Contents: Preface. 1. Ruskin Bond's life and the shaping influences. 2. Ruskin Bond's vision of life. 3. His treatment of nature. 4. His Indianness. 5. His children stories. 6. His art of characterization. 7. Symbolism in his fiction. 8. His narrative technique. 9. Summing up. Appendix A: Interview. Select bibliography.

"The Fictional World of Ruskin Bond is the first critical study of the fiction of a living legend. Covering the entire fiction of Ruskin Bond-novellas, stories and children stories--the book reviews various aspects of his creative vision. His unconditional love for India, his passion for boyhood, his attitude towards nature, his remarkable simplicity of expression and above all his unshakable faith in essential goodness of man and design of God are taken into consideration as the keynotes of his fiction. The book brings into focus his art of delineating characters--characters that born out of his little acquaintances, grow and learn the art of living.

The book aims to provide a comprehensive criticism of Bond's fiction for the right appreciation of his literature. For any intensive study of his mind and art, this book is of immense help." (jacket)