R. K. Narayan Bücher

In Malgudi beginnt Raju seine Karriere als der verlogenste und deshalb erfolgreichste Fremdenführer weit und breit. Unter seinen Kunden entdeckt er eine Tänzerin, und als ihr Impresario kommt er schnell zu Geld und Ehren - bis er infolge kleinerer Unregelmässigkeiten im Gefängnis landet. Nach seiner Entlassung sucht er in einem verlassenen Tempel Zuflucht, und im Handumdrehen wird er - hätte er’s selbst gedacht? - zum Guru des Dorfes. Er gibt gute Ratschläge, geistliche Unterweisung und nimmt gutes Essen. Bald wird er als Heiliger verehrt. Was so erfreulich beginnt, wird schließlich gefährlich: Als die Dürre ausbricht, erwartet die Dorfgemeinschaft von ihrem Swami, dass er durch Fasten und Gebete, ja sogar echtes Märtyrertum die Regengötter umstimmt.

The title character in The English Teacher, Narayan's most autobiographical novel, searches for meaning when the death of his young wife deprives him of his greatest source of happiness.

This is the story of Nataraj, who earns his living as a printer in the little world of Malgudi, an imaginary town in South India. Nataraj and his close friends, a poet and a journalist, find their congenial days disturbed when Vasu, a powerful taxidermist, moves in with his stuffed hyenas and pythons, and brings his dancing-women up the printer's private stairs. When Vasu, in search of larger game, threatens the life of a temple elephant that Nataraj has befriended, complications ensue that are both laughable and tragic.

Here are three of R. K. Narayan's most famous and best loved novels: Swami and Friends, The Bachelor of Arts and The English Teacher. All set in the imaginary Indian town of Malgudi, these irresistible works provide the perfect introduction to a universal world of humour, sadness, wisdom and joy.

Introducing this collection of stories, R. K. Narayan describes how in India "the writer has only to look out of the window to pick up a character and thereby a story." Powerful, magical portraits of all kinds of people, and comprising stories written over almost forty years, Malgudi Days presents Narayan's imaginary city in full color.

Swami is ten years old, and life for him consists mainly of having adventures with his friends, avoiding the misery of homework, and coping as best as he can with the teachers and other adults he encounters.

A sweeping tale of abduction, battle, and courtship played out in a universe of deities and demons, The Ramayana is familiar to virtually every Indian. Although the Sanskrit original was composed by Valmiki around the fourth century BC, poets have produced countless versions in different languages. Here, drawing on the work of an eleventh-century poet called Kamban, Narayan employs the skills of a master novelist to re-create the excitement he found in the original. A luminous saga made accessible to new generations of readers, The Ramayana can be enjoyed for its spiritual wisdom, or as a thrilling tale of ancient conflict.