Author: R K Narayan
Publisher: Penguin/Viking
Year: 2000
Language: English
Pages: 779
ISBN/UPC (if available): 0670899917
Description
This omnibus edition brings together five unforgettable novels from the Narayan corpus, written over a period of fifty-two years between 1938 and 1990. The last in the series of Collectors' edition of Narayan's novel, Memories of Malgudi showcases the best of the master storyteller's oeuvre.
For the better part of the last century, R K Narayan's novels have delighted and captivated millions of readers the world over with their depiction of people, places and events set in the fictional town of Malgudi. This omnibus edition brings together five unforgettable novels from the Narayan corpus.
The Dark Room, the first novel in this collection, is the story of the marital discord between Savitri, a traditional Hindu wife, and Ramani, her husband. Irked by Ramani's excessive interest in Shanta Bai, an office colleague, Savitri retreats, literally and metaphorically, into a dark room, and attempts to redefine her identity within the confines of the family structure.
The semi-autobiographical The English Teacher is about another young couple: Krishna, a teacher at the Albert Mission College, and his wife Susila. Their world is full of love and laughter, but when Susila passes away, Krishna must deal with the tragic blow and find a reason to go on living.
Sriram, the hero of Waiting for the Mahatma , is head over heels in love with the enchanting Bharati, but her primary loyalty is to Gandhiji and his ideals. Sriram becomes a follower of Mahatma himself, but finds himself adapting the great man's ideas to suit his own petty ends.
And, in The World of Nagaraj, Nagaraj's life of small comforts is rudely interrupted by the arrival of his nephew Tim, and he must find a way to fend off the turbulence which threatens to disrupt his world for ever.
This collection also includes The Guide, Narayan's best-known novel which won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1958. Its protagonist Raju takes a roller-coaster ride through life - he falls in love with the beautiful dancer Rosie, seduces her away from her husband, transforms her into a celebrity but then falls out with her. He loses the fortune he had made, finds himself in jail, and then - through a series of ironic circumstances - becomes a well-respected holy man.
Contents
Introduction
The Dark Room
The English Teacher
Waiting for the Mahatma
The Guide
The World of Nagaraj