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Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma

University of Oklahoma

R. K. Narayan: An Anthology of Recent Criticism by C. N. SrinathReview by: A. L. McLeodWorld Literature Today, Vol. 75, No. 2 (Spring, 2001), p. 328Published by: Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma

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talentandmakes no pretenseof beinga

greatwriter. t is enoughfor her to spendher "onecent/' as she callsit, speakingout abouthercountry's ocialproblemsas franklyas she can.That,she says, istheprimary unctionof a writer n Viet-namtoday.

Huong's atest novel in translation,Memoriesof a Pure Spring,is a lengthy

storythat follows severalNorthViet-namese charactershrough hecriticalturnstheymakein the first five yearsafter he "AmericanWar."Theyareprin-cipallycohorts rom the artistic ommu-

nity- a composer-artisticirectorand

his singerwife,an unfulfilledwriter,adeviantpainter,a clown-sage who,

alongwithancillary haracters uch asthesinger'syoungerbrother,aretryingto find a connectionbetween thepastandtheirpresentcircumstances.t is

through heir differentapproacheshatthe authorexaminesher own relation-

shipsandthequandaries he facesas a

patriotandartistwho has fallen out of

favorwith the authorities.WhereHuong'smeditationshave

takenher is unclear.As in herpreviouswork,sheexpressesdismayat the de-moralized tate of a society abandoningits idealsandgivingin to cowardiceandmaterialism.Rather han delve deeplyinto thehatred,humiliation,ear,and

emptinessof hercharacters, owever,theauthoronlyskimsthe surfaceof their

motivations,occasionallydippinginto

popularpsychologyto sortthrough heir

tangled predicaments.Amidthe detailed

fragments^thatomprise henovel,theWestern eadermayfindthemessageambiguousandeven contradictory

not a desirableoutcomefora workin-tended forconsumptionn EuropeandAmerica.

TheEnglish-languageersion s read-

able,albeitdry,with thecharacters e-

coming argely ndistinguishablen lan-

guageand manner.As with anearlierworkby the sametranslators,NovelWith-outa Name 1995; ee WLT 9:3,p. 653),Memoriesacks the flavorof Vietnam.Readers hould noteNina McPherson'sadmission hattheVietnamesemanu-

scripthas beenedited,although hepara-

metersof the adaptationare undefined.Thepublisherhas includeda brief"Reader'sGuide"with discussionques-tionsat the end of thestory,an append-age thereadercan overlookwith no

greatsense of loss.TotrulyunderstandDuongThu

Huong,one mustnot get carriedawayby thehype generatedby the Western

pressandacknowledge hat the author smorecomplexthan the translators nd

reviewershave chosen to depicther.If

takenat herword,she does not seek no-

toriety,but only a chance o deliverher

messageof a Vietnamhungryfor free-dom and a spiritualrevolution. nMemo-riesof a Pure Springshe appears to be

trapped n thepast, strugglingwithouta

vision for the future.

JamesBanerian

San Diego

Noted

R. K. Narayan: An Anthology of Recent

Criticism

C. N. Srinath,ed. Delhi. Pencraft International

2000. 192 pages. Rs350. isbn81-85753-38-5

The editor proposes hat n R. K.Narayan's ic-

tion "theres no traceof intellectuality,"nd

that n takingas his subjectmatter"lifeas it is

lived on theroad, n marketsand homes" here

is nevertheless"aphilosophical cceptance."Thisamounts o nonpolemicalntellectuality,which is explored n severalof the dozenes-

saysin this"anthology f recentcriticism,"four of which have significant ontributionso

make.The ongest,by the lateWilliamWalsh,

developsthepointthat threeof Narayan'snov-

els reveal he author'sability o "fix heau-

thentic ndividualityof a characterndsimul-taneouslyestablisht solidlyin asocialworld,"in effectexploringbothpersonalandpublic

philosophy.This deais developedby K.Chel-

lappan n his contribution, Indianness s a

Mode of Perception,"ndby C.D.Narasimha-

iah in his lengthyexplication f TheGuide.As S. C. Harrexpointsout,"Inmostof his

fiction,Narayan xposesthevulnerability f

privatevalues,"whether n a provincial ettingorin the"globalvillage."BrittaOlindercon-

tends,persuasively,hatNarayan's hortsto-

ries are as important s the novelsin develop-

ing thewriter'sown philosophy,even when

theyconcern"thesmall,unimportantittle

man,thechild or eventheanimal." everalof

theessaysshouldnot have beenincluded,as

theydetract rom he overallpictureof Na-

rayan: neproposes hatdeath,divorce,and

unemployment re mpossible ituations!

Documentationollowsno recognizable r

uniform ystem; pelling,punctuation, nd

capitalizationrerandom.Notwithstanding,the contributionsmentionedabove merit nclu-

sionandreading.A. L. McLeod

RiderUniversity

Raja Rao: An Anthology of Recent Criticism

RaginiRamachandra,ed. Delhi. Pencraft Interna-

tional. 2000. 192 pages. Rs350

isbn81-85753-39-3

Of the three nonagenarians ho established

theIndiannovelin English theothersbeingMulkRajAnandand R. K.Narayan),RajaRao

has beenhailed as themostphilosophical nd

true to a local(South ndian)versionof thelan-

guage;he was,however, heleastprolific,but

his work hasgeneratedmore criticismhan he

other wo authors' seee.g. WLT 2:4,pp.525-620).Unfortunately,ittle of the best criticisms

included n thisanthology,which coversover

thirtyyears(though heseries,New Orienta-

tions, s limited o thepasttwenty, accordingto thepublisher).Thirteen ssaysarereprintedfrom he over150 n print; omeareby recog-nizedcritics uch as M. K.Naik,S.C.Harrex,PaulSharrad, ndC.D.Narasimhaiah, ho

observes hatRao "hasput Indiaon the world

mapin fiction."Somecontributors'laimsare overblown. t

is difficult o endorsesuch udgmentsas that

Rao s "themostinnovatingnove^stnow writ-

ing," or that TheChessmaster nd His Moves of-

fers"thebroadest,deepest nternationalisme

havein fiction,"et alone that Rao"enlargesthe frontiers f fictional orm tself."The editor

acknowledgeshat some criticshave reserva-tionsandexpressdissentwhenRao's"su-

premegifts"are claimedorit is asserted hat

he is "themostIndianof theIndiannovelists"- whichmayhave beentrue someyearsago,whenK. R.S.Iyengarmadethe claim n 1950.

Somechaptersmake use of diacriticals,th-

ers do not; wo formsof documentation re

employed.The absenceof anindex s a disad-

vantage.All in all,aninteresting utnot,ulti-

mately,very satisfying electionof recentcriti-

cism.A. L. McLeod

RiderUniversity

328 * WORLDLITERATURE ODAY • 75:2 * SPRING2001

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