The Guide - R K Narayan Review
R. K. Narayan: The Guide: A Study Guide (1958)
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R[asipuram] K[rishnaswamy] Narayan (1906-2001) is unusual among Indian authors writing in English in that he has stayed contentedly in his home country, venturing abroad only rarely. He rarely addresses political issues or tries to explore the cutting edge of fiction. He is a traditional teller of tales, a creator of realist fiction which is often gentle, humorous, and warm rather than hard-hitting or profound. Almost all of his writings are set in the fictional city of Malgudi, and are narrowly focused on the lives of relatively humble individuals, neither extremely poor nor very rich.
The Guideis one of his most interesting books, which begins as a comic look at the life of a rogue, but evolves into something quite different. It should be noted that Narayan is not a devout Hindu, and has accused Westerners of wrongly supposing that all Indians are deeply spiritual beings; but it is also true that he was deeply impressed by some experiences he had with a medium after the sudden death of his young wife (described movingly in The English Teacher (1945).
Narayan has stated that the incident of the reluctant holy man was based on a real event which he read about in the newspaper.
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Chapter One
Why do you think Narayan chooses such an unusual way to introduce us to Raju? An anna is a very small coin. A maharaja is a traditional Indian prince. After the barber announces that Raju looks like a maharaja, the narrative takes an abrupt turn into the past. The incident of the villager who has come to consult with him in the next paragraph happened long ago.
Narayan further complicates the narrative flow by glancing forward to a time when he will tell this villager, named Velan, his life story, which brings him to Rosie, who will be introduced into the novel later. He then abruptly springs back into the distant past to briefly tell the story of his childhood and then return to Velan and his problem. Note the blank
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R[asipuram] K[rishnaswamy] Narayan (1906-2001) is unusual among Indian authors writing in English in that he has stayed contentedly in his home country, venturing abroad only rarely. He rarely addresses political issues or tries to explore the cutting edge of fiction. He is a traditional teller of tales, a creator of realist fiction which is often gentle, humorous, and warm rather than hard-hitting or profound. Almost all of his writings are set in the fictional city of Malgudi, and are narrowly focused on the lives of relatively humble individuals, neither extremely poor nor very rich.
The Guideis one of his most interesting books, which begins as a comic look at the life of a rogue, but evolves into something quite different. It should be noted that Narayan is not a devout Hindu, and has accused Westerners of wrongly supposing that all Indians are deeply spiritual beings; but it is also true that he was deeply impressed by some experiences he had with a medium after the sudden death of his young wife (described movingly in The English Teacher (1945).
Narayan has stated that the incident of the reluctant holy man was based on a real event which he read about in the newspaper.
[pic]
Chapter One
Why do you think Narayan chooses such an unusual way to introduce us to Raju? An anna is a very small coin. A maharaja is a traditional Indian prince. After the barber announces that Raju looks like a maharaja, the narrative takes an abrupt turn into the past. The incident of the villager who has come to consult with him in the next paragraph happened long ago.
Narayan further complicates the narrative flow by glancing forward to a time when he will tell this villager, named Velan, his life story, which brings him to Rosie, who will be introduced into the novel later. He then abruptly springs back into the distant past to briefly tell the story of his childhood and then return to Velan and his problem. Note the blank