The Bachelor of Arts Vintage International edition by R K Narayan Literature Fiction eBooks
Download As PDF : The Bachelor of Arts Vintage International edition by R K Narayan Literature Fiction eBooks 
R. K. Narayan (1906—2001) witnessed nearly a century of change in his native India and captured it in fiction of uncommon warmth and vibrancy. The Bachelor of Arts is a poignant coming-of-age novel about a young man flush with first love, but whose freedom to pursue it is hindered by the fixed ideas of his traditional Hindu family. This pioneering novel, luminous in its detail and refreshingly free of artifice, is a gift to twentieth-century literature.
The Bachelor of Arts Vintage International edition by R K Narayan Literature Fiction eBooks
I was very happy with the novel until the ending. I won't spoil anything but it is very inconclusive and personally I despise that in a book.Product details
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The Bachelor of Arts Vintage International edition by R K Narayan Literature Fiction eBooks Reviews
"The Bachelor of Arts" is the second of a thematic trilogy that begins with "Swami and Friends" and ends with "The English Teacher"--three novels that collectively take their characters from the innocence of youth through the disappointment of love to life's first tragedy. Yet this tale of Chandran, a college graduate unlucky in love, is (as Graham Greene notes in his introduction) "a funny and happy book" at its core--particularly when compared to Narayan's later melancholy, tragic books--yet a closer reading shows us the "shadow [that] had been there from the beginning."
The first part of "Bachelor" is an unexpected treat a farcical, satirical look at the sillier, exhausting rituals of academic life in colonial India. The opening scene features a debate on whether "historians should be slaughtered first"--and Chandran, a history student himself, is required to argue in the affirmative. From there, our poor student is appointed by his professor as secretary of the school's new Historical Association, an honor that adds to his duties but hardly helps his studies. In between, he frequents the cinema with his best friend and dutifully maps out a grand plan for exam preparation--a plan that is revised daily due to the impossibility of following it.
The debate society, his friends, his academic career--all has been poor preparation for life's setbacks. ("The classroom or the club or the office created friendships. When the circumstances changed the relations, too, snapped.") The giddiness of the novel takes a sharp turn when the circumstances do change Chandran falls in love at first sight and is rejected, causing him to cast aside the comforts of life and to leave home. The rest of the novel follows our Bachelor of Arts (still a bachelor in life) as he educates himself about the one subject neglected during his collegiate career himself. It's such a simple and simply told story, but it illustrates beautifully the complexities of finding one's place in the world.
A book which effectively deals with realistic issues and perfect embodiment of simplicity and values is found in Bachelor of Arts. R.K Narayan has this uncanny knack of portraying Indian values in the most authentic way. He handles it in a way that no author can do the same justice to the Indian conditions. Many foreign authors have tried and faltered to come to terms with the living conditions here. But, R.K. Narayan has repeatedly come up with books that essays deeply into the emotions of the common man, picking out little things from daily lives that makes a big difference to the reader when reading the book. Be it the masterpiece Swami and friends, where any reader can be attributed to have lead a life similar to that of Swami, The Financial Expert which brilliantly deals about the relationship between father and son or The English Teacher, which explores the intricate association between a husband and wife, and the subsequent agony of the husband after his wife's departed soul, R.K. Narayan comes up with touching themes that leaves the reader in deep introspection.
Bachelor of Arts is a walkthrough of a generation revolving around the main protagonist of the story, Chandran. Chandran is so ominously present in us that it doesn't become difficult to get into his groove. There are times when the reader has to stir himself up with the feeling Oh!! Is this happening to me?!! A story starting from college days of a B.A, History graduate, progressing into that difficult phase where every student faces a huge roadblock in his life - whether to continue studies or not or rather What do I do next?, and then, falling unsuccessfully in love with the girl next door only to think that solitude is the best company before realising that family means a lot more than that of a girl's love, and chalking out a career after the worn-out days of love is the walkthrough of this brilliant piece of literature by the greatest Indian writer of all times.
Chandran's college days are a gentle reminder of our days. Planning out a study schedule for the exams brings memories where we have planned more than we studied. The household of Chandran brimming with life, with his mother, father and brother is like any typical Indian family. The college activities of Chandran are superbly written. The debates of whether historians have to be slaughtered or not, is brilliantly depicted. His friendship with Ramu and their mutual admiration for each other is well handled. R.K. Narayan has also beautifully brought out the fact how college friends do not end up as friends for life. When Ramu loses all touch from him after a few years, R.K. Narayan through Chandran says People pretended that they are friends, but the fact is they are brought together by forces of circumstances. How true!!!
The reader is constantly in a trance while reading this book not because he is elevated to fictitious situations, but because he is take to stunning reality that places him so close to this cherubic Chandan. I have read this book more than a couple of times and everytime it is a new message that gets embedded in my mind. A masterly book by a masterly writer. Not to miss this book for anything in the world.
Narayan doesn't write anything poorly. He makes writing seem so easy. His sentence structure, dialog, and individual word choices initially seem almost too simplistic, yet they connect immediately with the reader. Narayan dazzles the reader with a style of writing that seems both fundamentally natural to and firmly grounded within the English language. It is also refreshing to read a book today that is essentially so apolitical. Narayan is exploring the human person and ocndition, not imperialism or colonialism. We encounter real people with real ideas, feelings, aspirations, and flaws. They are not archtypes or foils.
Published in 1937, it is most fascinating to get an understanding of Indian culture within the British Imperial Raj. We see Indians up close and personal. The Brits and their world is mostly off stage.
This is a 4-part novel. The first part is set initially in the 1930/1931 school year, during Chandran's. the protagonist, senior year in college. Part 2 has Chandran graduated, falling in love as a young man, and puruing an arranged marriage. But when the courtship fails part 3 has him becoming a wandering fake holy man. Ultimately feeling ashamed at his deception, part 4 has him getting into the newspaper business.
One thing I love about Narayan and this novel is how he just lets it...end. There is no set piece conclusion. He tells us what he wants us to know about the protagonist and his life without worrying if the reader knows everything or knows something the reader might want to know (e.g., the outcome of Chandran's love life),
It is a lovely books that takes us back to a simpler times...
I was very happy with the novel until the ending. I won't spoil anything but it is very inconclusive and personally I despise that in a book.
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