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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Malgudi Days is a collection of short stories by R.K.Narayan (Madras 1906-2001), based on life in and around the fictional south Indian town of Malgudi. This Penguin Classics edition brings together 16 stories from An Astrologer’s Day, 8 from Lawley Road and 8 “New Stories”, with an introduction by novelist Jhumpa Lahiri.
Since all the stories narrate the lives of different inhabitants of Malgudi, the collection reads almost like a novella about the town and its surroundings. All of the tales are delightful, poignant and witty gems. We enter the lives of a host of wonderful characters such as a pick-pocket, snake charmer, the village postman, a knife grinder, stray dog, or the wonderful “Talkative Man” who tells us about how his encounter with a man-eating tiger.
The author not only has a brilliant talent for making the ordinary fascinating, but similarly he is brilliant at bringing extraordinary events into the lives of the ordinary unsuspecting citizens of Malgudi. One such tale, on eof my favourites, is Engine Trouble. This is another story that is recounted to us by the Talkative Man. After buying a raffle ticket in the village fair, he finds himself the owner of a “road engine” – some sort of road or steamroller which is so large and heavy that just moving it out of the showground becomes a major logistical adventure, worthy of an episode of Laurel and Hardy or Monty Python!
The stories are generally quite short, most of them 4 to 6 pages long. But the images that Narayan conjures up stay with the reader much longer.
Since all the stories narrate the lives of different inhabitants of Malgudi, the collection reads almost like a novella about the town and its surroundings. All of the tales are delightful, poignant and witty gems. We enter the lives of a host of wonderful characters such as a pick-pocket, snake charmer, the village postman, a knife grinder, stray dog, or the wonderful “Talkative Man” who tells us about how his encounter with a man-eating tiger.
The author not only has a brilliant talent for making the ordinary fascinating, but similarly he is brilliant at bringing extraordinary events into the lives of the ordinary unsuspecting citizens of Malgudi. One such tale, on eof my favourites, is Engine Trouble. This is another story that is recounted to us by the Talkative Man. After buying a raffle ticket in the village fair, he finds himself the owner of a “road engine” – some sort of road or steamroller which is so large and heavy that just moving it out of the showground becomes a major logistical adventure, worthy of an episode of Laurel and Hardy or Monty Python!
The stories are generally quite short, most of them 4 to 6 pages long. But the images that Narayan conjures up stay with the reader much longer.
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
R.K. Narayan is one of the prominent writers from South India. His writing always captivates readers. This book is a collection of heart-touching short stories. I loved all the stories, but my favorite ones would be Iswaran, Such Perfection, The Axe, A Willing Slave, Leela's Friend, Mother and Son and Selvi.
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Wonderful collection of short (short!) stories centered around a richly created world of malgudi. It's marvelous how strong these stories are - especially the four or five page ones. The author taps into your assumptions about what will happen and alters it just enough to keep you intrigued. Recommend!
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Malgudi Days was a big part of Indian childhood of "90s kids". There was no one who grew up not watching at least a few episodes of Malgudi Days on the good ol' DD and marveled at the South Indian actors (Kannada mainly) speaking fluent English and Hindi like it was nothing. The stories remained etched in our hearts due to memorable acting by veterans in the industry. Many of the stories including the one with snake charmer/snake song, "engine" and astrologer remained with me even after two decades and brought a smile on my face when I was finally reading those stories in the book.
R.K. Narayan has so beautifully captured the landscape and people of Malgudi in his novels over the course of five decades that it transcends language or nationality. You just feel the raw nature of the rural day-to-day lives of ordinary people ranging from cobblers, snake charmers to astrologers and landlords. Told usually from a third person perspective, these stories display the mundaneness of the "malgudians" and how they go about their lives. Dramatic things do happen, but it stays true to the low-key nature of Malgudi.
Why are these stories from 1940s, 50s still relevant?
RKN through his simple writing brought up many issues which plagued the society back then and few continue to do even now.
In "Selvi", he writes about a famous singer who is bogged down by her husband who takes all her decisions for her and tells her what to do at every point.
"The Blind Dog", where animal cruelty takes the center stage which even now people consider "normal".
"Forty Five A Month", where a father prioritizes work over childcare.
"Iswaran", a boy pressured and bullied about his academic performance.
Some of my favourites:
"Engine Trouble" - Big a** engine, small a** town, what could go wrong!
"The Snake Song" - When the snake makes you dance...
"Cat Within" - Cat makes the town go crazy!
"The Edge" - Snip, snip
"Lawley Road" - Renaming places for politics, sounds familiar?
"Attila" - Cute little puppy!
"An Astrologer's Day" - A narrow escape!
P.S: Look-up "Malgudi railway station, Shivamogga" btw