Customer Reviews

The English Teacher

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Critics have often compared with Russian writer Gogol , his imaginary town of Malgudi , peopled with characters potrayed with a gentle irony as they struggle to accommodate tradition with western attitudes inherited from the British . ' The English Teacher ' , one of his finest works , tells the story of a young man Krishna, just married with a new job . The domestic tenderness of an Indian arranged marriage makes an adventure out of ordinary. Readings of Palgrave's , the outings of the newly married, hagglings over household accounts are endearing images that stay with you forever . The marriage ends in a death, and the way Narayan encompasses this with sadness and loss, simply moves one to tears. What follows then are frustrating attempts to contact his wife through a medium. This book is really a semi-autobiographical account, as narayan himself suffered a bereavement in his married life and in ' My Days ' he decribes his attempts to use a medium. Although other books by Narayan are more popular , namely ,'Swami and his freinds ' and ' Guide ' , it is this book, which , i beleive to be his finest creations. Sadness and humour go hand in hand ,like twins, their shadows inseparable . Like Chekhov all his comedies have a under-tone of sadness. In all his novels , Narayan has never strayed from his Malgudi, making us hear stories under its Banyan tree , taking us for a stroll along Market road , look with awe at those villas in Lawley extension , the cinema , the railway station,the hair-cutting saloon . He has lived in Malgudi all his life , and we , his readers have stayed with him I am waiting to go out of my door into those loved and shabby streetsof malgudiand see with excitement and certainty of pleasure, who, with some unexpected and revealing phrase will open a door on to yet another human existence.

This one's my favourite Narayan - along with the Maneater of Malgudi, this occupies a very special place in my book-shelf. The English Teacher - a.k.a. Grateful to Life and Death - is a sad story, sadder than most of Narayan's Malgudi novels. But the tragedy is softened by the wry humour that runs through the novel.

'The feeling,' Narayan writes on the first page, 'again and again came upon me that as I was nearing thirty I should cease to live like a cow (perhaps, a cow, with justice, might feel hurt at the comparison), eating, working in a manner of speaking, walking, talking, etc, - all done to perfection, I was sure, but always leaving a sense of something missing.' You can see what I'm talking about.

The story, as Narayan narrates in his autobiography 'My Days', is intensely personal.
'The English Teacher is autobiographical in content, very little of it being fiction. The "English Teacher" of the novel ... is a fictional character in the fictional city of Malgudi, but he goes through the same experience I had gone through...'

'That book,' he writes, 'falls in two parts - one is domestic life and the other half is "spiritual."'

The second half comes as a bit of a surprise, but Narayan tackles the difficult subjects of death, deprivation and desolation masterfully. Narayan takes you through the story gently. There are no shocks, nothing disturbing. This is a sad tale, gently told.

The book ends on a note of hope - 'it was a moment of rare, immutable joy - a moment for which one feels grateful to Life and Death.' The reviewer who spoke of how Narayan manages to 'communicate ... the extra-ordinary ordinariness of human happiness', I think hit the nail right on the head.

Through his unobtrusive insights, Narayan paints a beautiful picture of a small fictional South Indian town - Malgudi (which is in reality, a mixture of images derived from his hometown in the Kumbakonam District of Tamilnadu and Mysore in Karnataka. Narayan's description of the life of South Indians- their simple houses, grandmothers, earnest young men, garrulous retired men, street dogs, cricket playing youngsters- all make for a compelling picture, funny and poignant simultaneously.

I cannot recollect the number of times I have read this book - The old Indian TV serial "Malgudi Days" immortalized Narayan's imagination on Indian television. Of course, Malgudi days dealt primarily with Narayan's celebrated "Swami and his friends", but the small town also serves as the backdrop for this semi-autobiographic novel of Narayan.

The English teacher- Krishnan leads a blissful life with his wife and daughter. Life takes a cruel turn when his wife dies of typhoid. The rest of the book deals with Krishnan's struggle, seances through which he communicates with his wife's soul and finally- the magnificent ending of the book, when the author finally realizes the true meaning of life and he experiences "a moment of pure immutable joy; a moment for which one feels grateful to life and death"

The book is based on Narayan's real life; In his own words, very little of the book is fiction...There are loving references to Susheela- her height (in reality, Narayan's wife was taller than him!), the description of her midnight-blue silk saree, the fragrance of jasmine that enveloped everything associated with her....One can only begin to sense the magnitude of Narayan's loss. Through this book, Narayan has accorded the Indian way of life and his love the greatest possible respect and honor.

This book is one of the author's masterpieces. The only thing which really put me off being an Indian is the cover that has been chosen for this book. It is a stereotyped western notion of India,A mughal setting . I cannot see anything more illfitting or anachronistic. It is almost absurd.The Mughals were only in the north of India and never came down to anywhere where Narayan was, or ever wrote about. Its like putting a victorian drawing room as a cover page to a current work of fiction.I wish the publishers would at least consider setting a fitting cover picture, which depicts South india in Narayan's age which was much later and in the 20th century in a modern India, Instead of propagating such stale set-notions about India and its culture.

Writers such as R.K. Narayan, P.G. Wodehouse, write without aspiring for greatness. Like a flower which grows without thinking, their words flow naturally filling page after page with the innate simplicity of life. There are no bones, attached strings or dark clouds with silver linings looming on the horizon. How simple is life!

An extremely funny book that at the same time evokes empathy and makes the heart flow with the milk of human kindness. Certainly not his best writing (Guide, Swami & Friends, The Vendor of Sweets), but definitely recommended.

He is indeed in the top 5 list of all time. Not merely as an Indian author, but very universal, making us realize how similar we all are. I would certainly include his books in the package we send out to the first extra-terrestrial species we spot.It would give them an excellent idea of humanity.

R.K.Narayan is one of the most popular indian writers writing in English, Admired greatly by Graham Greene & V.S.Naipaul . If you have to read just one book by narayan and nothing more,then this is the book . It is by far the best in bringing out the simple nuances of indian life...and the beauty even in the simplicity of indian life

I read this novel to decide whether to include it in the booklist for the new certificate we are introducing in our centre. The decision was no, as I very much doubt the average 15-year old would engage with it sufficiently to be successful in their final exam. However, I enjoyed the book. Although it deals with some fairly heavy material, such as a death, the nature of imperialism, the preservation of one's own culture and the concept of life after death, I enjoyed the light way it dealt with these cocnepts and the healthy sense of self-deprecation the protagonist had. The author uses a number of techniques effecively to narrate the story with compassion yet a certain sense of detachment. One could not help but empathise with Krishna and follow his journey to greater understanding with keenness and curiosity.

This book is autobiographical. It depicts painful struggle of the author to come to terms with passing away of his young, beloved wife- dreams, nightmares, spirits, planchet et al.

In fact after reading the book you ask- How did the author survive to tell the tale?

On another level this book is almost therapeutic if you read it after you lose some one very dear to you. I read it again after I lost my own mother and experienced its healing touch.

Narayan as his typical self - comic, critical, statirical and philosophical. Reading this book one is forced to introspect the value and wisdom of doing a mundane job (practically all of them!!). Knowing that a part of you is rebelling but not heeding to the small voice is how we have been taught to live. Narayan has beautifully captured the life of a teacher in the Indian context and the futility that comes as a part of it. How and why he finally gives in to his true nature is what this book is all about. Read it if you think you are doing what you think you should be doing...

A lethargic, slow, languid novel that seemingly has no story or sense whatsoever. The events unfold without any order and the characters lack depth -- they have a sort of a wooden feel. Nothing seems real, or even remotely possible! This is my second Narayanan novel -- the previous one being Waiting for the Mahatma which I read over my break in India -- and I have to say, I am thoroughly underwhelmed by this novels as of now. Is this the genius that people seemingly adore? I am not going to give up however, some more of Narayanan's tales are to follow, apart from my attempt at reading the work he is most famous for -- Malgudi Days.