Very Best of R.K. Narayan

Over a career spanning seven decades R.K. Narayan easily one of the most influential and important writers of India populated the fictional town of Malgudi with a host of unforgettable characters: Swami and his gang of friends the Talkative Man Raju the guide and Sampath the printer among many others. These characters have carved out a place for themselves in popular imagination and live on still fresh and endlessly entertaining many decades after they first appeared. Timeless Malgudi brings together a selection of the best and the most enduring of R.K. Narayan's fiction and nonfiction. The Guide examines with wit and irony how a man becomes a godman. The story 'A Horse and Two Goats' describes an attempt at crosscultural communication which goes haywire with hilarious consequences. The excerpt from My Days Narayan's autobiography paints a poignant picture of the author's childhood while the 'Misguided Guide' is a cynical sharply written chronicle of the making of the film Guide based on his novel. Also included in this volume are excerpts from the travelogue My Dateless Diary and a brilliant retelling of the Tamil epic Silappadikaram.