Malgudi Days

"Ah! That is your loss! You have been half asleep half your life! When I was in India the Indian Times correspondent told me not to bother with all the sacred cows of Indian literature, and we all know who she meant by those, but to read Narayan. He is a genius. I only discovered him last year and I have now read everything he has ever written. So you can discover him this year! He’s not known over here. Well, only by the intellectuals. But he is sheer magic. If you mention his name in India people stand up and cheer. They are tales of Indian life, of Indian people and these short stories are his masterpiece. I always recommend short stories when people ask me to recommend a writer. I say: “Look at the short stories and then you can decide whether you like the author enough to read the novels.” It’s a good introduction to an author. Get the weekly Five Books newsletter"