This book is an authentic R. K. Narayan work. As usual, the description of his characters is nothing short of astounding, you can really feel as if you have met these characters or that you know them personally, such is the level of description in the author’s writing.
The story is primarily about the life of a teacher at the government school in Malgudi, Krishna. The story begins with Krishna’s boring and passive life at his hostel. There is very little happening at this time, but the writing is so good that you do not feel it. This part has been used excellently by the author to bring out the character of Krishna, which is to be played upon in the rest of the story.
Through time, Krishna brings his wife Sushila and child from their home town to stay with him. The stroy really takes off from this point. His wife Sushila dies of Typhoid and then he is faced with the duty of bringing up his child alone. In time, he also finds a way of communicating with his wife, the supernatural stuff. I guess my description of the above is a little vague, if I could do any better, then I would be Narayan I guess.
Describing anything more about the book would destroy the fun of going through it for those of you who have not read it. READ this book, I would rate it as one of Narayan’s classics.