story that is not a short story in its scope. A Flight of Pigeons also gives off a similar vibration. Author Ruskin Bond carefully constructs the historical tale of Ruth Labadoor and her family’s escapades during the massacre that took place during the first war of Indian Independence in 1857. Ruskin Bond is charming with his simple and lucid narrative style. Ruth’s family, although Christian, has Muslim roots. The Commentator feels that this may be unheard of in the West, a church-going family with Muslim relatives. It is also unheard of in the Indian subcontinent, where a Muslim family could never be related with a church-going Christian family. The story is set in Shahjahanpur, a small town. There is a sense of relevance in this the...