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"There are writers—Tolstoy and Henry James to name two—whom we hold in awe, writers—Turgenev and Chekhov—for whom we feel a personal affection, other writers whom we respect—Conrad for example—but who hold us at a long arm's length with their 'courtly foreign grace.' Narayan (whom I don't hesitate to name in such a context) more than any of them wakes in me a spring of gratitude, for he has offered me a second home. Without him I could never have known what it is like to be show more Indian."—Graham Greene Offering rare insight into the complexities of Indian middle-class society, R. K. Narayan traces life in the fictional town of Malgudi. The Dark Room is a searching look at a difficult marriage and a woman who eventually rebels against the demands of being a good and obedient wife. In Mr. Sampath, a newspaper man tries to keep his paper afloat in the face of social and economic changes sweeping India. Narayan writes of youth and young adulthood in the semiautobiographical Swami and Friends and The Bachelor of Arts. Although the ordinary tensions of maturing are heightened by the particular circumstances of pre-partition India, Narayan provides a universal vision of childhood, early love and grief. "The experience of reading one of his novels is . . . comparable to one's first reaction to the great Russian novels: the fresh realization of the common humanity of all peoples, underlain by a simultaneous sense of strangeness—like one's own reflection seen in a green twilight."—Margaret Parton, New York Herald Tribune show lessTags
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Narayan uses a light touch to give the reader little notes of humor and sentimentality in this coming-of-age story set in India in 1931. We follow a young man as he goes through his final year of college, falling in love, and getting a job, with setbacks along the way. How his family talk to one another is amusing (the mother especially), as is the folly of the grand plans of youth, and the various little witticisms we hear from the characters, e.g. “the saying is that Madras is hot for ten months in the year and hotter for two” and “a man must spend forty years in making money and forty years in spending it.” I liked the little touch of a radical character who is against the presence of the British in India, and it was very show more interesting to read about the customs and rituals involved with getting married, including the casting of horoscopes and just how young a girl would be to be considered eligible – just after puberty, or around 14, and if not married by 16, viewed with some disdain. It thus gives us a wonderful little window into India, which is one of the things Graham Greene so liked about Narayan, but it’s also a universal story. I’ll have to seek out more from this author. show less
This is the second book of RK Narayan I ever read. The first one being Swami and friends which I read in 5th or 6th grade.
If you read it just as a story, there isn't much happening. Chandran is a regular guy with regular thoughts and regular problems. But I think this regularity is probably essence of the novel. What Chandran thinks, his problems and his ways of dealing with them are very similar to how people actually behave in life. Chandran is each one of us. And that is probably what is humorous about the novel.
I have yet to discuss this in my English class. Let's see what my teacher has to say.
If you read it just as a story, there isn't much happening. Chandran is a regular guy with regular thoughts and regular problems. But I think this regularity is probably essence of the novel. What Chandran thinks, his problems and his ways of dealing with them are very similar to how people actually behave in life. Chandran is each one of us. And that is probably what is humorous about the novel.
I have yet to discuss this in my English class. Let's see what my teacher has to say.
This is one of the finest books written by RK Narayan.There was drama,Irony,Humour what not everything.
another outstanding book from rk narayan
A single man's story for quest of true love.
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R. K. Narayan was born Rasipuram Krishnaswami Narayanaswami in Madras, India on October 10, 1906. He graduated from Maharaja College of Mysore with a B.A. degree in 1930. He attempted to teach for a bit but then switched to writing full time. His first book, Swami and Friends, was published in Britain in 1935. During his lifetime, he wrote more show more than 30 novels and hundreds of short stories. His other novels included The Bachelor of Arts, The Dark Room, The English Teacher, The Guide, The Financial Expert, The Man Eater of Malgudi, The Vendor of Sweets, and The World of Nagaraj. He was one of the first Indians to write in English and gain international recognition. He received numerous awards including the Padma Bhushan, India's highest prize. He died on May 13, 2001 at the age of 94. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 1937
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- Members
- 262
- Popularity
- 123,144
- Reviews
- 5
- Rating
- (3.67)
- Languages
- 6 — English, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Marathi
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 15
- UPCs
- 1
- ASINs
- 3
