visiting india for a couple weeks later this year. what should i read?
have read most of the big hindu religious texts, but not much commentary/criticism/analysis. have ordered 'hindoo holiday', 'english, august', and 'the autobiography of an unknown indian'
in the past i've read some shit that's kind of taken place in india like moonstone, flashman, kipling, etc., but all british
Dysentery 101 and how to avoid it
Hello there, thank you for taking an interest.
Have you read the mythological tales too? I'd recommend you read that, if you plan on visiting the good religous sites.
I also recommend J Krishnamurthy and Rabindranath Tagore, off the top of my head.
Ruskin Bond if you're into the post colonial India vibe. But keep in mind that Mr. Bond usually writes children's books, but they're enjoyable to adults as well.
That said, I recently came here from Veeky Forums so I would say take my suggestions with a grain of salt. I am by no means an intellectual giant and don't want to ruin your literary quest.
I reccomend the Ramayana if you enjoy religious epics; The Mahabharata seems to be out of scope;
A Passage To India is great
Siddhartha
I read 'it does not die' by maitreyi devi last year and really liked it.
This version
Was shitty though.
Do not read this, I'm begging you. It blatantly steals a lot of shit from several eastern and western movies.
In fact, a friend once went to a literary fest with this author as a guest. They happened to have a Q&A session with him, which turned into an impromptu roast by a lot of elders.
Narcopolis by Jeet Thayil, if opium dens are up your alley.
>visiting india
>wants to read indian literature
Why?
Unironically, the Quran. Wouldn't you find it even slightly interesting to read a book that had so much impact on the destiny of your nation?
Adiga's White Tiger
im not indian, but might re-read that, been a bit
absolutely, is opium readily available in india
will read these
are you from/live in india?
just checking shit out m8
Is there a piece of Classic indian lit? like Divine Comedy, Iliad, Tale of Genji, etc.
Mahabharata is their Iliad.
The Mahabharata would take too long to read. Start with the Bahgavad Ghita for an intro to Indian philosophy and be wary of any orientalist texts.
is it good? i could prolly read
For more contemporary literature:
The Home and the World (1916) by Rabindranath Tagore
The God of Small Things (1997) by Arundhati Roy
Also Salman Rushdie is technically British, but is of Indian descent unlike Kipling etc. so you might be interested in him.
should check out rushdie anyways. anywhere good to start that's particularly indian?
will look into the other joints
Midnight's Children is probably what you want. the eponymous children are all born on the midnight that India became an independent nation so there's an explicit historical context to the book.
thx
Pic related is India's Anna Karenina. It's a bit long though. But best thing i've read by an Indian author.
Also
God of small things
Jhumpa Lahiri's short stories
An Inheritance of loss
A house for Mr Biswas
White Tiger
Sharpe's Tiger
India after Gandhi
Manto's short stories(India's Chekov)
sorry i'm in a hurry will come back later.
bucnh of these look great