Reviews for The Grandmother's Tale and Other Stories

The average rating for The Grandmother's Tale and Other Stories based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2016-12-31 00:00:00 Renn Newwer On 30th of December, 2016 I saw a great tragedy waiting silently in the corner of my mind, ready to strike at any moment. The tragedy, who goes by no name, but I like to call her, "The Guilt of Failing Thy Goodreads Challenge" comes scarily close near the end of every year. But this time it was the worst. I had two days to find my 12th book, finish it, and post a review in order to survive. So I went book hunting in my own apartment which is generally littered with plenty of books. It is so because, every few months I go to university library and get a lot of books which are issued for an year. This way, I can enjoy the feeling of having lots of books but not having to pay for them or feel guilty when I have to throw them away due to relocation (my academic career doesn't let me stay at one place, so I have to keep moving, at least so far). I needed the thinnest book, and this one which had three novellas from Narayan fitted my tight schedule. Although my 11th book was also from Narayan, and I try not to read an author's work in succession to maintain diversity, I had little choice in this matter. The book had three novellas: 1) The Grandmother's Tale, 2) Guru, and 3) Salt and Sawdust. About Narayan, I don't know what shall I say after saying all that I've said in my review of "The Bachelor of Arts"? He is a master of words, and pierces your heart with his wit. While the first two stories were pretty good, it was the last one, "Salt and Sawdust" that swept me off my feet. Its the story of a struggling writer, who is a housewife and married to a caring and wise husband. There is a classic contrast between art and practicality, between idealism and realisim - the irony that engulfs the poor couple who is trying to publish a manuscript simply affected me too much. Perhaps I liked it because I could relate to it so much. As any writer knows, writing is one thing and publishing is another. If you get a chance to just read this particular story, do read it. Final Verdict: If you're looking for good, literary writing in English from India, R. K. Narayan will never disappoint you.

Review # 2 was written on 2009-10-21 00:00:00 Valerie Gray R K Narayan doing what he does the best.Telling stories that are simple in their narration,subtle in their emotions and crazy in their conception and so so believable in their final interpretation.