The World of Nagaraj: A Novel of Malgudi - Softcover

Narayan, R. K.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140129790 ISBN 13: 9780140129793

Publisher: Penguin Books, 1991

Synopsis

Nagaraj, an aimless, contented man who dreams only of writing a treatise on Narada, a Sanskrit scholar, and his peaceful domestic world are thrown into turmoil by the arrival of his runaway nephew Tim

About this title

From Library Journal:

In this, the 14th of his well-known Malgudi novels (e.g., Talkative Man , LJ 2/1/87), Narayan takes us into the daily routine of 50-year-old Nagaraj, who peacefully lives and acts inside his thoughts and whose associations with his family and friends are usually peripheral. Nagaraj perpetually dreams of writing the definitive treatise on the Sanskrit sage, Narada, yet he never studies Sanskrit. Though his story is told with much sensitivity and deft humor, he ultimately becomes a tragic figure defeated by his own character traits--a symbol of all humanity, whose dreams can never become reality because of inherent weaknesses. Nagaraj is supremely accurate in his depiction of an India that is a paradox of contrasts--of wealth and squalor, elegance and poverty, beauty and disease, erudition and ignorance--yet he wondrously renders Nagaraj's little world to represent the entire big world where we love and strive, unable to see that we are primarily responsible for our own lives.
- Glenn O. Carey, Eastern Kentucky Univ., Richmond
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Publishers Weekly:

The fictional town of Malgudi, India, is home to tranquil Nagaraj, whose daily routine of religious ritual and study of a Sanskrit scholar's oeuvre is unsettled by the arrival of his modern nephew. "The Malgudi residents are talkative, philosophical and able to confront events with wonder and humor," said PW. "Narayan captures the rhythm of generally contented lives."
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin Books
• Publication date: 1991
• ISBN 10: 0140129790
• ISBN 13: 9780140129793
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 185