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Title: The Guide (Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics) by R. K. Narayan ISBN: 0-14-018547-X Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: June, 1993 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.53 (15 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Well laid out, simply fantastic
Comment: The way Narayan interlaces the two different streams of stories in the book is wonderful. The novel is a masterpiece in the way it is written and takes the reader to a visual tour of malgudi lansscape. The way Narayan has developd the city of malgudi is really exemplery. The transformation of Raju from a high society man to a saint is well laid out. The lives of Raju and Rosy has been well presented. The day to day activities around Raju, the saint's, during fasting is also well presented. The whole episode is dramatised to such an extent that we can visualise the whole thing in front of our eyes. The most importent thing about Narayan is the language that he uses through out the book. Its amazing the way he presents the whole novel in such a simple language. The climax is really heart rendering. Narayan holds the readers interest through out the book. A must read for anyone.
Rating: 4
Summary: Simple oriental tale
Comment: The guide is a very much appreciated work of RK Narayan. There aren't any twists in the plot. It is a simple smooth story with a great climax. Good for light reading but provides insight into the indian thought process. There has also been a movie made in Hindi ,named guide based on RK's story. First read the story, form a picture of the plot then when you see the movie you can know how diferent movies can be from the story they intend to tell.
A good read for people interested in knowing India. That applies for RK's most books.
Rating: 3
Summary: Magical Irony and Distance Make a Good Read
Comment: ....as I got farther in the novel I realized my worries had been for naught. Rosie was not a witch and the ironic premise had not been betrayed. The entwining narrative, which had thrilled and fascinated me, continued until page 100, almost midway through this thin novel, when the fist person of Raju, the main character, who had once been a tourist guide and the manager of Rosie, Southern India's most famous dancer, trained in the ways of a very ancient Indian dance book, but now mooned as a spiritual swami in an abandoned temple, took over, narrating the entire story of his life from his beginning as as a mischievous boy to parts involving his courtship of Rosie and how he came to lose her. Had I not known from the first that Raju had been just a small crook who had come out of the prison and that his newfound fame as a wise man was nothing but a misunderstanding, I might have been intersted to hear him tell me what happened to him that led him to his current predicament. But I had and, as much as I enjoyed some parts of this Rosie-fest(early parts--to be specific pages 100 to 127), I didn't want him to go on, I wanted him to return to the current predicament or at least give us an indication, a sense of reflection, that would explain why we were listening to his life story or why it was relevant.( Incidentally, the poor peasant whom he told the story to didn't either. So there.) In the meantime his predicament had grown when he mistakenly accepted to hold a fast to end the drought over the town. Why then does Narayan go on with the story of Rosie that has much melodrama and not much in the way of characterization, for 100 pages, in words that are as barren of irony and self awareness as the Gobi desert is barren of cows is beyond me. As I said in the beginning of this review, Narayan is a magical writer, drawing characters that you would love to watch, and placing them in circumstances that are as well-planned as a Grand Stuppa. But he is not as modern a writer as one would expect( why did character A did what he did to character B? What does go thru his head?) or not, depends on where you stand. Narayan chooses to rely too much on the narrative twists and turns to flesh out his characters, which makes him obsessed with physical detail and merely casual about the interior life. If you think that would be as much fun, if not more, think about movies you saw that were made before the dawn of Method acting: how flat the characters were when they just said, "I am terrified," with a pancake face. Think of the reaction shots in the faces of Joan Fontaine and Laurence Olivier in "Rebecca" and think of the first time you saw James Dean or Marlon Brando on screen--would you really give up characterization for the plot?....
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Title: Malgudi Days by R. K. Narayan ISBN: 0140185437 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: January, 1995 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: The Financial Expert by R. K. Narayan ISBN: 0226568415 Publisher: University of Chicago Press (Trd) Pub. Date: June, 1997 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: Swami and Friends (Phoenix Fiction Series) by R. K. Narayan ISBN: 0226568318 Publisher: University of Chicago Press (Trd) Pub. Date: December, 1980 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: The English Teacher by R. K. Narayan ISBN: 0226568350 Publisher: University of Chicago Press (Trd) Pub. Date: December, 1980 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy ISBN: 0060977493 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 01 May, 1998 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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