Book Review

 

A review is the personal reflection of the reviewer's opinion about the book, in which he\she communicates to the readers; such as was the book good and worth reading? Was it thought-provoking and informative? To whom it is recommended?

1. An introductory paragraph: - It describes the main theme and contribution of the book in the field. Thus basically it explains what the book is about. It also describes the pertinent information about the author and what’s his/her standing in the field.

2. The body of the review: - It describes the key points of the book. It is the responsibility of a reviewer to avoid too much detail and discuss only a few core points, and provide concrete evidence for assertions.

3. A Conclusion: - In this section, the reviewer critiques the book and point out the weaknesses and strength. For concluding the write-up, the reviewer is required to sum up the ideas to provide the reader an outcome regarding the book.

A good book review is considered a commentary on the book not a summary of the book. An effective review should be educational, attractive, and opinionated. Ideally, a book review should be written by an expert but anyone else who has some basic core knowledge of the subject, which the book covers, can also do this job and write a satisfactory review.

While reviewing a book, one must look at the following points

1. Subject of the book

2. Quality of the contents

3. Single author or multi-author books

4. Chapters or sections

5. Preface

6. Foreword & who has written it.

7. References

8. Index

9. Highlighted important points

While reviewing any book, first of all carefully read its preface, it will give you the objective of writing that book and related information. It will help you a great deal and guide you about the authenticity of the issue's subjects discussed in the book, which is always covered by those writing the foreword.

The review should be as comprehensive as possible and not only give enough information about the book to the reader but also attract him/ her to buy and read the book.

Main Points while reviewing a book

1. What does the reader of the review need to be informed?

2. What was the purpose of the book?

3. What are the issues it explores& how well does it do this?

4. Did the authors accomplish that purpose?

5. What makes this book worth reading?

 

Characteristics of a good review

1. It should be unprejudiced, balanced, and professionally written.

2. Provide constructive feedback.

3. Create interest among the prospective readers about the book.

4. Be written in simple language

5. Be specific

6. Not be very long because readers have limited time.

7. Evaluate the book for its overall worth, thesis, and shortcomings.

Sleepwalkers (Summary) and Important Passages

 Summary

Most men and women of the elite Indian society profess to be progressive in their outlook. They profess to be liberal, modern, and advanced in their views. But in reality, they are all slavish in their behaviour. They blindly follow what western. The white skin is for them a sure mark of superiority. They have no confidence in themselves. They would cower and cringe in front of Britishers or Americans. They have no faith in their own ability and would seek recommendations and favours even for pretty things. It is this lot of the so-called liberal, modern advanced men, and women of progressive India that, the play, and ‘The Sleepwalkers' has a take on.

In this play, we have some light Indian guests who have been invited to a reception arranged in honour of an American editor and publisher, who has come to India to launch his new magazine. The Indian guests include Mr. and Mrs. Raman Mr. and Mrs. Shah, Mr. and Mrs. Kapur, Mr. Verma, and Miss Ganguli. Mr. Raman is a journalist who has studied journalism in New York. . Prof Shah is a poet and critic, Mr. Kapur is an editor, Mr. Verma is a short story writer, and Miss Ganguli is a Bengali dramatist. Thus all these are educated people and are supposed to have their own individual and independent views.

But the fact is quite opposite of it. The playwright doesn’t allow them to show their faces all through the play. He makes them wear masks because they are just types and have no distinct individuality of their own. We can see the likes of them everywhere in our society. We can see prof. Shah in our educational institutions who for their lectures use notes they had prepared as students decades ago. We can see Mr. Verma who can seek recommendations and influence to have their short stories published. We can see Miss Ganguli has no idea of the themes of their dramas. We see ladies whose husbands have whisky and meat while the ladies content themselves with orange juice and vegetables. Thus we are left with no doubts that the play is a satire on the servile and ludicrous behaviour of the so-called elite Indians.

Important Passages

1. Bengali has the most advanced literature in India, Mrs. Morris, according to foreign observers.

Reference to the Context: - These lines have been taken from the one-act play” The Sleepwalkers”, by Nissim Ezekiel. This is in the form of a force and satire where Indian men look upon the American or English as superior human beings.

Explanation:- Introducing Miss Ganguli to Mrs. Morris, Mr. West says that she is a Bengali playwright from Calcutta. In a vein of self-praise, Miss Ganguli says that Bengali has the most advanced literature in India. Miss. Ganguli doesn’t even know that literature is not a thing to be observed. And then foreign observers can’t be considered to be the ultimate judges of Bengali literature.

 

2.  India is culturally rich, Mr. Morris though economically backward. Our spiritual life is so much better compared to materialistic America.

Reference to the Context:- These lines have been taken from the one-act play, ‘The Sleepwalkers’, by Nissim Ezekiel. This is in the form of a force and satire.

Explanation- These lines have been spoken by Prof. Shah to Mr. Morris when Miss Ganguli and Mr. Varma talk of the great playwrights in Bengali and Hindi. In his attempt to impress Mr. Morris, Prof. Shah says that India is culturally rich though economically backward with an air of superiority, he says, “ Our spiritual life is so much better compared to materialistic America”. What a consolation for being economically backward!

 

3. My stories are perfectly suitable for your magazine, Mr. Morris, My critics say they are totally without thought.

Reference to the Context:- These lines have been taken from the one-act play, “ The Sleepwalkers”, by Nissim Ezekiel, This play has been written in the form of a force and a stature.

Explanation:- Describing the main feature of his magazine. Mr. Morris says, “ In my magazine, there is no thought”. Even without thinking, the Indian guests start praising the magazine for investing in this quality and investing themselves with ‘greatness’. These lines show how Indians become too willing to imitate even the absurdities of white-skinned people.

 

4. Real living, the living that matters is living by doing. The more we do the happier we are. But we cannot be doing all the time. Sometimes we relax. We watch television. We listen to radio of the record player. We read magazines.

Reference to the Context:- These lines have been taken from the play” The Sleepwalkers” written by Nissim Ezekiel. An American, Mr. Morris comes to India in order to promote his magazine ‘Blank’. At the airport, he tells them so-called Indian intellectuals that the aim of his magazine is to discourage thought.

Explanation:- In these lines an American, Mr. Morris is speaking. He continues speaking about his magazine. He says in real living only doing work is important. The light is not important. The more we do, the happier we will be. But we cannot do work all the time. We want relaxation also. At such times, his magazine will be very useful. People will be able to pass time by reading his magazine.

 

5. Unfortunately, these media which were originally used to abolish thought or to decrease it, are often used to provoke it. As long as people think they will come to different conclusions. These different conclusions are the true cause of division among human beings. When humanity doesn’t think, it is peaceful. Thinking divisions humanity into warring groups. In my magazine, there is no thought.

Reference to the context:- These lines have been taken from the play” The Sleepwalkers” written by Nissim Ezekiel. An American, Mr. Morris comes to India in order to promote his magazine’ Blank’. At the airport, he tells them so-called Indian intellectuals that the aim of his magazine is to discourage thought.

Explanation:- In these lines, Mr. Morris is addressing his Indian friends. He says that in the past, the aim of the media was to abolish thought or to discourage it. But now they often provoke thought. When people think they come to different conclusions. These can be the division among people. Humanity is peaceful only it doesn’t think. Because of thought, people are divided into violent groups. That is why there is no thought in his magazine.

 

6. We don’t analyze. We don’t separate one thing from another. We don’t make any distinction between what is important and what is unimportant. That makes for dis-comfort, Everything that happens is important and unimportant. They merge they become one. We merge with it. We are with it. We swing along. We swing along. We happen. In that way, we discourage ideas.

Reference to the context: - These lines have been taken from the play” The Sleepwalkers” written by Nissim Ezekiel. An American, Mr. Morris comes to India in order to promote his magazine’ Blank’. At the airport, he tells them so-called Indian intellectuals that the aim of his magazine is to discourage thought.

Explanation:- In these lines, Mr. Morris says that in his magazine, they don’t analyze. They don’t separate one thing from the other. His magazine does not differentiate between the important and unimportant matters of life. All the happenings of life are important as well as unimportant. They are actually one and his magazine also merges with them. They flow along with the happenings of the world. In this way, we are in the villages, and there’s no entertainment in the villages or anything like that. You know, the way you have nightclubs, and so on.

The Journey (Summary and Comprehension Passages)

 Summary

This story is about how the human spirit can fight and survive all-natural and man-made troubles if there is support and trust in each other. The little girl named Tinula had been brought home by the brother two months ago. Now she was on her way back to school. Early morning the squeaks of a small pig had woke her up and now her brother was guiding her back. There was a group of which the two were a part. There were thick jungles, wild animals, rugged mountains, rivers, and the approaching night. The brother asked her, again and again, to walk faster. They came across footprints of elephants and hurried ahead. After covering large parts of rugged terrain on foot, they reached the railway station. The train was packed with people and the two had to struggle hard to find space to sit. They could not even buy tickets. On the way, they had some tea and eatables. They de-boarded  from train at the last station and traveled by car thereafter as they were offered seats in it. By the time they reached the school, it was very late in the night. The Superintendent was angry at the arrival of the two at that hour. She asked the little girl to sleep alongside another girl named Winnie. This idea was not liked by that girl who found this sudden arrival very intrusive. She told Tinula that her boyfriend had a new girlfriend now. This amazed the little girl as she had no such feelings towards that boy. She slept crying though after some years she might not attach any importance to such are mark.

Explain the following passages with reference to the context

1.       At the school, her brother first dropped the tin trunk over the top of the gate, then hoisted Tinula over it, and finally jumped in himself. He then proceeded towards the Superintendent’s bungalow. After much knocking, the lady herself opened the door to her office. She was annoyed at first for having been awakened at this unearthly hour but when she saw the shivering duo, she quietly went inside and came out with a torch saying to Temjenba, ‘You can go now.’ He merely nodded at his sister and without a word retraced his steps towards the gate and the dark night. 

Reference: These lines have been taken from the short story named “The Journey” written by Temsula Ao who is a writer from the North East. These lines describe the late-night scene when the two children arrive at the hostel where the girl studies.

Explanation: The brother helped his sister to get inside by carrying her up and placing her inside the school premises as the gate is shut. It is very late in the night and the in-charge seems unhappy at the late arrival. She ushers in the girl who is stricken with cold. Then she asks the boy to leave. There are no farewell words uttered and the boy goes away. The passage is very touching. The boy brings his sister to the school after a lot of trouble but has to leave unceremoniously.

 

2.     Soon after crossing the river, the road became steep, at first gradually but from a certain point, almost perpendicular. It was more than the girl could negotiate and she sat down on one of the stone steps and began to cry. The others had already gone quite far ahead, so they did not see this. But the brother was worried, he sat down with her for a while and soothed her, pointing to the sun moving towards the west and telling her once again of the dangers lurking in the jungle.

Reference: These lines have been taken from the short story named “The Journey” written by Temsula Ao. She is a writer from the North East. These lines describe the difficulties of the journey which the two children have to cover.

Explanation: Crossing the river, walking up the steep road, the fear of wild animals is some primary danger. The little girl feels tired and weak as the trials on this mountainous path are very demanding. However, the brother seems more practical and mature and coaxes his sister to keep moving as they have the fear of the wild animals in their minds as well. The passage gives an inside view into the life of the people from the hills who face all tests of nature but never give up on each other.

 

Comprehension Passage

Read the passage and answer the following questions

The winter sun was almost setting when Tinula and her brother reached the railway platform. There was no time to purchase tickets; so they simply jumped onto the train and immediately it chugged out of the station. It was one of those suburban trains which stopped at all kinds of stations, sometimes to take in a single passenger and once or twice it stopped even when there was no one. All this while she and her brother were standing, holding on to the window frames to keep from falling.

 

1.      What time was it when the two reached the station?

Ans: It was sunset time when the two reached the station.

2.       Did they purchase tickets? Why?

Ans: No they did not purchase tickets as they reached the station at the last moment when the train was about to leave.

3.      Where did the train halt on the way?

Ans: It halted at all the stations on the way.

4.      Did the two get a seat on the train?

 Ans: No they did not get a seat and had to keep on standing.

Question 1: Discuss the brother-sister relationship.

Ans: The brother-sister bond is very strong and withstands various vagaries of time. The brother is caring and considerate towards the sister and coaxes her to walk fast. He advises her not to waste food and also carries her atop his shoulders. He takes proper care of the sister all through the journey on foot and later by train and car. Although he is not communicative verbally, he takes pains to ensure safety and some comfort for his sister. He safely deposits her in the school and leaves quietly. The brother is mature beyond his years. He is brave and caring. The two share a silent understanding with each other. Their relationship is really strong.

Dialogue Writing (Useful Phrases)

 

RULES FOR WRITING DIALOGUE 

The following rules should help you learn to write dialogue properly. 
Notice the punctuation in the following examples, especially. In addition to these hints on form, please remember that dialogue should be natural for the characters speaking (be sure to keep in mind your characters’ personality traits). 

1. Use quotation marks around the words which the character says: 
“It’s sure cold out here, “ Mark said. 

2. Begin a new paragraph each time a different person speaks – this can help to cut down on the number of dialogue tags required. 
“Did you say your prayers tonight?’ 
“I meant to, but I got to trying to cipher out how much twelve times thirteen is, and –“ 
“Oh, we are lost beyond all help! How could you neglect such a thing at such a time as this?”

 Remember to indent the beginning of each dialogue paragraph, just as you would in any other type of writing. 

3. Only the exact words of a person are in quotation marks. Also, when splitting a quotation with a dialogue tag, do not capitalize words which do not begin new sentences. 

“I really don’t know,” he said, “whether she loves me or not.”

 4. When several sentences are quoted together to form a paragraph, put just one set of quotation marks around the whole quotation. (except for dialogue tags). 

5. Periods and commas are always placed inside the quotation marks.

 6. An exclamation point (!) or a question mark (?) is placed inside the quotation marks when it punctuates a quotation, but outside the quotation when it punctuates the main sentence.

 She looked at me and asked, “Are you alright?” (? punctuates the quote) 

Did the teacher really say, “Finish this today”? (? punctuates the main sentence) 

Some Useful Phrases for Dialogue Writing 

1. Greetings (starting) Hello! / Hi / Good Morning / How nice to see you! / What’s a pleasant surprise! (Ending) Bye! Have a nice day! / Good day! / See you! / It’s good to see you! / Thanks for coming!

2. Salutations- Mr. Sharma / Mrs. Rani / Miss Sharma / Madam / Sir / Ladies and gentleman / Yes, Mr. Smith.

3. Introduction- Let me introduce Mr. Rani (to you) / Let me introduce myself) meet my friend Raj / How do you do?

4. Thanks- Thank you / Thanks / Thank you very much / I’m most grateful to you / Thanks a lot / It’s good of you.

5. How to say “yes” / “no” yes, good / Ok / all right / that it! / Certainly! / Of course / Sure ! / Oh, no / I don’t think so / not at all / certainly not / not yet.

6. Requests- Will you please pass me / help me? / Here you are / with pleasure / could you please? / would you help me?

7. Excuses- I’m sorry / excuse me, please / sorry, I cannot help it/it’s ok / that’s all right / will you excuse me for a moment? Pardon me!

8. Courtesy - How are you? I’m well, thank you, and you? / Have a good time / Quite well, thanks / this way, please.

9. Satisfaction - Very good / Great / Splendid / Amazing / That’s fine / That’s ok. That’s all right / I’m glad to see you again.

10. Dissatisfaction - Stop it! / How can he be so silly! / It’s stupid! It’s unbelievable! / ‘I’ m sick of it!

11. Weather- What’s the weather forecast? It’s awfully hot / It is sultry / It’s getting warm / It is sunny / It is raining. It’s cloudy / It’s breezy

12. Health- How are you? / Are you feeling better now? / You look/don’t look well / I’m very well / I hurt my knee / I’ve broken my arm.

13. Sympathy - Please accept my condolences / I share your distress / Accept my deepest condolences / I’m so sorry for him.

14. Agreeing - Absolutely / Precisely / Exactly / I totally agree / So do I / Nor do I / I think you’re right up to a point.

15. Disagreeing - You’re quite wrong there / I’m sorry, but I don’t agree at all / that’s an exaggeration.

16. Checking your - Do you really mean to say ---? / What exactly do you mean by that?

17. Asking for Opinions - So, what do you think? / How do you feel about this / What is your view / Do you agree with that.

18. Giving Opinions- In my opinion / As far as I’m concerned / I think / I feel / To my mind.

19. Correcting misunderstandings - Don’t get me wrong. What I meant was --- / That’s not quite what I meant by ---

20. Interrupting- Sorry to interrupt, but --- / May I interrupt you for a moment? Can I just make a point?

21. Dealing with interruptions- I haven’t finished, if you don’t mind / If I might just finish --- / Let me just make my point.

 

 

A dialogue between two friends who meet after the English paper outside the examination hall.

 

Mohit- Hello Ajay. How about the English paper?

Ajay - Oh, My luck worked there. It had all those topics I had prepared thoroughly.

Mohit - But I had to write off-hand and I don’t think it was a good attempt.

Ajay - Oh, don’t mind. You always score better than me. I wish you good luck.

Mohit - Thank you, Ajay.

Ajay - Now let’s go and prepare for the next paper.

Mohit - You are right, Ajay, Bye!

 A brief conversation between 2 old friends meeting by chance at a café. 

Ram: Hello Suresh, how are you, it's been a long time since we last met?
Suresh: Oh, hi Ram I'm have got a new job now and is going great. How about you?
Ram: Not too bad.
Suresh: How often do you eat at this café?
Ram: This is my first time my friends kept telling me the food was great, so tonight I decided to try it. What have you been up to?
Suresh: I have been so busy with my new job that I have not had the time to do much else, but otherwise, me and the family are all fine.
Ram: Well, I hope you and your family have a lovely meal.
Suresh: Yes you too.

Before Breakfast (Question-Answers)

 

Q1.Who is sleeping in the next room. Why does Mrs. Rowland want to wake him up?

Ans In the next room, Mrs. Rowland’s husband Alfred is sleeping. It is morning and he is still sleeping. Mrs. Rowland wants to wake him up because she is preparing breakfast.

Q2. What does Mrs. Rowland say about the breakfast which she has prepared?

Ans Mrs. Rowland has prepared a simple breakfast because there is no money in the house. She says that if she does not work, they cannot afford this even simple breakfast.

Q3. According to Mrs. Rowland where does her husband pass most of his time?

Ans Mrs. Rowland husband, Alfred has no job. He is an artist. Mrs. Rowland thinks that he passes most of his time in bar rooms with his artist and poor friends.

Q4. Why does Mrs. Rowland ask her husband to shave?

Ans She asks him to shave himself as he looks shabby. She says that no one will give him any job in this condition.

Q5. Mrs. Rowland hears the sound of something falling heavily. What has happened?

Ans Towards the end of the play, Mrs. Rowland hears the sound of something falling heavily. She looks in and finds that her husband has committed suicide by cutting his throat with a razor.

Q6. Who is Helen? What makes Mrs. Rowland think that she may be an artist or a poet?

Ans Helen is the girlfriend of Mrs. Rowland’s husband has read her letter written to her husband. From that letter she has judged that she is an artist or a poet like her husband.

Q7. What did Alfred do with the money that he got by pawning his watch?

Ans Alfred is out of work. He doesn’t do any job. He has no money. One day Alfred pawns his watch. He purchases wine with that money & gets drunk.

Q8. Why is Mrs. Rowland frustrated?

Ans Mrs. Rowland is frustrated because her husband Alfred does nothing for a living. There is poverty in the house. In order to run the household, she has to do the menial job of sewing.

Essay Type Questions

The characters of Mrs. Rowland and Alfred become evident through Mrs Rowland monologue. Explain.

Ans. Before breakfast can be called a dramatic monologue the entire play is spoken by one character that is Mrs. Rowland .her husband is present in the bedroom, but he never speaks anything at one point he puts his hand out of the room and takes a bowl of hot water from his wife’s hand. At that point, the dramatist comments’ It is a sensitive hand with slender fingers. This is a positive comment . It is believed that artists have hands with slender fingers. In the play, we come to know Alfred is an artist. He spends his time in the company of artists and poets. This play reveals the characters of Alfred through the sharped tongued criticism of his wife. He writes poems and short stories which do not sell. He is a sensitive man who is sadly mismatched with his wife. Alfred is unable to sell any of his writings and spends the money he has in order to forget his misery. In this play, Mrs. Rowland drives her husband to suicide. The sensitive artists are troubled by the realities of life. He is already on the edge her wife’s sharp tongue provides the last push. However, Mrs. Rowland has her own problems. She married Alfred who belongs to a rich family. His father was said to be a millionaire. But it was only after marriage that she found the supposed wealth of Alfred’s father was only a millionaire. She also found that Alfred does not do anything to earn his livelihood. She has to do the sewing work in order to run the household. But she is a sharp-tongued and nagging wife. Instead of understanding the sensitive soul of her husband, she quarrels with him. She passes sarcastic comments about her husband. Thus, the play reveals the characters of both Mrs. Rowland and her husband Alfred.

Pigeons at Daybreak (Questions and Answers)

 

Answer the following questions in about 50 words each.

1. Describe in a few words one of Mr. Basu’s ‘worst afflictions.’

2. What kind of news does Otima read for Mr. Basu? Is Basu interested in such news readings?

3. What is the news that makes Basu restless and why?

4. What is the suggestion that Otima gives to survive the above crisis?

5. What happens to Basu at the end of the story?

1.: One of Mr. Basu’s worst afflictions was his inability to read the newspapers by himself due to his ailment. It was his wife who read the paper aloud to him. As she had many other pressing needs to attend to, this caused a lot of discomfort to Mr Basu.

2.: Otima reads all grotesque and uninteresting kind of trivial pieces like ‘Rice smugglers caught” and the “Blue bull menace in Delhi airport” or various Hindi pictures running this week like ‘Teri Meri Kismet — "the heart-warming saga of an unhappy wife, or Do Dost — winner of three Filmfare awards. No, Basu is not at all interested in such stuff; he rather feels agitated and much irritated on hearing all these stories which do not interest him.

3.: He feels that the menace of “blue bulls” can be tackled by narcotic drugs.

4.: Otima suggests that if there is nothing to interest Basu in the newspaper, then she can very well stop reading it if he so desires and permits.

5.: Mr Basu, unfortunately, dies at the end of the story as Otima finds him lying ‘flat and still, gazing up, his mouth hanging open as if to let the cool and fresh air pour into him.

 

1.      Write down a character sketch of Otima.

Ans. Otima, the wife of Mr. Basu, is a dedicated lady, who nurses and serves her ailing husband with much care and affection. Pressed with all kinds of household chores and duties, she still manages to take enough care of the moods and demands of her husband without any complaints or regrets. As far as her own personality and character are concerned, at fifty-six years of age, she did not have even a single wrinkle on her oiled face or grey hair on her head. She seemed as smooth as butter and as round as cake. As a matter of fact, life might still have been enjoyable to her if it had not been for the asthma of her husband that had made him totally dependent on her.

Otima tries to take care of him in every humane way like reading newspaper headlines to him, providing him with all kinds of comforts, shifting him from one place to the other so that he could inhale more air and tending to all his real and imagined ailments with affectionate nursing which includes bringing an inhaler, shifting to terrace, and massaging his body. She consoles him in her own sweet way when he gets upset and does not allow him to lose heart. Though physically it was very exhausting for her and she did feel tired and irritated at times, yet emotionally it gave her much relief and satisfaction to serve her husband in a selfless way. Otima’s character reflects the beauty of human relationship and human values in difficult circumstances.

2.      Throw light on the theme of the story in about 150 words

Ans. The present story ‘Pigeons at Daybreak’ deals with the theme of the tremendous power of family and human relationships, particularly the significance of love and care in times of need and ailments. The story discusses the pace of life of an aged couple living in old Delhi. The old man gets easily irritated due to his illness but his wife is always calm and composed. The story describes the beauty of human relationships against the backdrop of all kinds of day-to-day pressures. The old man symbolizes life in the twilight years whereas his small grandson stands for continuity of life in all its zeal and enthusiasm. The pigeons symbolize the yearning for freedom which is finally attained by the old man. Desai tries to focus on the problems and personal struggles of contemporary life that her characters must learn to cope up with. She maintains that her primary aim is to discover the truth that often lies submerged beneath reality. The loyalty with which Otima attends to all the real and imagined problems of her ailing husband in addition to all her exhausting daily chores speaks of her deep commitment and sincerity towards human relationships

Pigeons at Daybreak (Main Points and Passages for Explanation)

 

Main Points of the Story

Ø  Mr. Basu has been suffering for a number of years with a multitude of physical and emotional ailments.

Ø  His wife Otima Basu is a loving caretaker but is exhausted by the end of the day.

Ø  Along with other pieces of news, Otima reads aloud from the newspaper that there will be a planned power cut that night.

Ø  Basu responds with an asthmatic attack fearing the hot night with no electric fan.

Ø  Otima, in spite of Mr. Basu’s protests and great fuss, decides to shift his bed upon the terrace to make the hot night more comfortable.

Ø  Basu is no more comfortable there and the night is spent in great agony.

Ø  The memory of his grandson showing him the pigeon roosts on so many rooftops makes him emotional.

Ø  At daybreak as Otima goes downstairs to fetch Basu some iced water, she finds to her surprise that there was light in her flat.

Ø  She runs back to the terrace to bring Basu down so as to enable him to sleep comfortably in his own bed for a while.

Ø  Basu refuses to say it is cooler now and tells her to leave him alone.

Ø the story ends with him lying ‘flat and still, gazing up’ and the flock of pigeons hurtling upwards against the dome of the sky and disappearing into the ‘soft deep blue of the morning.’

Ø  Pigeons figure in the story as emblems of peace and liberation.

 

          Passages

 

1.      One of his worst afflictions, Mr. Basu thought, was not to be able to read the newspaper himself. To have them read to him by his wife. He watched with fiercely controlled irritation that made the corner of his mouth jerk suddenly upwards and outwards, as she searched for her spectacles through the flat. By the time she found them — on the ledge above the bathing place in the bathroom, of all places: what did she want with her spectacles in there? — she had lost the newspaper. When she found it, it was spotted all over with grease for she had left it beside the stove on which the fish was frying. This reminded her to see to the fish before it was overdone. ‘You don’t want charred fish for your lunch do you?’ she shouted back when he called. He sat back then, in his tall backed cane chair, folded his hands over his stomach, and knelt that if he were to open his mouth now, even a slit, it would be to let out a scream of abuse. So he kept it tightly shut.

 

Reference to the Context: These lines have been taken from the short story titled "Pigeons at Daybreak" written by Anita Desai, who deals with themes like family relationships and human relationships. These lines reflect the helpless situation of Mr. Basu who is old and ailing and hence is dependent upon his wife Otima for every small daily need.

 

Explanation: Mr. Basu gets perturbed when his wife takes an unbearably long time to read the newspaper to him as she is engaged in other pressing household chores of the morning. Entangled in one task after another, she first forgets her spectacles; then loses the newspaper that is to be read and on finding it, she is further reminded of the more urgent task of giving attention to the frying fish in the kitchen. All this delay becomes unbearable for Mr. Basu who struggles hard to keep his mouth closed lest it should result in undue abusing and cursing. Desai traces all expressions of her characters vividly. She draws a clear image of the husband along with the pressing responsibilities of a dutiful wife. Her prose is simple and clear and it helps bring forth the frame of mind of the characters.

 

2.      Otima soon lost the light-heartedness that had come to her with this unaccustomed change of scene. She tired of dragging around the pillows and piling up the bolsters, helping him into a sitting position and then lowering him into a horizontal one, bringing him his medicines, fanning him with a palm leaf, and eventually of his groans and sobs as well. Finally, she gave up and collapsed onto her own string bed, lying there exhausted and sleepless, too distracted by the sound of traffic to sleep. All through the night her husband moaned and gasped for air. Towards dawn, it was so bad that she had to get up and massage his chest. When done long and patiently enough, it seemed to relieve him.

 

Reference: These lines have been taken from the short story titled "Pigeons at Daybreak" written by Anita Desai, a prominent writer whose literary skills in dealing with themes like family relationships and human reactions in all kinds of difficult situations.

 

Explanation: The present lines depict an untiring sense of duty and responsibility on the part of Otima towards her ailing husband Mr. Basu. Due to a severe cut in the power supply during the night and with her husband suffering from asphyxia, she has to make frantic efforts to provide a sufficient amount of air to him. Yet Mr. Basu’s condition worsens during the night and she has to massage him towards the dawn. The sense of relief that Otima gets in serving her ill husband indicates her innate goodness and humanity. Notwithstanding the daily household pressures, she fully understands the significance of love and care in times of need and ailments. The loyalty with which Otima attends to all the real and imagined problems of her husband in addition to all her exhausting daily chores speaks of her deep commitment and sincerity towards human relationships.

Comprehension Passage

‘I’ll bring you your inhaler. Don’t get worried, just don’t get worried,’ she told him and bustled off to find his inhaler and cortisone. When she held them out to him, he lowered his head into the inhaler like a dying man at the one straw left. He grasped it with frantic hands, almost clawing at her. She shook her head, watching him. ‘Why do you let yourself get so upset?’ she asked, cursing herself for having readout that particular piece of news to him. ‘It won’t be so bad. Many people in the city sleep without electric fans - most do. We’ll manage – ’

‘You’ll manage,’ he spat at her, ‘but I?’

There was no soothing him now. She knew how rapidly he would advance from imagined breathlessness into the first frightening stage of a full-blown attack of asthma. His chest was already heaving, he imagined there was no oxygen left for him to breathe, and that his lungs had collapsed and could not take in any air. He stared up at the strings of washing that hung from end to end of the balcony, the overflow of furniture that cluttered it, the listless parrot in its cage, the view of all the other crowded, washing-hung balconies up to and down the length of the road, and felt there was no oxygen left in the air.

 

  Who offers to bring the inhaler and for whom?

 Why is there a need for the inhaler?

 What is the reason for getting so upset?

 Why does he feel that he will not able to manage?

 What makes him feel that there was no oxygen left in the air?

 

Answers:

 It is Otima who offers to bring the inhaler for her ailing husband Mr. Basu.

 The inhaler is required for Mr Basu who is suffering from asthma.

 Mr. Basu gets very upset on hearing the news of power cut during night.

 He feels that he will not be able to manage because of his imagined frightfulness related to the intense heat. He feels that given the amount of heat, it would not be possible for him to sleep without a fan.

 He begins to feel that there was no oxygen left in the air due to his imagined breathlessness advancing into the stage of a full blown attack of asthma.

'Before Breakfast'--Important Passages with Explanation

 

1. Alfred! Get up, do you hear me? I want to make that bed before I go out. I’m sick of having this place in a continual muss on your account. Not that we’ll be here long unless you manage to get some money someplace. Heaven knows I do my part and more- going out to sew every day while you play the gentleman and loaf around barrooms with that good for nothing lot of artists from the square.

Reference to the context:- These lines have been taken from the play” Before Breakfast” written by Eugene O’Neill. In this play Mrs. Rowland a young wife is disappointed with her poor life. She is angry with her husband who does nothing. The household runs with her meager earnings. She is the only character on stage in this play.

Explanation:- In these lines, Mrs. Rowland is quarreling with her husband. There is poverty in the house. She says that the rent of the flat is due this week. The landlord will turn them out if the rent is not paid. He says he cannot get a job. But she says that it is a lie. He spends the day writing poems and stories which do not sell. She does a meager job and it is only with her earnings that the family is not starving.

2. You’ll have to get money today someplace. I can’t do it all, and I won’t do it all. You’ve got to come to your senses. You’ve got to beg, borrow, or steal it somewhere. But where I’d like to know? You’re too proud to beg and you’ve borrowed the limit, and you haven’t the nerve to steal?

Reference to the context:- These lines have been taken from the play” Before Breakfast” written by Eugene O’ Neill. In this play, Mrs. Rowland’s husband never appears on stage although sound show his presence. She keeps rebuking her husband for his failure in life.

Explanation:- These lines are spoken by Mrs. Rowland and addressed to her husband who is not seen on the stage. She tells him that there is no money in the house. She says that he will have to get money from somewhere, whether he begs, borrows, or steals. He is too proud to beg. He has already reached his limit of borrowing and he has no courage to steal.

3. Foolish question! I ought to know you better than that by this time. When you left here is such a huff last night I knew what would happen. You can’t be trusted for a second. A nice condition you came home in! The fight we had was only an excuse for you to make a beast of yourself. What was the use of pawning your watch if all you wanted with the money was to waste it on buying a drink?

Reference to the Context:- These lines have been taken from the play “ Before Breakfast” written by Eugene O’ Neill, Mrs. Rowland, a young wife is disappointed with her poor life. She keeps rebuking her husband for his failure in life.

Explanation:- In these lines, Mrs. Rowland keeps rebuking her husband. The previous night they had a quarrel and Alfred left the house in a hurry. When he came back he was in a drunken position. He had pawned his watch and with that money, he came home drunk. Thus, Mrs. Rowland is very angry with her husband for not earning anything.

 

4. What on earth are you doing this all time? Well, you’re almost dressed at any rate. I expected to find you back in bed. That’d be just like you. How awful you look this morning! For heaven’s sake, shave! You’re disgusting! You look like a tramp. No wonder no one will give you a job. I don’t blame them- when you don’t even look halfway decent

Reference to the context:- These lines have been taken from the play “ Before Breakfast” written by Eugene O’ Neill. The play depicts the married life of Rowlands as full of stress and complexities.

Explanation:- Here, Mrs. Rowland wonders what her husband has been doing in his room. She looks in and finds that he has not shaved. She says that he looks like a vagabond. She says that she will give him hot water for the shave. Then she pours some hot water into the bowl.

 

5. Look at your hand tremble. You’d better give up drinking. You can’t stand it. It’s just you kind of that get the DTs. That would be the last straw! Look at the mess you’ve made of this floor-cigarette butts and ashes all over the place. Why can’t you put them on a plate? No, you wouldn’t be considerate enough to do that. You never think of me. You don’t have to sweep the room and that’s all you care about.

Reference to the context:- These lines are taken from the play entitled: Before Breakfast written by Eugene O’ Neill. These words are spoken jointly by the unidentified voice and Mrs. Rowland. The playwright has purposely allowed the unidentified voice to provide additional information for the audience.

Explanation:- Tauntingly she comments: “ look at your hands tremble. She asks him to give up drinking. She scolds him for spreading the butts of cigarettes and ashes on the floor. She ridicules him for not being kind enough to put the butts of cigarettes on a plate. She regrets that she has to clean the room she accuses him of not caring for her. Teasingly she remarks:” You don’t have to clean the room and that’s all you care about”. Thus trivial issues such as putting the butts etc become the measurement of the husband’s care. It is quite clear that she is an aggressive character devoid of patience at least at this stage of her life.

6. The millionaire Rowland’s only son, the Harvard graduate the post, the catch of the town. Huh! There wouldn’t be many of them now envy my catch if they knew the truth. What has our marriage been, I’d like to know? Even before your millionaire father died owing everyone in the world money. You certainly never wasted any of your time on your wife. I suppose you thought I’d be glad you were honorable enough to marry after getting me into trouble. You were ashamed of me with your fine friends because my father’s only a grocer that’s what you were. At least he’s honest, which is more than anyone could say about yours.

Reference to the Context:- These lines are taken from the play entitled: Before Breakfast written by everyone O’ Neill. These words are spoken by Mrs. Rowland. She mocks the high family and academic background of her husband.

Explanation:- Here too she takes this opportunity to poke fun of Alfred’s rich family background and his graduate degree that he has earned from Harvard. She bitterly calls him, “the poet, and the catch of the town”. She expresses a strong desire to know the answer to her question:” What our marriage has been?” She complains to Alfred for not spending time with her. She expresses her anguish by mentioning that Alfred was ashamed of her in front of his friends simply because she is the daughter of a grocer. She makes a comparison between her father and Alfred’s father and ranks her own father higher than Alfred’s father in terms of honesty.

 

7. Goodness knows what time it is. We haven’t even got any way of telling the time since you pond your watch like a fool the last valuable thing we had, and you knew it. It’s been nothing but a pawn, pawn, pawn with you anything to put of getting a job, anything to get out of going to work like a man.

Reference to the context-:- These lines are taken from the play entitled: Before Breakfast written by everyone O’ Neill. These words are spoken by Mrs. Rowland. She mocks the high family and academic background of her husband.

Explanation-  In these lines, Mrs. Rowland rebukes Alfred, her husband for not doing a job. There is a lot of poverty in the house. She says that there is no way of telling the time because he has pawned his watch. He has pawn a number of things so that he can get money and avoid getting a job. She taunts him that he does not do any work like a man. Thus, she quarrels with her husband because he does not earn anything.

8. And from where are you going to get money, I’d like to know? The rent was this week they won’t. I notice due this week and you know what the landlord is. He won’t let us stay a minute over our time. You say you can’t get a job. That’s a lie and you know it. You never even look for one. All you do is a moon around all day writing silly poetry and stories that no one will buy—and no wonder I can always get a position, such as it is, and it’s only that which keeps us from starving to death.

Reference to the Context-:- These lines are taken from the play entitled: Before Breakfast written by everyone O’ Neill. These words are spoken by Mrs. Rowland. She mocks the high family and academic background of her husband.

Explanation- In these lines Mrs. Rowland is quarreling with her husband. There is poverty in the house. She says that the rent of the flat is due this week. The landlord will turn them out if the rent is not paid. He says that he cannot get a job. But she says that it is a lie. He never tries to get a job. He spends the day writing poems and stories which do not sell. She does a meager job and it is only with her earnings that the family is not starving.