Customer Reviews

The Bachelor of Arts

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I could identify with the main character as he completed his studies and began moving into the 'real' world. His spiritual journey, though not complete at the books end, was very interesting. The (paraphrased) line "they thought they were the first of their type and the last..", referring to his radical friends from his university days, struck a chord. We all slowly realize that our own well-used mold was indeed not broken after they made us. More followed. Alas, we all take our place in society and make the best of it.

Simply written and easy to read. I recommend it.

I have read and liked R K Narayan's works in the past. I picked this one up just based on the fact that it was written by him. It was not recommended to me by anyone. And honestly i am so glad i did.
The main character is a student just out of undergrad and facing the decision of what ahead. In a very straight and simple manner Narayan portrays the character's struggles with choosing a career and then his foray into love. Its simple and yet extraordinary. BTW for those expecting a dramatic ending, don't. This book just ends. I had to turn the page to realise its finished :-)

Probably the best work of RK Narayan, this novel has a beauty that transcends time and space. Its written in a simple and mellifluous style and yet, has an underlying profundity that is incomparable. Anyone can identify with Chandran, the protagonist as he goes through the emotions of love, hatred and detachment. And 'callous realism' - that one's for the ages. One can see RK Narayan, a true master at work in this novel.

Narayan doesn't write anything poorly. He makes writing seem so easy. His sentence structure, dialog, and individual word choices initially seem almost too simplistic, yet they connect immediately with the reader. Narayan dazzles the reader with a style of writing that seems both fundamentally natural to and firmly grounded within the English language. It is also refreshing to read a book today that is essentially so apolitical. Narayan is exploring the human person and ocndition, not imperialism or colonialism. We encounter real people with real ideas, feelings, aspirations, and flaws. They are not archtypes or foils.

Published in 1937, it is most fascinating to get an understanding of Indian culture within the British Imperial Raj. We see Indians up close and personal. The Brits and their world is mostly off stage.

This is a 4-part novel. The first part is set initially in the 1930/1931 school year, during Chandran's. the protagonist, senior year in college. Part 2 has Chandran graduated, falling in love as a young man, and puruing an arranged marriage. But when the courtship fails part 3 has him becoming a wandering fake holy man. Ultimately feeling ashamed at his deception, part 4 has him getting into the newspaper business.

One thing I love about Narayan and this novel is how he just lets it...end. There is no set piece conclusion. He tells us what he wants us to know about the protagonist and his life without worrying if the reader knows everything or knows something the reader might want to know (e.g., the outcome of Chandran's love life),

"The Bachelor of Arts" is the second of a thematic trilogy that begins with "Swami and Friends" and ends with "The English Teacher"--three novels that collectively take their characters from the innocence of youth through the disappointment of love to life's first tragedy. Yet this tale of Chandran, a college graduate unlucky in love, is (as Graham Greene notes in his introduction) "a funny and happy book" at its core--particularly when compared to Narayan's later melancholy, tragic books--yet a closer reading shows us the "shadow [that] had been there from the beginning."

The first part of "Bachelor" is an unexpected treat: a farcical, satirical look at the sillier, exhausting rituals of academic life in colonial India. The opening scene features a debate on whether "historians should be slaughtered first"--and Chandran, a history student himself, is required to argue in the affirmative. From there, our poor student is appointed by his professor as secretary of the school's new Historical Association, an honor that adds to his duties but hardly helps his studies. In between, he frequents the cinema with his best friend and dutifully maps out a grand plan for exam preparation--a plan that is revised daily due to the impossibility of following it.

The debate society, his friends, his academic career--all has been poor preparation for life's setbacks. ("The classroom or the club or the office created friendships. When the circumstances changed the relations, too, snapped.") The giddiness of the novel takes a sharp turn when the circumstances do change: Chandran falls in love at first sight and is rejected, causing him to cast aside the comforts of life and to leave home. The rest of the novel follows our Bachelor of Arts (still a bachelor in life) as he educates himself about the one subject neglected during his collegiate career: himself. It's such a simple and simply told story, but it illustrates beautifully the complexities of finding one's place in the world.

A very pleasant and interesting look at the life of a young man in South Asia. Only moderately engaged by his studies at the university, Chandran spends most of his time going to movies, staying out late, drinking at the café, and generally socializing with his friends. With some prodding from his father, he overcomes his laziness sufficiently to graduate, only to find his problems just beginning.

Chandran's predicament should be very familiar to many readers. Bright and charismatic, but lacking any real focus, he has difficulty finding employment. Upon graduation his peer group separates, and he needs to make new friends. And his parents, who are only eager to see him make something of himself, can't help but find fault with his carefree, unproductive lifestyle. What's a Bachelor of Arts to do? His unrequited love for a young girl named Malathi makes for an interesting look at how courting was handled in traditional Indian families not so many decades ago, complete with horoscopes and dowries and class consciousness. But ultimately, isn't it the couples' willingness to commit to each other that matters, and not how they happen to meet? Every bit as fascinating is Chandran's sojourn as an ascetic, which is reminiscent of a Hermann Hesse novel, but with a uniquely critical perspective that only a native Indian could provide.

Narayan's prose has a warm serenity that never fails to evoke small-town South Asia. What his plots lack in excitement and intensity, they make up for in geniality. This particular novel has perhaps a little more excitement than some of the others, and would be a good entry point for young people just discovering Narayan.

The story of Chandran, a final-year student of History, on how love tranforms ambitions, alters goals and changes lives is the theme of this wonderful book.

Written masterfully with just the right amounts of comedy, emotions and twists, and teeming with sarcasm characteristic of Narayan, this book takes a broad look at values and customs. For example, the long scenes wheres discussion about horoscopes and Chandran's disagreement with his mother are all so very close to life in India.

A great book, an excellent read....

A book which effectively deals with realistic issues and perfect embodiment of simplicity and values is found in Bachelor of Arts. R.K Narayan has this uncanny knack of portraying Indian values in the most authentic way. He handles it in a way that no author can do the same justice to the Indian conditions. Many foreign authors have tried and faltered to come to terms with the living conditions here. But, R.K. Narayan has repeatedly come up with books that essays deeply into the emotions of the common man, picking out little things from daily lives that makes a big difference to the reader when reading the book. Be it the masterpiece Swami and friends, where any reader can be attributed to have lead a life similar to that of Swami, The Financial Expert which brilliantly deals about the relationship between father and son or The English Teacher, which explores the intricate association between a husband and wife, and the subsequent agony of the husband after his wife's departed soul, R.K. Narayan comes up with touching themes that leaves the reader in deep introspection.

Bachelor of Arts is a walkthrough of a generation revolving around the main protagonist of the story, Chandran. Chandran is so ominously present in us that it doesn't become difficult to get into his groove. There are times when the reader has to stir himself up with the feeling Oh!! Is this happening to me?!! A story starting from college days of a B.A, History graduate, progressing into that difficult phase where every student faces a huge roadblock in his life - whether to continue studies or not or rather What do I do next?, and then, falling unsuccessfully in love with the girl next door only to think that solitude is the best company before realising that family means a lot more than that of a girl's love, and chalking out a career after the worn-out days of love is the walkthrough of this brilliant piece of literature by the greatest Indian writer of all times.

Chandran's college days are a gentle reminder of our days. Planning out a study schedule for the exams brings memories where we have planned more than we studied. The household of Chandran brimming with life, with his mother, father and brother is like any typical Indian family. The college activities of Chandran are superbly written. The debates of whether historians have to be slaughtered or not, is brilliantly depicted. His friendship with Ramu and their mutual admiration for each other is well handled. R.K. Narayan has also beautifully brought out the fact how college friends do not end up as friends for life. When Ramu loses all touch from him after a few years, R.K. Narayan through Chandran says People pretended that they are friends, but the fact is they are brought together by forces of circumstances. How true!!!

The reader is constantly in a trance while reading this book not because he is elevated to fictitious situations, but because he is take to stunning reality that places him so close to this cherubic Chandan. I have read this book more than a couple of times and everytime it is a new message that gets embedded in my mind. A masterly book by a masterly writer. Not to miss this book for anything in the world.

This book, along with "A Tiger for Malgudi" and "Swami and Friends" is certainly among the very best by R K Narayan. I'd highly reccomend this book to all. To the foreign readers: Graham Greene sums up the effect of Narayan's writings in a very honest way indeed. I myself was a "foreigner" to southern Indian life before I'd read Narayan's books.

"The bachelor of arts" is a semi-autobiographical story of a young adult. The book was written more than 40-50 years back but like all of Narayan's writings, it is timeless. I could personally identify with Chandran - the central character of the story.

I've read this book more than 10 times and the pleasure increases every time I read it.

Narayan has accomplished an amazing feat. He has used language to illustrate the process of a man's soul searching, while, at the same time, questioning the nature of language itself. The book's prose is beautiful, clean, and coherent for western readers while at the same time giving a good and keen sense of south-east asian culture. The epiphany this story's lead character experiences when transcending death to communicate with his wife is an amazing reading experience.