One of my friends asked me for reading recommendations on Indian literature and books written by Indian authors. I made a list for my friend. Then I thought it would be a good idea to post it here 🙂
Before getting to the list, I have to say a few things about it. The books which find a place on this list are based on my own knowledge and hence are in no way a comprehensive representation of Indian literature. For example, because my mother tongue is Tamil, I know more about Tamil novels and have included more Tamil books below. Also there are languages which I haven’t even mentioned below – like Telugu, Punjabi, Assamese – because my knowledge of writers in these languages is very low. Also Bengali literature is so rich, but I have mentioned only a few writers. I have also tried to include only one or two books by one writer. I have also tried to include a good number of writers writing in different languages and so some of the fine writers writing in English are missing. There were two other limitations to the list. They were that the books should be available in translation in English and they should be accessible through Amazon or a similar online e-bookstore. I have tried to provide Amazon / Wikipedia links wherever they are available.
One of the problems that I noticed in the list, was that men authors outnumbered women authors. I think part of the reason for this is my lack of awareness. Part of it is because English translations of some of the women authors’ works are not available. For example, I wanted to include Kamala Das, but translations of most of her works were not available, except for her memoir. But I also have a suspicion that men authors outnumber women authors in Indian languages. I don’t have the data to prove it though. I don’t know what this says about the Indian literary environment.
So, with all the caveats mentioned above, here is the list.
In English
(1) The first three books by R.K.Narayan – Swami and Friends, The Bachelor of Arts and The English Teacher. They form a loose trilogy, though the names of the characters in the three books are different. They depict beautifully the life in smalltown India during old times.
(2) Train to Pakistan by Khushwant Singh – Beautiful story set during the time of the partition of India into two countries, India and Pakistan. Though the story is sad, it has a life affirming ending.
(3) Azadi by Chaman Nahal – Another story set during the partition. Mostly sad and makes the reader cry. But a beautiful and realistic story too. It was one of my favourite books when I first read it.
(4) The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy – Winner of the Booker Prize in 1997. It is a novel about growing up in the coastal state of Kerala. It is Roy’s only novel.
(5) White Tiger by Aravind Adiga – Winner of the Booker Prize. This is a novel about modern India, on how crime coexists with sophistication and economic growth. It is written as a letter to Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao.
(6) Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie – Winner of the Booker Prize and the Booker of Bookers. Salman Rushdie is not really Indian – he is British – but this book tracks the history of India since its independence in 1947 till the late 1970s, through the eyes of one man who was born on the same day that India got independent.
(7) A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth – A very thick novel and so very intimidating. It depicts Indian culture and history in the 1940s and 1950s. It is the story of a mother who tries to find a bridegroom for her daughter. I loved it when I read it.
(8) The Great Indian Novel by Shashi Tharoor – A novel which looks at Indian politics in the 1970s through the eyes of Indian mythology
(9) Nectar in a Sieve by Kamala Markandaya – It is a book very similar to Pearl Buck’s ‘The Good Earth’. It talks about a farmer’s life in India during old times.
(10) Ladies Coupe by Anita Nair – A woman takes a break from life and decides to go on a long train journey alone, as an adventure. In the train she meets four other women. She has conversations with them, gets to know the intimate details of their different lives and it makes her ask the question – can a woman be happy staying single, or should she necessarily get married?
In Bengali
(1) Ghare Bhaire (The Home and the World) by Rabindranath Tagore. This was made into a famous movie by Satyajit Ray.
(2) Two books by Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay – Pather Panchali, Aparajito – This is an autobiographical series of novels by the author and two of the most famous Bengali novels. It was made into the Apu Trilogy of movies by Satyajit Ray.
(3) Days and Nights in the forest by Sunil Gangopadhyay – Four city boys decide to go into the forest and spend some time there in solitude, away from civilization and closer to nature. But things are not the way they expect and when they return their lives have been transformed.
In Marathi
(1) Yayati by V.S.Khandekar – Yayati is a king who becomes suddenly old because of a curse. He wants to become young again and enjoy the pleasures of youth. He asks his sons to exchange their youth with him. All his sons except one, refuse. One son exchanges his youth with his father. Yayati becomes a young man again. But then he discovers that youth is not what he imagines it to be. ‘Yayati’ was originally a mythological story from ‘The Mahabharata’. Khandekar has taken the original myth and created a beautiful, philosophical novel, which has inspired generations of readers.
In Hindi
(1) Sevasadhan by Premchand – Premchand is regarded as the father of modern Hindi literature. And for some interesting reasons, he is also regarded as one of the founders of modern Urdu literature. This book was his first novel and was first published in Urdu and then in Hindi. The Urdu title, Bazaar-e-Husn (Market of Beauty), is more colourful. It is about a housewife who gets frustrated with her life and becomes a courtesan and then later goes on to manage an orphanage. One of the great Hindi / Urdu classics.
(2) The Chess Players by Premchand – One of Premchand’s short stories called ‘Shatranj ki Khiladi’ (The Chess Players) was made into a movie by Satyajit Ray. It is about two aristocrats who are so immersed in playing chess that they forget to deal with the real enemy who is invading their land. I highly recommend the movie.
(3) Three Historical Plays by Jaishankar Prasad – Skandagupta, Chandragupta, Dhruvasvamini – Jaishankar Prasad is one of the pillars of modern Hindi literature. His historical plays set during the Gupta era are quite famous. Most of them are tragedies. Skandagupta, Chandragupta and Dhruvasvamini are wonderful. I don’t know whether English translations are available. I hope they are. If they are not, maybe I should translate them 🙂
In Urdu
(1) Umrao Jan Ada by Mirza Hadi Ruswa – It is regarded as the first Urdu novel ever written. It was written in the 19th century. It depicts the life and loves of a courtesan in Lucknow. Its portrayal of the 19th century world is intricate and beautiful. You can find the plot synopsis at the Wikipedia page here.
(2) River of Fire (Aag ka Darya) by Qurratulain Hyder – Hyder’s novel covers two and half millennia of Indian history in around 400 pages of the novel. One of the great Urdu novels of the 20th century – some regard it as the greatest.
In Tamil
(1) The Hour After Midnight by Salma – Salma is a famous Tamil poet who writes on unconventional and controversial topics. This is her first novel. It was longlisted for the MAN Asian Literary prize a few years back. It is about the life of a conservative south Indian muslim girl. It got a lot of critical acclaim both in India and internationally.
(2) Ponniyin Selvan by Kalki (Son of Ponni) – This is one of the historical classics in Tamil and comprises five volumes. It is a novel set during the Chola empire. It is a sprawling epic like ‘Three Kingdoms‘. Kalki’s prose is beautiful and he wonderfully depicts Tamil culture and history of the tenth century AD, in addition to telling a beautiful story populated by handsome heroes and beautiful heroines and nasty villains. You can find the story outline in the Wikipedia page here.
(3) Collected short stories of Pudumaipithan – Pudumaipithan was one of the great modern Tamil writers. He wrote mostly short stories and translated European literature into Tamil. His short stories are famous for the unconventional and unique points of view and for looking at the familiar world in new light. I don’t know whether his complete short stories have been translated into English. However, I found an audio book in Amazon here.
(4) Two novels by Jayakantan – Jayakantan is one of the most famous Tamil writers in the last few decades. His most famous books are probably ‘Sila Nerangalil sila manithargal’ (Sometimes some people) and ‘Oru Nadigai Naadagam Paarkiraal’ (An actress watches a play). The translation of the second one is available in English and it is called ‘Once an Actress’. It is about the relationship between an actress and a journalist and its ebbs and flows and about the complexity of the human mind. The first book, ‘Sometimes some people’, is about a young woman from an orthodox family who has a one-night stand with a stranger and the repercussions of that in her life.
(5) Tharayil Irangum Vimaanangal by Indhumathi (translated into English as ‘Surrendered Dreams’) – Indumathi is one of my favourite Tamil writers. This is also one of my favourite books. ‘Surrendered Dreams’ is the coming-of-age story of a young man. It is also about the beautiful friendship between this young man and his sister-in-law.
(6) Two novels by by Sivasankari – 47 Days and Bridges – Sivasankari is another of my favourite writers in Tamil. ’47 Days’ is about a smalltown woman who gets married to a guy who works abroad. She is very happy about it but the day she lands at her husband’s place in another country, the horrors start. Generations of Indian women have been influenced by this story since it was first published. 47 Days was made into a famous Tamil movie. I don’t know whether an English translation of this book is available. However, another of Sivasankari’s famous works ‘Paalangal’ (Bridges) is available. It is a saga of three generations of Tamil women from a particular family. The story starts from the beginning of the 20th century and ends sometime towards the end of the 20th century and charts the social and cultural transformations that happen during this period. It makes me think of Wild Swans : Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang.
In Malayalam
(1) Chemmeen by Thakazhi Sivasankaran Pillai – This is the story of love between a Hindu woman who is a member of a fisherfolk community and a Muslim man who sells fishes. It is a Malayalam classic and was made into a movie too.
(2) The Second Turn by M.T.Vasudevan Nair – This is a retelling of ‘The Mahabharata’ from Bhima’s point of view. This is regarded as Vasudevan Nair’s masterpiece.
(3) Balyakalasakhi by Vaikkom Muhammad Basheer – Balyakalasakhi (Childhood friend) is a beautiful, poignant love story. Though it is only around 75 pages long, it is regarded as one of the greatest works of Malayalam literature. Vaikkom Muhammad Basheer is himself one of the greats of Malayalam literature and in addition to this book he wrote many other novels and short stories. His short stories are quite fascinating too.
In Kannada
(1) Parva by S.L.Bhyrappa – A retelling of ‘The Mahabharata’ without the mythological elements. The novel is structured as a series of reminiscences of the main Mahabharata characters. It is a modern Indian classic. Bhyrappa is one of the great writers in Kannada.
(2) Two Plays by Girish Karnad – Hayavadana, Nagamandala – Girish Karnad is one of India’s greatest modern playwrights. In Hayavadana, a woman’s husband dies and his best friend also dies. But they are brought to life by magic. Unfortunately, the head of the husband gets fixed to the body of the friend and vice versa. So, who is the woman’s real husband now? The play asks some interesting questions like this. Nagamandala is about how stories might have a life of their own and for them to be alive and thrive they have to be told orally and passed on from one person to another.
Anthologies
(1) The Vintage Book of Modern Indian Literature edited by Amit Chaudhuri
(2) Mirrorwork : 50 Years of Indian Writing 1947-1997 edited by Salman Rushdie and Elizabeth West
Both the above books are good anthologies of Indian writing. But they focus on works written in English and they also feature translations of a few pieces written in Bengali and Urdu. South Indian languages like Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Telugu are ignored. More surprisingly, the greatest works in Hindi literature are ignored. So, though these are good anthologies the selection is not representative and hence should be taken with a pinch of salt.
(3) Tamil novelist Sivasankari has researched and created a four-volume book called ‘Knit India Through Literature’. Each of the volumes covers one part of India – South, East, West, North. In each volume, there is an introduction to the important writers of the region, excerpts from their works and in some places, an interview with the writer. It is a beautiful book which deserves to be more widely known and read. In many ways it is better than the above two anthologies, because it covers regional literature in depth, rather than focusing only on works written in English. I highly recommend it. You can read some excerpts from the book at Sivasankari’s website here. You need to scroll down to the section ‘Literary Research Book’ to find the links.
Indian Mythology
Indian mythology is an interesting subject. The main Indian mythology epics are ‘The Ramayana’ and ‘The Mahabharata’. My favourite of the two is ‘The Mahabharata‘, because it is more complex. It is in some way similar to ‘The Iliad’ or the Chinese epic ‘Three Kingdoms’ with magical elements in it. The original edition of ‘The Mahabharata’ is huge and is written in the form of poetry. So, I wouldn’t recommend that. There are many retellings of it and shorter versions of it. The ones I would recommend are ‘The Mahabharata’ by R.K.Narayan (it is really slim), ‘The Mahabharata’ by C.Rajagopalachari (one of the best ones) and ‘The Mahabharata’ by Krishna Dharma (it takes some liberties with the original story – for example it gives more importance to the character of Krishna and it sometimes deifies the Pandavas and villifies the Kauravas, while the original Mahabharata is more subtle and sophisticated on this aspect – but it is still good). There is also a comic version of ‘The Mahabharata’ published by Amar Chitra Katha, which is excellent and sophisticated and which I highly recommend. There are also versions of ‘The Mahabharata’ written as novels with changes made – for example changing the point of view from which the story is told, giving importance to one character over another etc. Two of them are quite excellent – ‘Parva’ by S.L.Bhyrappa and ‘The Second Turn’ by M.T.Vasudevan Nair. There is a book called ‘Ka’ written by Roberto Calasso where takes the whole of Hindu mythology and puts it in the form of a novel. I would recommend this book too – it is excellent.
What do you think about the above list? Have you read any of the books from the list? Would you like to recommend more books which can be added to the list?
What an amazing post, Vishy. I’m speechless, really. This is such a wonderful resource.
I’m quite happy, I have a few of the books which have been written in English. I’m looking forward to read R.K. Narajan but still wait for the right moment. 🙂
I’ve read the God of Small Things and have A Remarkable Boy and Nectar in a Sieve. Train to Pakistan sounds like a book I’d like to read.
This is already a great list but you added so much more lists and I don’t know any of the others. I’ll bookmark this and come back to it. I’d like to read some of the translated books as well.
Glad to know that you liked the post and the list, Caroline. Nice to know that you have read ‘The God of Small Things’. Did you like it? Hope you enjoy reading ‘A Suitable Boy’ and ‘Nectar in a Sieve’ too. I liked ‘A Suitable Boy’ very much, though it was so big. Will look forward to hearing your thoughts on the R.K.Narayan books, whenever you get to read them. ‘Train to Pakistan’ is a really beautiful book. Hope you get to read it and like it.
I have learned that reading something when it’s not the right time yet can spoil the most beuatiful book.
I liked The God of Small Things a lot.
I have read a novel I found fascinating – Shining Hero by Sarah Banerji. Do you know it?
I agree with you on reading a book at the right time. Glad to know that you liked ‘The God of Small Things’. I haven’t heard of ‘Shining Hero’ by Sarah Banerji. I just read Sarah Banerji’s bio in Wikipedia and I found her to be quite a fascinating person! I hope she writes her memoir sometime. I would love to read it. Have you written a review of ‘Shining Hero’? I searched for it in ‘Beauty is a Sleeping Cat’ but couldn’t find it.
That was one of the books I was reading when I was working for a German editor. I wrote a review at the time but it’s on my computer. Maybe it would be worth digging it out and translating it. I wrote a favourable review but they didn’t buy it.
Hope you are able to get the review of Banerji’s book and translate it and post it. I would love to read it 🙂 Sorry to know that your editor at that time didn’t accept your review.
Oh yes, he accepted the review, they didn’t buy the book rights for the translation. They thought it was “too Indian” .
Glad to know that they accepted your review. But sorry to know that they didn’t get the book rights because they found it “too Indian”.
Great list Vishy! Now don’t make fun of me when I add more books to my To Be Read pile. 🙂 Yayati, I have read the story as a part of C Rajgopalachari’s Mahabharata and Yuganta is a great companion to Mahabharata.
Thanks for reminding me about Parva.I have the Kannada one but I ‘ll read it.
Great list Vishy! Now don’t make fun of me when I add more books to my To Be Read pile. 🙂 Yayati, I have read the story as a part of C Rajgopalachari’s Mahabharata and Yuganta is a great companion to Mahabharata.
Thanks for reminding me about Parva.I have the Kannada one but I ‘ll read it.
Glad to know that you liked the list, Shweta. I won’t make fun of you, of course – I love the books which you keep adding to your ‘TBR’ pile 🙂 Thanks for telling me about ‘Yuganta’. I haven’t heard of it. It looks like a fascinating interpretation of ‘The Mahabharata’. I will look for it. Hope you enjoy reading ‘Parva’. I read the first few pages of it and it looks wonderful. I am hoping to pick up from where I left off, one of these days.
The ones I wd add:
The Namesake.
Glass Palace.
India after Gandhi.
Thanks for the suggestions, Anand 🙂 I loved ‘India After Gandhi’ – it is a wonderful book on Indian history. I haven’t read ‘The Glass Palace’ or ‘The Namesake’. One of my friends, whose literary taste I admire. says that ‘The Namesake’ is one of her alltime favourites. I should read it sometime.
I have a collection of short stories by the same author of Namesake. Haven’t gotten around to reading all the stories though. Just one.
Nice to know that, Linda! Is it ‘Interpreter of Maladies’? Hope you enjoy reading it.
that’s it!
Dear Vishy,
I am so impressed by this beautiful list that you have compiled. It is so inspiring. Of course I have been delighted with a few titles that you have familiarized me with in the past. I can hardly wait to delve into the wonderful list of great literature by Indian authors. Many thanks for your generosity in compiling this work for your reading friends.
Glad to know that you liked the list, Heidi 🙂 Hope you get to read more books by Indian authors and like them.
Wonderful post, Vishy! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Glad to know that you liked it, Ruchika 🙂
You can read all these languages?? 🙂
One of my former roommates of three years spoke Urdu and called me Morty (fatty?).
I can read Tamil, English and Hindi. I can read Urdu if it is written in Devanagari (Hindi) script. Urdu and Hindi are very similar languages. I read some of the books in the other languages in translation.
I can’t believe that your former roommate called you ‘Motti’! Really? What about the rest of us, the lesser mortals, who are the real fatties? 🙂
lol she was alluding to the fact that I ate a lot and did eating competitions.
Her father called me “Betty” -sp? daughter?
Anyway. I am always so impressed by your wide taste in literature. Now in multiple languages!
Thanks, Linda 🙂
I can see now how you got inspired to start your food blog 🙂 Nice to know that your friend’s father called you ‘Betty’.
Thank you Vishy for this list. It will be very usefull for me when I go next time to the english librairy in Lyon; I will know what to ask. I miss India and I am happy to read Indian novels. Several of them I read already and An Equal music I prefered, but you didn’t mansion it. I never read a book so big as A suitable boy, but on your advise I did it. Thanks so much!!
Glad to know that you liked the list, Saskia 🙂 Hope you can travel to India again – it will be nice to catch up with you. I am glad you liked Vikram Seth’s ‘An Equal Music’. It is one of my alltime favourite novels and I liked it even more than ‘A Suitable Boy’. Unfortunately, I didn’t include it in the list, because the novel is not about India. Maybe I should make another list which contains books by Indian writers where the book is not necessarily about India or set in India.
wonderful post Vishy I read a number of english ones but not many of others so will be referring back to this list from time to time ,all the best stu
Glad to know that you liked the list, Stu. Hope you enjoy exploring some of the books.
Vishy-wonderful list-thanks so much for this-I would like if it is ok to share with interested readers my Guide to Getting Started in the Indian Short Story
http://rereadinglives.blogspot.com/2012/01/reading-life-guide-to-getting-started.html
Based on my very limited reading I would add Untouchable by Mulk Arand, a very powerful at one day in the life of a Dalit and Family Matters by Rohintoy Mistry. I have read five Narayan novels so far and my favorite is Tiger for Malguidi. I am also very into his short stories. I also enjoyed two novels by Amitav Ghosh. I really want to read A Suitable Boy soon and more by Mistry
thanks again for joining in for Irish Short Story Week-now set to end July 1
Glad to know that you liked the list, Mel. Thanks for giving the link to your post on Indian short stories. I read the post just now and it is wonderful! It was nice to see Amrita Pritam there – I had totally forgotten her. I have read essays by Mrinal Pande and love them, but I haven’t read her short stories. I also liked what you said about what is unique about short stories.
Thanks for suggesting ‘The Untouchable’ by Mulk Raj Anand. It is definitely one of the classics. I haven’t read Mistry’s ‘Family Matters’ but it is definitely one of the famous books.
Glad to know that you liked the Narayan novels and the Amitav Ghosh novels you read. We had a discussion of Amitav Ghosh’s ‘Sea of Poppies’ during our most recent book club meet 🙂 Hope you get to read ‘A Suitable Boy’. It is really wonderful.
Thank you so much for posting this list, it is exactly what I have been looking for. I have read only four of these The God of Small Things,
White Tiger, Midnight’s Children and A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth, and will certainly be looking out for these others that you have suggested.
May I make a suggestion for some women writers? These ones write in English and were longlisted for the Man Asian prize and they were excellent: Rebirth by Jahnavi Barua, and The Folded Earth by Anuradha Roy. Also The Inheritance of Loss, by Kiran Desai which won the Booker. I have reviewed all of them on my blog, check the Country of Origin/Indian Literature category if interested.
Best wishes
Lisa Hill, ANZ LitLovers, Australia
Thanks for stopping by, Lisa. Glad to know that you liked the list. Great to know that you have read four of the books and liked them. Really impressed that you have read ‘A Suitable Boy’ because it is a real chunkster. Thanks for the women writer suggestions. I have read Kiran Desai’s ‘The Inheritance of Loss’ and liked it. I haven’t read the other two books by Jahnavi Barua and Anuradha Roy, though. I will read your reviews of them soon.
Fantastic post, Vishy! I love lists 🙂 This reading list could keep me occupied for years! I think I might start with Salma, and the anthology Knit India Through Literature. But so many writers here whose work I don’t know and would love to get to know. The only one I could think of to add was A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry, which I read a couple of weeks ago and really loved. It’s interesting what you say about the different languages. It must make it hard to talk about Indian literature as a whole, when there are so many different languages and most people can’t read all of them. Do people within India tend to talk about national literature, or more in terms of Tamil literature, Urdu literature, etc?
Glad to know that you liked the post, Andrew 🙂 Hope you enjoy reading Salma’s book and ‘Knit India Through Literature’. Will look forward to hearing your thoughts on them. Thanks for mentioning Rohinton Mistry’s ‘A Fine Balance’. He is definitely one of leading writers writing on Indian themes. Your question made me think 🙂 I think people do talk about a national literature in India and many of the important works are translated into different languages. There is an organization called Sahitya Academy which promotes literature in different languages by making available important works in translation in most Indian languages. There is also an annual literary award given by this academy for the best literary work published in each Indian language in the previous year. However, readers from a particular state are more familiar with literary works of their own language. Also, when it comes to reading popular works (for example, murder mysteries, thrillers, romance novels, fantasy etc.), people tend to read books from their own languages and rarely read popular works in translation. So I would say that the answer to your question is both – people do talk about national literature, but they identify more closely with regional literature.
Last week I bought two very recent anthologies of Indian and South Asian Short Stories that would be a very good start into the Indian Short Story and Indian Lit. One is Passages: 24 Modern Indian Stories which focuses mainly on big name authors. It does have two selections from novels in the anthology, a practice which I personally dislike but there are stories in here it would be very hard to find elsewhere. The Lotus Singers: Short Stories from Contemporary South Asia focuses more on new writers and has a more diverse range of country coverage, including even a work from an author located on the Maldive Islands. Each book has a well done introduction and a very good biography of each author. The books are on Amazon as kindles for about 11.00 each. I plan to read through these collections starting in July as the foundation for an event dedicated to South and South East Asia Short Stories (there is another collection devoted to S E Asian short stories I plan to get soon). All together there about 60 stories in these three books. I will be announcing my event latter on It will start July 15 end Oct 15. I am seeking help in this area from those with more than my minimal knowledge
Wow. I am speechless too. Like a commenter said, it should go as a resource.
I haven’t read many of the books in this list. Maybe you should start an Indian reading year, or something like that? I was reminded of the only time I had read a Kannada novel – I think it was during my graduation. Reading in your local language is so tough though these days – do you read in Tamil or just translations?
Hope you get to read some of the books in the list, Soul. I read Tamil books in their original and try to read Hindi books in their original. Books in other Indian languages, I read them in translation. I agree with you – these days with the focus on English, it is so hard to read in other languages. There is only so much of time available. I am lucky to be able to find the time.
Well, the post is actually the sweetest on this deserving topic. I agree with your conclusions and will eagerly look forward to your incoming updates. Just saying thanks will not just be adequate, for the wonderful clarity in your writing. I will at once grab your rss feed to stay informed of any updates. First-rate work and much success in your business endeavors!
Thanks Chandragupt Morya! Glad to know that you liked the post.
How amazing that you compiled this list. That’s fantastic. I’m always looking for books that will expose me to new to me cultures and ideas. Of the books on your list, I’ve only read The God of Small Things. I was really impressed by it. It’s difficult to say I enjoyed it because the subject matter wasn’t easy, but I’m really glad I read it.
Glad to know that you liked the list, Kristi. It is wonderful that you read ‘The God of Small Things’ and liked it very much. I wish Arundhati Roy wrote more novels.
Awesome post..my blog-hopping worked wonders as i was able to wander through your blog..
Well written..you have a follower..please do visit my blog too( just a post old:)) and would love to have your feedback:)
take care.
Thanks for stopping by, Pritish. Glad to know that you liked the post. Thanks also for giving a link to your blog.
http://expressivearian.wordpress.com/
Dear Vishy,
I am glad that you took time to list out your must reads books . Keep the good work going . As a scholar of indian writing in english , I feel that your list does give a layman some understanding about the predominant thematic concerns of indian creative writers. I have been benefitted by your information on film adaptations of certain texts.
You forgot Sharat Chandra Chattopadhay, his novels – Charitraheen, Debdas, Shrikanta, Pather Dabi, Grihadaha, Shesh Prashna, Panditmoshay, Pallisamaaj etc. & other stories and essays.
Thanks for stopping by, Ujjwal. Also thanks for mentioning Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay. I had to make a selection and so had to leave him out. He is definitely one of the iconic writers. Bengali literature is so rich with so many greats – Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, Michael Madhusudhan Dutt, Rabindranath Tagore, Sarath Chandra Chattopadhyay, Bibutibhushan Bandopadhyay, Sunil Gangopadhyay, Satyajit Ray, Nabaneeta Dev Sen, Mahasweta Devi – and this is just the tip of the iceberg. I need to write a separate post to do Bengali literature justice.
Thanks for stopping by, Sudhashree. Nice to know that you liked the books in the list. As you are a scholar of Indian writing in English, I would be very happy, if you can make recommendations of must read authors / books, which are not there in the above list.
PLEASE COULD YOU SUGST NAMES OF FILMS BASED ON ENGLISH LITERATURE
This is marvelous and I’m sure I’ll come back for suggestions. I recently picked up a copy of The God of Small Things, but haven’t read it yet. Thanks for providing the list, Vishy!
Thanks TBM. Hope you enjoy exploring some of these books. Nice to know that you got ‘The God of Small Things’ recently. Hope you enjoy reading it. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on it. Happy reading!
HI Vishy, by coincidence (because I just ordered one of the books you’ve recommended here because I’m about to make a start on my ‘Indian TBR list) I stumbled on this. What do you think of his seven choices? flip.it/asbIE
Glad to know that you are starting on your Indian ‘TBR’ list, Lisa. Which book did you order?
Thanks for sharing that link which had suggested Indian books by Samit Basu. His selection is quite interesting. All the books in the list, except one, are written in English. I loved Vikram Seth’s ‘A Beautiful Boy’. It is a beautiful depiction of India in the late-40s / early-50s. I read Upamanyu Chatterjee’s ‘English August’ for one of my courses when I was a student – I think it is quite interesting and humorous. Amitav Ghosh’s ‘The Shadow Lines’ is quite famous and I remember seeing Sonia Faleiro’s ‘Beautiful Thing’ in the bookshop here. If you get to read any of them, I would love to hear your thoughts on them.
Happy reading!
I’ve ordered Train to Pakistan. I liked the sound of itJ
Wonderful to know that, Lisa! I liked it very much. Hope you enjoy reading it. Will look forward to hearing your thoughts on it. Happy reading!
Train to Pakistan is *brilliant*, thank you so much for recommending it! My review is at http://anzlitlovers.com/2013/08/11/train-to-pakistan-by-khushwant-singh/
Now *smile* what to choose next for my Indian-Lit-to-read shelf at Goodreads?!
Glad to know that you liked ‘Train to Pakistan’, Lisa. I just read your review. It is beautiful. I checked out your Indian-Lit bookshelf in Goodreads. The books there are all wonderful 🙂 Hope you enjoy reading all of them. Maybe you can try one of the R.K.Narayan novels (the sequence is ‘Swami and Friends’, ‘The Bachelor of Arts’ and ‘The English Teacher’). They are humorous and depict life in smalltown India. All three are available in an omnibus edition by Everyman library. You can maybe try ‘Yayati’ by V.S.Khandekar also – it uses a Indian mythological story to comment on youth and old age and love. Happy reading!
Oh so many treasures to discover!
Yes 🙂 I love the fact that you are reading Hans Fallada and Thomas Mann at the same time now 🙂
Oh yes, total madness, but what a nice way to be crazy!
Happy reading 🙂 I think both of them are wonderful. Can’t wait to hear your thoughts on it. Hope you are having a wonderful Sunday evening!
well-researched list !
Being a Mahabharata fan, I would definitely recommend Yuganta by Irawati Karve. For Ramayana fans, Shubha Vilas’s Ramayana, the Game of Life.
First time authors like Siddharth Sanghavi’s Last Song of Dusk.
In Marathi literature, recommend Thriller/horror writer Ratnakar Matkari, for historical novels ‘Rau'(madhavrao peshwa), Chhava (Sambhaji raje).
Acharya Atre , P.L Deshpande, V.P Kale are other fabulous writers.
Thanks for stopping by, SweetyShinde. Glad to know that you liked the list. Thanks for the suggestions and recommendations. I haven’t heard of Ratnakar Matkari and I love thrillers / horrors written in Indian languages. So, I will look for his books. Are his books available in Hindi / English translation? I will explore some of the other writers too
Umm, not sure of that. His work has also been translated into Marathi plays and movies, he latest being ‘Investment.’ It is about how modern parents use children as reality show puppets; and how it backfires in the end.
Interesting to know that. I will look for the Hindi version of ‘Investment’ if it is available. Thanks for introducing me to Ratnakar Matkari.
What a cool list. The God of Small Things is such an amazing book. Whenever I think about mastering voice, I turn to this book. And her descriptions are so lush.
I guess you didn’t include Jhumpa Lahiri because she’s American? Much of her latest book, The Lowland, takes place in India. I’m not much of a short story person, but two of her stories “A Temporary Matter” and “When Mr. Pirzada Comes to Dine” from The Interpreter of Maladies anthology are among my favorites.
Have you read The Space Between Us by Thrity Umrigar?
Thanks Deb 🙂 Glad to know that you liked the list. Nice to know that you liked ‘The God of Small Things’. Regarding Jhumpa Lahiri – yes, I was trying to include mostly Indian writers in the list. I made two exceptions – I included Salman Rushdie and Aravind Adiga. I haven’t read ‘The Lowland’ yet, though I read a few reviews of it. Did you like it compared to her earlier fiction? Thanks for telling me about her short stories. I haven’t read them or the collection ‘The Interpreter of Maladies’. I will add that to my ‘TBR’ list. I remember Thrity Umrigar’s book getting positive reviews when it came out. I love the title ‘The Space Between Us’. It makes me think of Maggie O’Farrell’s novel ‘The Distance Between Us’. Did you like Umrigar’s book?
[…] to me by Vishy, who places it as No 1 on his Vishy’s Indian Literature Rading List. Which is why I bought it along with The English Teacher (1945); The Painter of Signs (1976); […]