SWAMI AND FRIENDS, R.K. Narayan

This book really good it's all about the story of malgudi days and child psychology I think English honers student will find intresting.

It is nice

A story that is fun and quick to read. Not much twist and turns.

What a book !! Touch of genius by Mr. Narayan. Set in the setting of the British raj and the din of those times, he brings to life, a 10 ye old’s state of mind. His fun, his struggles , travails and friendships. Things at some basic level still remain the same till today. Must read for all ages. Specially 10yr olds and their dads 😉!

Nice book. Affordable price.

Book arrived in great condition. No scratches, no torn pages, no issues whatsoever.

Reasonably good quality of paper and printing.Liking of contents depends on the reader. It wasn't my cup of tea though.

Nice

Although this book was published in the 1930's, the portrait of a child's experience remains timely in many ways. R.K. Narayan was a master at describing the inner life of a wide range of people. In this deceptively simply novel, he enters into a child's mind with great sensitivity and humor. The episode where Swami's father tries to help out with a fractions problem in Swami's math book made me laugh, because it so accurately reflected the terrifying and mystifying experiences twenty-first century children have with the very same subject.

A good book to read if you want to know how olden indian classrooms were. The mischeif of the boys has been written in a comical way.

Funny

august partyさんのレヴューに促されてやっとnarayanの作品を始めて読みました。どれから読むかだいぶ迷ったのですが、ナラヤンの作品のかなりは南インドのmalgudiという架空の町を舞台としているため、時系列的に読んでいく事にしました。swamiは一応１９３０年前後を舞台としている作品ですが、時代性を反映する刻印は限定的です。政治デモへの参加はたしかにストリーの展開の一つのきっかけにはなっていますが、その取り扱いはあくまでも政治性を廃して、個人の日常の生活の変転の中での位置づけに留まっています。ナラヤンのこの作品は政治を除去した日常性の描写のなかに永続的な何かを求めるもののようです。この日常性は南インドの町という舞台の選択にも現れています。new delihiのような行政都市、bombayのような商業都市とは違い、この町はいまだに悠久の伝統とのつながりという色彩を地理的にも色濃く残しています。そして登場人物にも、祖母を含めることにより、進展する「近代化」とのコントラストを浮き彫りにしようとの意図も見受けられます。mission school, boys school,進級試験 cricket, 警察制度等の枠組みはインドの生活に浸透してきた植民地制度の制度化の進展の象徴でもあります。そしてその中でその仕組みを前提とした中での小学生の生活がswamiを中心として描かれていきます。話は起承転結の下でユーモラスに進みます、そして最後は、幼年時代への告別という結末に至ります。このナラヤンの世界は独特のリズムに特徴付けられています。名だたるインドの西欧化された知識人たちがナラヤンへの抑えられた侮蔑を持ち続けた理由もたしかに理解できます。さて次はどれを読めばいいのでしょうか？

Here's a thought. Swami, R. K. Narayan's protagonist in Swami and Friends, is a forerunner of . . . take a deep breath . . . none other than Bart Simpson. Swaminathan, the plucky ten-year old, the classic irreverent underachiever, is always in one pot of hot water or another. He can be selfish, prevaricating, disrespectful to his elders, and dishonest in his dealings with his peers. Not your basic role model. But he still retains a boyish innocence, a fading purity in his search for what is fun. His father, while certainly not as laughably stupid as Homer Simpson, is no Father-Knows-Best figure of paternal perfection. He is over-involved with his work and does not always treat his children or wife with the respect and kindness they deserve. Swami's grandmother sleeps in a darkened hall, sometimes loved, and sometimes neglected, her advancing dotage often burdensome to the child.Swami thinks like a 10 year old. Everything he wants is of utmost urgency. He cannot conceive of consequences or of delayed gratification. Peer relationships are far more important to him than long-term success in school. He is still concrete in his thinking and struggles with his studies. But within his delicate, formative being are competing forces battling for his very soul. There is a lot of personality we see here, already formed, and some of it is disturbing. He is easily swayed, lacks self-confidence, and can easily lose himself in the crowd. How will this young person fit into India as it struggles for independence and into the India that will follow?The Simpsons is arguably one of the best satires of contemporary American life because it forces us to look closely at ourselves. When we laugh at the Simpsons, we laugh at ourselves. There is something awfully familiar about their imperfections. Swami and Friends is a lot like that. There is something funny and familiar in Swami and Friends, even for this 21st century American reader. Narayan gives us a very clear picture of southern India in 1930 and he is setting the stage for India's place in the post-colonial world. This vision is presented through the hopeful but not-so-innocent eyes of a child.