- Paperback: 210 pages
- Publisher: Vintage; New edition edition (1 Nov 2001)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0099428687
- ISBN-13: 978-0099428688
- Product Dimensions: 19.4 x 12.8 x 1.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,613,376 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
It is still a man's world in Malgudi. And that is where docile and obedient Savitri has endured more than her fair share of humiliations in her long-standing marriage. But even she knows when her bullying husband has gone too far. For when Ramani insists on taking on an elegant new employee for the Engladia Insurance Company, Savitri recognises more than a professional interest in the woman. Her first resort is to try to ignore it. And her last resort is only just forestalled by a passing burglar...
About the Author
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 Batchelor of Arts (1937) and The English Teacher (1945) - to recent years of political unrest - The Painter of Signs (1976), A Tiger For Malgudi (19830, Talkative Man (1987).
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
First Sentence
AT schooltime Babu suddenly felt very ill, and Savitri fussed over him and put him to bed. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
AT schooltime Babu suddenly felt very ill, and Savitri fussed over him and put him to bed. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organise and find favourite items. |
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This, the third of Narayan's novels is a tale of an abused housewife who tries to rebel against the suffering imposed by her husband. It's not tale of solely abusive men as so often written about by the plethora of apologist writers who lack any literary merit aside from the fact that their writings help reinforce stereotypes of gender in 'backward' cultures. The husband here, though often cruel is a far more complicated character and not without the occasional merit. Again, as with all of Narayan's stories we have the humorous side to the story but this is a tale not without its sorrow. And again as with most Narayan's book there is no ending as such, it's almost as if we're just allowed to witness a period of his characters lives, just because we finish the novel it doesn't mean they stop living, a feature that doesn't allow for any conclusion and it can often feel like a very abrupt ending. Despite the unsatisfying ending the book is well worth a read, as well as the usual caste considerations we also see the relations between husband and wife in a time long gone for some but ever present for others.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
2 reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Dark Room
20 May 2000
Format:Paperback
I was so overcome by this book. This is the first works I have read by Narayan and I was thoroughly pleased. What makes it so well written is the reality with which Narayan captures the culture of India and defines the roles that governed marriages in the 1930's. I must admit he is not too far off base in depicting marriage arrangements and the struggles of women in the 21st century. At times I was disappointed with its realism, the speech, the actions of the characters. It was all too familiar. A powerful and honest portrayal of how husbands and wives act in marriage.
A Dark Light Shined on a Marriage
20 Jun 2011
Format:Paperback
This is Narayan's third published work. Once again it is set in his famous fictional world of Malgudi. This work is the most "adult" of the three, discussing serious issues like relations between husband and wife & men and women, raising children, work, (ir)religion, and even petty crime. Everything has a dark cast and much of the activity happens at night. For example, the wife has had two miscarriages. This short novel, really almost a shortish novella, has two parts. The first focuses on a wealthy husband who hires a woman at his office and then who becomes infatuated with her, neglecting his wife of about 15 years to spend time with her. The second part focuses on the neglected wife who leaves home and winds up working in a temple to survive. Their three children are important motivators in each part. The title of the story refers to a part of their house where the wife, who battles serious depression at times, goes when she is depressed. So for her both the room and her mood are dark, as is the overall feel of the work. I found the later part of the first half a bit of a slog, almost giving up on the work. But I'm glad I didn't as I couldn't put the second part down. I had to know what happened to the wife. But with most of his works, Narayan really doesn't care whether the reader gets closure on the characters and their life issues. He chooses to end the book how and when he wants. So don't expect an all-encompassing wrap up that will give strong clues as to the definitive long-term outcome for these characters. The events are as they are and the interactions between husband and wife remain raw, especially for the times.
This work is not for anyone expecting Narayan to continue the lighter, more humorous looks at Indian life in the 1930s as show in his first two novels, Swami & Friends and The Bachelor of Arts. Narayan, born 1906, was 32 when this was published in 1938. He married in 1933 to a 15-year-old girl and his father had died in 1937. (The darkness in the book was mirrored in his life in 1939 when his wife died.) But as Graham Greene wrote, anyone who reads Narayan's works centered on Malgudi comes to have an understanding, in a way that only a series of novels can bring out, of how the "average" Indian lived and how their world evolved over the course of about 50 years from British-controlled colonialism to independence.
This work is not for anyone expecting Narayan to continue the lighter, more humorous looks at Indian life in the 1930s as show in his first two novels, Swami & Friends and The Bachelor of Arts. Narayan, born 1906, was 32 when this was published in 1938. He married in 1933 to a 15-year-old girl and his father had died in 1937. (The darkness in the book was mirrored in his life in 1939 when his wife died.) But as Graham Greene wrote, anyone who reads Narayan's works centered on Malgudi comes to have an understanding, in a way that only a series of novels can bring out, of how the "average" Indian lived and how their world evolved over the course of about 50 years from British-controlled colonialism to independence.
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
