In the novels of R. K. Narayan (1906-2001), the forefather of Indian fiction, we witness the birth of a nation as it awakens to its place in the world. The three novels brought together in this volume, all written after India's independence, are masterpieces of social comedy, rich in local colour and abounding in affectionate humour and generosity of spirit.
R K Narayan's writing spans the greatest period of change in modern Indian history, from the days of the Raj - Swami and Friends (1935), The Bachelor of Arts (1937) and The English Teacher (1945) - to recent years of political unrest - The Painter of Signs (1976), A Tiger for Malgudi (1983), and Talkative Man (1987). He has published numerous collections of short stories, including Malgudi Days (1982), and Under the Banyan Tree (1985), and several works of non-fiction.
Narayan wakes in me a spring of gratitude, for he has offered me a
second home. Without him I could never have known what it is like
to be Indian. - Graham Greene
Narayan's humour and compassion come from a deep universal well,
with the result that he has transformed his imaginary township of
Malgudi into a bubbling parish of the world. - The Observer
An idyll as delicious as anything I have met in modern literature
for a long time. The atmosphere and texture of happiness, and,
above all, its elusiveness, have seldom been so perfectly
transcribed. - Elizabeth Bowen
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