R. K. Narayan

Rasipuram Krishnaswamy Narayan (October 10, 1906 - May 13, 2001) was an Indian novelist writing in English, whose sensitive, well-drawn portrayals of twentieth-century Indian life were set mostly in the fictional South Indian town of Malgudi.

Related Topics:
October 10 - 1906 - May 13 - 2001 - Indian - English - Twentieth-century - Malgudi

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He had his early schooling in Madras, but moved to Mysore when his father was appointed Head Master of the Maharaja's high school there, and got his bachelor's degree from the University of Mysore (Incidentally, he failed in only one subject and that was English). Most of his work, starting from his first novel Swami and friends (1935) is set in the fictional town of Malgudi which at the same time captures everything Indian while having a unique identity of its own.

Related Topics:
Madras - Mysore - Bachelor's degree - University of Mysore - Malgudi

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One of the few Indian-English writers spending nearly all his time in India, he went abroad to the United States in 1956 at the invitation of the Rockfeller Foundation. He began his literary career with short stories which appeared in The Hindu, and also worked for some time as the Mysore correspondent of Justice, a Madras-based newspaper.

Related Topics:
United States - 1956 - The Hindu

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His novels are characterised by Chekhovian simplicity and gentle humour. Characters in his novels tend to be very down-to-earth. His writing career began with Swami and Friends. At first, he could not get the novel published. Eventually, the draft was shown to Graham Greene by a mutual friend, Purna. Greene liked it so much that he arranged for its publication. Greene was to remain a close friend and admirer of his. After that, he published a continuous stream of novels, all set in Malgudi and each dealing with different characters in that fictional place. Autobiographical content forms a significant part of some of his novels. For example, the events surrounding the death of his young wife and how he coped with the loss form the basis of The English Teacher.

Related Topics:
Chekhovian - Swami and Friends - Graham Greene - The English Teacher

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Many of Narayan's works are rooted in everyday life, though he is not shy of invoking Hindu tales or traditional Indian folklore to emphasize a point. His easy-going outlook on life has sometimes been criticized, though in general he is viewed as an accomplished, sensitive and reasonably prolific writer.

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List of his major works (in chronological order) :

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• Swami and Friends, 1935
• Bachelor of Arts, 1937
• The Dark Room, 1938
• The English Teacher, 1945
• An Astrologer's Day and Other Stories, 1947
• Mr. Sampath - The Printer of Malgudi, 1949
• The Financial Expert, 1952
• Grateful to Life and Death, 1953
• Waiting for the Mahatma, 1955
• Lawley Road and Other Stories, 1956
• The Guide, 1958, made into a Hindi movie by Dev Anand
• , 1960
• The Man-Eater of Malgudi, 1961
• My Dateless Diary, 1964
• Gods, Demons, and Other Stories, 1965
• The Vendor of Sweets, 1967
• A Horse and two Goats, and Other stories, 1970
• The Ramayana; a shortened modern prose version, 1972
• My Days, 1974
• The Painter of Signs, 1976
• Reluctant Guru, 1974
• , 1978
• The Emerald Route, 1980
• Malgudi Days, 1982
• A Tiger for Malgudi, 1983
• Under the Banyan Tree and Other Stories, 1985
• The Talkative Man, 1986
• , 1989
• The World of Nagaraj, 1990
• Salt and Sawdust