The Dark Room (Phoenix Fiction Series) (Paperback)

by R. K. Narayan (Author) "AT schooltime Babu suddenly felt very ill, and Savitri fussed over him and put him to bed..." (more)
Key Phrases: picture tonight, Shanta Bai, Market Road, South Extension (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
"There are writers--Tolstoy and Henry James to name two--whom we hold in awe, writers--Turgenev and Chekhov--for whom we feel a personal affection, other writers whom we respect--Conrad for example--but who hold us at a long arm's length with their 'courtly foreign grace.' Narayan (whom I don't hesitate to name in such a context) more than any of them wakes in me a spring of gratitude, for he has offered me a second home. Without him I could never have known what it is like to be Indian."--Graham Greene

Offering rare insight into the complexities of Indian middle-class society, R. K. Narayan traces life in the fictional town of Malgudi. The Dark Room is a searching look at a difficult marriage and a woman who eventually rebels against the demands of being a good and obedient wife. In Mr. Sampath, a newspaper man tries to keep his paper afloat in the face of social and economic changes sweeping India. Narayan writes of youth and young adulthood in the semiautobiographical Swami and Friends and The Bachelor of Arts. Although the ordinary tensions of maturing are heightened by the particular circumstances of pre-partition India, Narayan provides a universal vision of childhood, early love and grief.

"The experience of reading one of his novels is . . . comparable to one's first reaction to the great Russian novels: the fresh realization of the common humanity of all peoples, underlain by a simultaneous sense of strangeness--like one's own reflection seen in a green twilight."--Margaret Parton, New York Herald Tribune

Product Details

• Paperback: 214 pages
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press (October 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0226568377
• ISBN-13: 978-0226568379
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,256,156 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dark Room, May 19, 2000

By A Customer

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.