Malgudi Days (Penguin Classics)

As a rare case, it was alright to choose a book, with no advance knowledge, only based on its cover.I think of India and ponder of its people and culture when I read the stories in this marvelous collection. Human psychology in these stories are fascinating. Narayan’s style is powerful and strikes the cords of my heart and soul.

R. K. Narayan's 'Malgudi Days' is a collection of short stories about the lives of ordinary men and women in an imaginary south Indian village called Malgudi. In this collection the writer proves himself a master of the ordinary; capturing the rhythm of the daily lives of his characters in mundane but oddly compelling pur suits. The stories are keenly descriptive and each character driven narrative subtly draws the reader into a world of craftily developed personal relationships. 'Malgudi Days' presents human experiences that create their own meaning in interconnected personalized realities.

I had the good fortune to read Malgudi Days a few weeks ago while traveling in India for the first time ... I certainly cannot claim to be an expert on India, but I felt like Malgudi Days captured the spirit of India in a few short pages at a time better than thousand page tomes or hours-long miniseries ever possibly could. The hope and heartbreak of the common man and woman (although, unfortunately, the woman's perspective usually takes the back seat), the constant teetering on the knife's edge between riches and ruin, the cruel twists of fate ... although there is something concise and light about Narayan's writing style, many if not most of the stories have a rather dark side to them. In spite of this, the stories are compelling page-turners, as the reader immerses him- or herself into the charismatic town of Malgudi, which itself is arguably the main protagonist of this work.Despite the short length of the stories, taken as a whole there is a kind of haunting beauty--despite the grit and calamity--that sticks with the reader long after they finish this work. Compelling, unforgettable, vibrant and yet tinged by a hint of sadness ... a bit like India itself, dare I say?

Jhumpa Lahiri summarizes it all in her introduction to the collection of short stories. Those short stories are very easy to read. They have a natural flow in them. Narayan brings his reader into the heart of an India which is neither idealized nor criticized. Under a simple, clear language and well-wrought little plots, a whole complex world comes to life. Adding all these short stories one to the other builds a colossal portrait of the universal man and of the post-colonial India. A real jewel.

I discovered these stories, of a writer I did not know before, on Jhumpa Lahiri's recommendation. Since I love everything she writes and considering that she is an absolute master of the short story herself, I had every faith in her recommendation. Everything that she writes about these stories in her foreword is true. Narayan is a wonderful writer. All these stories combine succinctness and precision with a human and symbolic resonance that is truly exceptional.

I have always loved shoet stories. This reminds me of Jan Karon's Mitford series just that the stories do not revolve round a central character. I got lost in Maulds and did not want to come home.

Swami and his friends are a favourite of my family as as his other novels. I will only be repeating myself in my praises. They always inspire me to write in a direct way without worrying about the outcome.

I love R.K. Narayan's books because of the simple but fascinating stories. His language skills were phenomenal allowing him to hold his audience spell bound. This book is no different.