Customer Reviews

Swami and Friends (Phoenix Fiction Series)

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Call it a trip down the memory lane or a story of a little boy, this is one book to delight all and sundry. Graham Greene calls it 'A book in ten thousand'. It is that and much more.

R K Narayan is without any doubt one of the most famous Indian writers. His books echo the simple lives and daily trials of the people of 'Malgudi'. This in fact is Narayan's first foray into the world of literatue.

The book is about a little boy Swamy who hates school, loves to play all the time (what else but cricket?), snuggles beside his grandma every night and has his own gang of friends. Swami's family life mirrors the typical Hindu brahminical household. There is no central plot in the book and it is more episodic. One fictitious incident of the Indian freedom struggle is superbly shown through the eyes of a child.

More than anything, the book is a reflection of our own childhood days when longed for the classes to end, the teachers we loved and hated, the school bully with whom it was great to strike up a friendship, the special kid whom we had to impress and the peon who, we were sure, knew all the questions of the examination.

There are books more profound than this running into hundreds of pages. But we realize that sometimes simple words and plain language of an effective writer can make a bigger impact if it is something we can relate to. This is a story that can be read pretty quickly but one that you will stay with you for a while.

Swami and Friends is the story of idyllic childhood, when life for some lucky kids consists entirely of avoiding the homework and playing all the time in the street with friends. Swami is one such lucky boy, studying in standard 1 A, at Albert Mission High School. We are soon introduced to his class mates and they are a reasonable lot. Shanker's specialty is to top every exam, the `Pea' and Somu occupy the middle positions but Mani is Swami's best friend who sits on the last bench and takes more than one year to clear some classes. Together Swami and Mani lord over the class and just barely manage to scrape past the exams. They live for summer vacations.

But this peaceful setting is disturbed occasionally by the stern headmaster of the school and sometimes by the religious study teacher, Ebenezar. Though real chaos happens when a new boy, Rajam, comes to study in Swami's class. Rajam's father is the police commissioner of the town. In 1930, that would mean working for the British Government. After some scuffles that threaten to involve wooden clubs on Mani's part and an air gun on Rajam's, peace descends on 1 A again and Swami, Mani and Rajam become fast friends. We see them getting involved in forming a cricket club and harassing cart drivers.

But all good things come to an end, and Swami manages to get thrown out from his school. He participates or rather gets caught in Anti-British protests. Next day, when his headmaster tries to cane him, he runs away swearing he will never come back. His father is forced to change the school. Still, his friendship with Mani and Rajam totters along, till Swami manages to run away from the second school too. He feels that now there is nothing left but to run away from home also. Eventually Swami returns home, only to find one of those childhood's great calamities, lying in wait for him. The book ends on a bitter-sweet note.

Shaw said that people laughed hardest when he told the simple truth. This book might have been written to illustrate the profundity of that remark, as tiny Swaminathan, so profoundly imagined that we leave the book understanding (and loving) him, enables us to feel a deep tenderness not only for him but for all children (including ourselves). Swami loves (and hustles) his mamaji, loves (and trembles, needlessly, before) his father, loves (and stoutly patronizes and instructs) his Granny, generally conducting his life in school and among his friends with an endearing combination of courage, ablomp, cheek, incomprehension, and vulnerability. Narayan is the writer that Graham Greene admires most in the English language; Swami and Friends is a goodish argument why. The book illustrates how Narayan has come to command the respect of writers and the love of readers throughout the world.

This fictionalized autobiography of a young Indian boy and his world is so charming and amusing that I have read it several times. I strongly recommend it to everyone, especially to those who believe that the only good books are written by Americans and Europeans. Most of all, the author is quintessentially human and not afraid to show us himself as a mischievous child with all his warts. As such he is more lovable than a more perfect hero. At places in this book you will laugh until the tears roll down your face. DON'T, repeat, DON'T miss it! Words cannot express how marvelous this story is. In addition, it has universal appeal to both children and adults, though on different levels.

What Jack London did for animals, Narayan does for children: he makes them come alive as both characters (i.e., real people of a young age, with their loveable warts and all) and children. I marvelled throughout at how Narayan can bring forth so much detail about people and places as well as feeling for same in such a short book using so few words. Yet he succeeds magnificently. This is real writing to effect, where one key word, some short dialog, or a simple phrase pack so much meaning and ability to communicate.

Written in 1930 and published a few years later, Narayan's first book shows both his genius as a writer using the then King's English and his masterful ability to create a fictional place that seems more real than so many real places. I truly felt as if I was beginning to understand what life was like, at least for this middle-class native child, in India in the 1920s and 1930s.

This is a book to be enjoyed for the sheer pleasure of reading great, simple writing. Hardly a wasted word or phrase. This was the second Narayan book I'd read, having started with the early 1970s The Sign Painter. Both are great in their own ways, both are absolute pleasures to read, and both highlight a master of the modern English novel, one where real characters and vivid setting make plot almost an afterthough. You read on just to enjoy reading on, letting the characters and place take you where they will!

If you like this, read VS Naipaul's classic early novels about his native Trinidad. Both he and Narayan show how non-Englishmen can write some of the best English anywhere in the world.

An excellant presentation of child hood. The fictional autobiography of swamy, the little lovable mischievous boy from a small south indian villege is a true depiction of every Indian boy of his times. I was born after more than 30 years since it was written still my child hood has resemblences in lot of places whether it be trying to escape from teachers in last benches or playing cricket or loosing friends like rajam. Presented in a lucid and lyrical fashion, this book can be finished nonstop. This is a book of children for the elders. Not many great works of this kind could be referred by me so far. Tomswayer of Mark Twain in English, Seryosha of Vera Panova in Russian and Budugu of Mullapudi Venkata Ramana in Telugu(a shouth indian language) are few of similar brilliant works I read so far.

This Great book form R K Narayan made me remember my childhood and school days and those innocent years. Especially Swami's Grand mother, his friend Rajam and mani's characters touched the heart. This book has got lot of practical humor. Definately this book will keep you at a lighter mood and will make you to remember the stories for ever. Any guy born and brought up in India can find paralles between him and Swamy.

This book was excellent! I was totally able to relate to little Swami and his various experiences at home, school and with his friends. R.K. Narayan's great sense of humor is also apparent in this novel. This is a must-read for anyone who wishes to understand the South Indian way of life.

The book 'Swami and Friends' is a book that wonderfully describes the childhood of six friends. Schooldays are a memorable time for most of us, and Narayan details it beautifully. For example, Narayan shows how students rejoice and celebrate when exams are over and holidays are upon them.

The book was published in 1935, but it feels fresh and contemporary even today. In sharp contrast, there are some books that are published in the 1990's that feel dated already.

The book was written in the pre-Independence era, and there is an excellent chapter in which Swami and his friends join a rally that is eventually dispersed by a lathi charge. Narayan makes you feel as if you were actually there during the march, protesting against the British Raj.

There are six main characters in the book:-
Swaminathan: His name is referred to in the title of the book. Swami is an above average student, and has a nervous and excitable personality.
Mani: He is the class bully. He is not good in studies but is able to beat anyone up.
Rajam: He is a rich boy and his family is more affluent than others. Like Swami, he is also an above average student.
Sankar: He is very clever and the most intelligent boy of the group.
Somu: He is the Class Monitor, and is pleasant and easy-going.
Samuel The Pea: He is somewhat a mirror image of Swami.

Over time, because of fighting within the group, this group of six is divided into two groups of three: Swami, Mani and Rajam in one group, and Sankar, Somu and The Pea in the other group.

The book also proves the popularity of cricket among Indians even before independence. The kids in the book spend a good deal of time assembling a cricket team, and playing cricket using tennis balls and makeshift bats. It must be said that this team loses the only one match that it plays in the book.

If there is a fascinating display of high quality literature that involves innocence, emotions, sentiments and playfulness of youthful characters, then this has to be the book. The sheer art of writing this book has captured the hearts of millions of people around the world.

It involves the story of a young boy, Swami(now a legendary character), who along with his friends play traunt in the Narayan created famous town of Malgudi. The sheer brilliance of the author reminds the reader of his youth, which in no way differs from the mischief of Swami. Every school has a bully which we vividly remember, and here too we have a bully in the form of Mani, a very close associate of Swami. Rajam in the form of a police officer's son becomes a very close friend of Swami and Mani. Their friendship, along with their small plans, little differences and a lot of similarities is the basic theme of this wonderfully written book. The reader after reading this book would really feel sorry for not being involved in a fun-filled world called Malgudi.

This book has been read by me close to five times, but I have carefully avoided reading the last chapter four times, simply because...(I won't divulge the end). If an author can influence the mindset of a reader with such a wonderful display of panache and ease with simple created characters, there can be nothing left except admiration for this greatly talented and gifted author. With this, I leave the readers to have a delightful insight of this book.

This book is a must read book for all!!!