Book Review: The Adventures of Feluda: The Emperor’s Ring

The Adventures of Feluda: The Emperor’s Ring by Satyajit Ray, is an Indian children’s novel. Satyajit Ray was one of the greatest filmmakers of his time, winning an Oscar for Lifetime Achievement. Ray was also a writer and his stories became popular after being published in the children’s magazine Sandesh. He was born in Calcutta to a Bengali family and has used this as inspiration for his works. Among his most popular stories were those of Feluda. This novel was translated from Bengali to English, by Gopa Majumdar. The Adventures of Feluda: The Emperor’s Ring is a story of a man named Feluda and his cousin Topshe as they investigate the disappearance of a priceless Mughal ring. This book is the first of twelve great adventures of Feluda.

Topesh or Topshe, as his cousin likes to call him, is a young boy on holiday in Lucknow when strange occurrences begin to happen. After having a conversation with Dhiru Kaka, a friend of his fathers, about a priceless Mughal ring, Topshe turns to his cousin, Feluda, and it is apparent that Feluda knows something is wrong. When this Mughal ring goes missing, Feluda and Topshe begin to investigate the case and find themselves on the trail of a devious criminal. As the chapters progress, the two learn more about this mysterious criminal and find that this ring has taken them to another town known as Laxmanjhoola, and are faced with much more than they bargained for. A deadly encounter with a python in a log cabin is just the beginning.

As I read this book, I found myself thinking back to other books I had read before as a child. Books like Nancy Drew and Sherlock Holmes. Satyajit Ray wrote this book in such a way that even throughout the text, comparisons to English novels or were made. This allowed me to see the similarities between books even ones published in different languages and from different parts of the world. While this novel was clearly fantasy, the way the characters interacted and were portrayed allowed the reader to understand the types of relationships that existed between them. The relationships between family members compared to the relationships between friends was not the same as you would expect in an English novel. The book was written in Bengali originally and follows the same sort of lifestyle that a Bengali society would follow. This differs from English life styles and due to this the author is able to connect the reader more closely to his own background and some of the experiences he has had growing up in Calcutta, where this book takes place. As the book was written however, I found that it was difficult for anyone who does not understand the cultures of the characters to relate to some of the struggles that were faced throughout the book. Especially for children, who are not as well versed as adults, beginning to understand the way of life of a foreign setting can be challenging. I also found the story to be somewhat predictable. The challenges that Feluda and Topshe face as they struggled to find the culprit behind the missing ring, were similar to those of other mystery novels for children. When I chose this book, I thought it would be an interesting story and would be similar to the books I had read as a child, however, being that this book was published in India, the language was somewhat hard to understand. The names and places as well as the culture are hard to follow because they differ from English so much. This made the story more challenging to understand but, the author was still able to convey the story. Like mentioned above, the story was very similar to that of Sherlock Holmes, and even being predictable, for a child this book would provide a different viewpoint to some of the same mysteries that children are faced in English novels.

After reading this book, I do not know that I would be inclined to continue the series, however, the author, Satyajit Ray, has had many other successful novels and this one has not turned me away from wanting to read any of his other books. The amount of detail he put into his books really allows the reader to understand exactly what the surroundings smell like, sound like, look like. Ray was able to create an atmosphere that was able to be experienced by the reader merely through his writing. He drew attention to the finest details and really allowed the reader to experience Calcutta. This book did not show the similarities so much as it showed the uniqueness of different cultures around the world, in this case India. While the story line was similar to some English novels, the experiences of the characters and their lifestyles varied greatly from those of English background. This novel allows children to see the importance of perseverance even in times of struggle. A universal message no matter your background. I would recommend this book to beginning readers as they start their journey into mystery novels. This book, The Adventures of Feluda: The Emperor’s Ring, is a complex story about two cousins as they manage to work their way through a criminal mystery. Faced with challenges along the way, the two never give up and this is a story many can learn from.

Ray, Satyajit. The Adventures of Feluda: The Emperor’s Ring. Translated by Gopa Majumdar. Penguin Books, 2003.