Ponniyin Selvan Varalaatru Peravai

I know that there are voracious readers in our group. So thought of starting
a thread on Indian authors in English. I use to read a lot of Englisg books
/ novels when I was in college. Later I felt that there are lot more in
Tamizh to be read so I quit reading English. Of late I have read very few
books. Latest being Chetan Bhagat / Jhumpa Lahiri as their language
readability is easy – For me. Others may differ in this point. Do let me
know others as well and also share your experiences.

~ Udanx

JUST A TIDBIT

The first book written by an Indian in English was by Sake Dean
Mahomet, titled Travels of Dean Mahomet; Mahomet’s travel narrative
was published in 1793 in England. In its early stages it was
influenced by the Western art form of the novel.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sake_Dean_Mahomet

http://www.escholarship.org/editions/view?

docId=ft4h4nb20n&brand=eschol

> > my favourite is khuswant.
> > for his DELHI and TRAIN TO PAKISTAN
> > every one of his autobigraphies( he writes one and then
continues
> to
> > live on. he has even named one ON THE DOORSTEPS OF DEATH
> >
> > saucy writing, ful of humour. he writes what he feels, not
> shackled
> > by norms of writing.
> >
> > his books of fiction written later were trashily sexy and people
> > tend to judge him by that.
> >
> >
> > r.k narayan is wonderfully simple in his writing. never ever
> writes
> > about complicated things.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > > I know that there are voracious readers in our group. So
thought
> > of starting
> > > a thread on Indian authors in English. I use to read a lot of
> > Englisg books
> > > / novels when I was in college. Later I felt that there are
lot
> > more in
> > > Tamizh to be read so I quit reading English. Of late I have
read
> > very few
> > > books. Latest being Chetan Bhagat / Jhumpa Lahiri as their
> language
> > > readability is easy – For me. Others may differ in this
point.
> Do
> > let me
> > > know others as well and also share your experiences.
> > >
> > > ~ Udanx
> > > —
> > > “Remember not only to say the right thing in the right place,
> but
> > far more
> > > difficult still, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the
tempting
> > moment.”
> > > — Benjamin Franklin
> > >
> >
>

— “dmaloo” wrote:
> I am a die hard RK Narayan fan.

Hi Malathi

i recently read RKN’s auto biography. i was rather intriuged with his
after life theories.
RKN insists he contacted his dead wife and the book even prints some
of the letters she wrote at a seance

venketesh

>
> TRAIN to PAKISTAN is a great book, and our little library
> has a very beat-up paperback copy that we won’t discard.

> Kathie
>

Hi Kathie,
get hold of his “delhi”
it is stunning that one human mind can recreate so much history

its an annual ritual for me to read bits and pieces of “Delhi”

venketesh

>

— In [email protected], Katherine Brobeck
wrote:
>
> TRAIN to PAKISTAN is a great book, and our little library
> has a very beat-up paperback copy that we won’t discard.
>
> RKN, of course. He ‘turned me on’ to India.
> Kathie
>
>
> On Feb 24, 2009, at 8:01 AM, dmaloo wrote:
>
> times. I am a die hard RK Narayan fan. I read lots of indian
authors,
>

RE: i worship RKNARAYAN. MALGUDI his microcosm never leaves my heart.
without RKN i would never have been a complete person in my own life.
i have faced similiar experiances in my life as do his characters
like nagaraj,nataraj,raman,sampath,swami,talkative man….etc.

i have read all his novels,autobiography, most of the
shortstories,and rmayana,mahabararatha,gods-demons and others,a
trvelogue, parts of his dateless diaries. his last novel grandmothers
tale was superb.

i like narayans personality and his simplicity. his carreer spanning
over 6 decades was most productive one. he was avid reader of tamil
and has read kambaramayanam and silapathikaram thoroughly with a help
of a private tutor.

he missed nobel prize for not any real reason. to this day he is my
real favorite indian english writer.

kushwantsingh, shoba de… are different categories altogether.

mahatma gandhi and jawaharlal nehru are respectively good in their
period. rabindra tagore’s poetry and novels in english also worth
mentioning eventhough they belong to an another genre.

gandhi

dear Venketesh,
I’ll look for K. Singh’s DELHI. Thank you.
Kathie

Sorry to digress. Talking about after life/past life theories, Many masters Many Lives by Dr. Brian Weiss is a good read . 
 

> do you know kalki and narayan worked for ss vasan almost during the
> same period.
>
> please check our archives for an excellent discussion on the
> rasipuram family with malathi giving us a lot of insider info.
>
>
> venketesh
re: he was in chennai from 1930s. he was with the hindu news paper
and gemini pictures. he was a widower by then. he was having a
depressive disorder and had psychotic symptoms. he took almost 3-4
years to recover. he used to walk in marina beach from the napier
bridge to lighthouse back and forth 2-3 times in evening that time.

his writings always had a tamil influence. his association with tamil
writers -though not at personal level-was significant in the literary
output. his mastery of language and the remarcable simplicity were
the one which characterised him.

bachelour of arts and english teacher were more closer to his real
life. he should be better known as english-southindian writer.

his family hailed from kumbakonam and migrated to mysore coimbatore
and chennai. his tenure in parliament was rather symbolic gesture by
the indian government to honour him.

i liked the most his works like financial expert, painter of signs
and world of nagaraj.

i do not think he was away from reality in the case related to his
delusions and claivoyance about his dead wive. such behaviours are
common amongst writers. writers often have exceptional imageries that
would some times come delusional pseudo-communities and
impostering…etc. he belongs to a society which has such culture
bound beleives.

gandhi