Scan barcode
bithikahalder's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
4.0
mayankshah's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
upendra's review against another edition
5.0
Simple and beautiful is the hallmark of R.K. Narayan and this book serves as a great example to this. There were many stories that I just didn't want to end. A real page-turner, this.
ameya88's review
5.0
RK Narayan’s wonderful set of short stories – Under the Banyan Tree, is what I’d like to classify as comfort reading. Because it seems achingly relate-able, warmly inviting and enticing the reader into its world, minus the shame of a voyeur. It is set in a milieu of the 1950’s to 1980’s I assume, in small towns across South India – which is I’m sure a world away from the India which we inhabit today. And yet, it draws you in with the constants of everyday life, the way we think and interact with each other – those which may never change – which is why in the opening note Narayan speaks about the timelessness of short stories.
The prose is simple yet elegant, the characters are often weird or flawed but definitely believable. Most of these stories are what they call ‘slice-of-life’ tales – there is often no head or tail, no moral at the end, no lesson to be learnt. It’s just a colourful and detailed picture into the life of people around you.
I read it over the period of a month – in cabs when stuck in traffic, in the nights before I dozed off, in crowded metro trains and never once did it seem to be a task to read it. I could pick up a story from anywhere and it would happily crackle to life, reinvigorating the dormant data-point from the recesses of my mind. I wished it could go on and on and I could return to it whenever I wanted something comfortable, which reminded me of home – like dal-chawal and ghar-ki-chai – this is ‘comfort literature’ at its very best.
The prose is simple yet elegant, the characters are often weird or flawed but definitely believable. Most of these stories are what they call ‘slice-of-life’ tales – there is often no head or tail, no moral at the end, no lesson to be learnt. It’s just a colourful and detailed picture into the life of people around you.
I read it over the period of a month – in cabs when stuck in traffic, in the nights before I dozed off, in crowded metro trains and never once did it seem to be a task to read it. I could pick up a story from anywhere and it would happily crackle to life, reinvigorating the dormant data-point from the recesses of my mind. I wished it could go on and on and I could return to it whenever I wanted something comfortable, which reminded me of home – like dal-chawal and ghar-ki-chai – this is ‘comfort literature’ at its very best.
More...