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The English Teacher
This novel completes the informal trilogy which began with Swami and Friends and The Bachelor of Arts . The protagonist, Krishna, is an English teacher at the same college he had attended as a student. Although Krishna has recently married, his wife Susila and their daughter live with his parents-in-law some miles away. The story opens with his immediate family deciding to join him in Malgudi. Krishna is initially frightened by his new state of affairs, but he soon finds that his love for both his wife and child grows deeper than he could have imagined.
"Mr. Narayan has repeatedly been compared with Chekhov. Ordinarily such comparisons are gratuitous and strained, but in this case there are such clear and insistent echoes that any careful reader will be aware of them. There is that sense of rightness which transcends mere structure. There is the inexplicable blending of tragedy and humor. Most of all, there is a brooding awareness of fate which makes the story seem not authored, but merely translated."--J.F. Muehl, Saturday Review
"[Narayan] does not deal in exemplary fates, and the Western novel's machinery of retribution is far too grandiose for him. . . . In Narayan's world, scores are not settled but dissolved, recycled, restated. 'Both of us will shed our forms soon and perhaps we could meet again, who knows? So goodbye for the present.' These are the concluding words for the novel A Tiger for Malgudi , but they constitute a universal epilogue one could append to most of Narayan's fiction."--Russell Davies, Times Literary Supplement
"Mr. Narayan has repeatedly been compared with Chekhov. Ordinarily such comparisons are gratuitous and strained, but in this case there are such clear and insistent echoes that any careful reader will be aware of them. There is that sense of rightness which transcends mere structure. There is the inexplicable blending of tragedy and humor. Most of all, there is a brooding awareness of fate which makes the story seem not authored, but merely translated."--J.F. Muehl, Saturday Review
"[Narayan] does not deal in exemplary fates, and the Western novel's machinery of retribution is far too grandiose for him. . . . In Narayan's world, scores are not settled but dissolved, recycled, restated. 'Both of us will shed our forms soon and perhaps we could meet again, who knows? So goodbye for the present.' These are the concluding words for the novel A Tiger for Malgudi , but they constitute a universal epilogue one could append to most of Narayan's fiction."--Russell Davies, Times Literary Supplement
184 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1945
310 people are currently reading
5390 people want to read
About the author
R.K. Narayan
143 books1,936 followersR. K. Narayan is among the best known and most widely read Indian novelists who wrote in English.
R.K. Narayan was born in Madras, South India, in 1906, and educated there and at Maharaja's College in Mysore. His first novel, Swami and Friends and its successor, The Bachelor of Arts, are both set in the enchanting fictional territory of Malgudi and are only two out of the twelve novels he based there. In 1958 Narayan's work The Guide won him the National Prize of the Indian Literary Academy, his country's highest literary honor.
In addition to his novels, Narayan has authored five collections of short stories, including A Horse and Two Goats, Malguidi Days, and Under the Banyan Tree, two travel books, two volumes of essays, a volume of memoirs, and the re-told legends Gods, Demons and Others, The Ramayana, and the Mahabharata. In 1980 he was awarded the A.C. Benson Medal by the Royal Society of Literature and in 1982 he was made an Honorary Member of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters.
Most of Narayan's work, starting with his first novel Swami and Friends (1935), captures many Indian traits while retaining a unique identity of its own. He was sometimes compared to the American writer William Faulkner, whose novels were also grounded in a compassionate humanism and celebrated the humour and energy of ordinary life.
Narayan who lived till age of ninety-four, died in 2001. He wrote for more than fifty years, and published until he was eighty seven. He wrote fourteen novels, five volumes of short stories, a number of travelogues and collections of non-fiction, condensed versions of Indian epics in English, and the memoir My Days.
-Wikipedia & Amazon.co.uk
R.K. Narayan was born in Madras, South India, in 1906, and educated there and at Maharaja's College in Mysore. His first novel, Swami and Friends and its successor, The Bachelor of Arts, are both set in the enchanting fictional territory of Malgudi and are only two out of the twelve novels he based there. In 1958 Narayan's work The Guide won him the National Prize of the Indian Literary Academy, his country's highest literary honor.
In addition to his novels, Narayan has authored five collections of short stories, including A Horse and Two Goats, Malguidi Days, and Under the Banyan Tree, two travel books, two volumes of essays, a volume of memoirs, and the re-told legends Gods, Demons and Others, The Ramayana, and the Mahabharata. In 1980 he was awarded the A.C. Benson Medal by the Royal Society of Literature and in 1982 he was made an Honorary Member of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters.
Most of Narayan's work, starting with his first novel Swami and Friends (1935), captures many Indian traits while retaining a unique identity of its own. He was sometimes compared to the American writer William Faulkner, whose novels were also grounded in a compassionate humanism and celebrated the humour and energy of ordinary life.
Narayan who lived till age of ninety-four, died in 2001. He wrote for more than fifty years, and published until he was eighty seven. He wrote fourteen novels, five volumes of short stories, a number of travelogues and collections of non-fiction, condensed versions of Indian epics in English, and the memoir My Days.
-Wikipedia & Amazon.co.uk
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 344 reviews
June 24, 2025
This is my most favourite book by my most favourite Indian author.
This is the most beautiful work of the author I have read so far. (There are still a few books left to read but I don't think any of those books would surpass this one.)
The characters are so moving, the theme so modern and classy at the same time.
The story revolves around an English teacher. The writing vividly talks about the quirks of being an English teacher in an Indian college; the discussion on the education system; the true nature of being human; the uniqueness and the beauty of life seen in a child; the trust and love between a husband and wife and the caring nature of parents.
It also put up thoughts regarding the work and the salary systems that were prevailing during those days.
But the surprise element comes as the supernatural beliefs; the uniqueness of the other world - death and being alive - that took me by surprise.
It also touches the theme on death and grief.
So many themes have been brought up and represented so well in this small book.
I got really surprised by the way the story has been written. It gave me the paranormal vibes which were mixed with different kinds of emotions.
I would say you are missing out on something great if you have not picked up this book yet.
A gem.
It made me laugh out loud at the most unexpected moments; cry and made me emotional now and then.
The narration was so engaging and impossible to get away from!
*One of my all time favs.
*One of my autoread authors.
This is the most beautiful work of the author I have read so far. (There are still a few books left to read but I don't think any of those books would surpass this one.)
The characters are so moving, the theme so modern and classy at the same time.
The story revolves around an English teacher. The writing vividly talks about the quirks of being an English teacher in an Indian college; the discussion on the education system; the true nature of being human; the uniqueness and the beauty of life seen in a child; the trust and love between a husband and wife and the caring nature of parents.
It also put up thoughts regarding the work and the salary systems that were prevailing during those days.
But the surprise element comes as the supernatural beliefs; the uniqueness of the other world - death and being alive - that took me by surprise.
It also touches the theme on death and grief.
So many themes have been brought up and represented so well in this small book.
I got really surprised by the way the story has been written. It gave me the paranormal vibes which were mixed with different kinds of emotions.
I would say you are missing out on something great if you have not picked up this book yet.
A gem.
It made me laugh out loud at the most unexpected moments; cry and made me emotional now and then.
The narration was so engaging and impossible to get away from!
*One of my all time favs.
*One of my autoread authors.
June 26, 2017
As always with Narayan, the writing is a joy to read. The prose flows smoothly, the descriptions come to life and dialogue reads as true. I liked the story too (I won't spoil it by giving it away) but the metaphysical aspects were not believable and once I reached that part of the book, it became a bit heavy-going.
Some authors, especially South American ones like Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Jorge Amado, have such a touch writing magical realism that you automatically accept those aspects as credible. Narayan didn't have that ability, and, in an effort to distinguish the dialogue between the living and the dead, he over-wrote the latter's speech which that character would not have uttered when living.
Of the four Narayan books that I've just read (in chronological order), this one is by far the fullest and most full of story, rather than detailing a very small episode in life. However, it is also supposed to be the most autobiographical and given the un-believability of the metaphysical aspects of the story, I can only give a slightly-amused sidelong, raised eyebrow look and say 'Really?'
Read July 2009
Some authors, especially South American ones like Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Jorge Amado, have such a touch writing magical realism that you automatically accept those aspects as credible. Narayan didn't have that ability, and, in an effort to distinguish the dialogue between the living and the dead, he over-wrote the latter's speech which that character would not have uttered when living.
Of the four Narayan books that I've just read (in chronological order), this one is by far the fullest and most full of story, rather than detailing a very small episode in life. However, it is also supposed to be the most autobiographical and given the un-believability of the metaphysical aspects of the story, I can only give a slightly-amused sidelong, raised eyebrow look and say 'Really?'
Read July 2009
July 14, 2025
Correction to an important geographical detail (thanks Parthi) and minor edits 31 March 2016.
In south India, Krishnan, a young English teacher, is joined by his wife, Susila, and baby daughter Leela.
They are able to set up a household together for the first time. Shortly thereafter, Susila contracts typhoid and dies. Krishnan, bereft, holds on through his love of his child, and with the help of his mother-in-law. Later, he makes contact with Susila in the spirit world and starts a new, more fulfilling job teaching children, away from the strictures of the formal syllabus.
An intensely moving story, which is all the more powerful because Narayan does something quite rare – tells a love story between two people already married - in this case the cautious and somewhat inhibited Krishnan (even though he displays an early cynicism about the English authors he has to teach to his college students) and the spontaneous, practical and determined Susila, whose character brings out Krishnan’s resolve and determination. He is a good man. They enhance each other. Susila’s illness and death is ineffably sad because her young life is cut so short and her affectionate relationships with husband and daughter are dashed. At this point there is a jolting change of direction in the story (she dies at the half way mark) which means the spiritual element becomes central, but it is neither surprising nor laughable. Krishnan’s endeavours to reach his wife after death are told with matter of fact sincerity, which makes his quest quite understandable. This also allows us to get to know Susila better (as does Krishnan, after she has gone from this world).
That the story is autobiographical makes it indelible - I feel we are reading Narayan’s actual diary when he recounts his state of being following her death. He wrote the story as a catharsis and thereafter maintained he had no need for an autobiography, because this was it. Three moments stand out for me: the horrendous description of the instant when an infected fly makes contact with Susila’s lip; the diary account mentioned above; and a memory of the nervous prospective bridegroom catching sight of his lovely prospective bride.
The English Teacher is my favourite Narayan - I’ve read them all – and this is the one I chose to read again on my first trip to India - in 2013.
***
From August to December 2013, my step-daughter Zoe worked in India, the final placement of her Social Work degree from the University of New South Wales, in Sydney, where we live. Zoe worked in Chennai, Kotagiri (‘the place where blue mountains turn green’), and Kochi, in Kerala, where we caught up with her in November 2013. One of the highlights of our stay in India was a trip to Mysore, in neighbouring Karnataka, to the home of RK Narayan. Here are extracts from my journal.
Tuesday 12 November 2013 – Day 5: Kochi
• Started re-reading RKN’s The English Teacher - so good, so simple, beautifully structured and incredibly moving because it is autobiographical: his description of Susila’s illness and death (read RKN’s wife Rajam) is restrained and simple and full of the utmost despair.
Friday 15 November 2013 – Day 8: Kochi
• Finished The English Teacher, a beautifully sad, uplifting, heart-aching experience. Very different from the first time: on first reading, the main impact of the story is the sudden and awful death of Krishnan’s wife and the unexpected contact with her after death. The second reading in India brings to life all the detail of how the characters live, and gives me time to reflect more upon the differences between the principals and how they complimented each other, even though they were together for such a short time.
Monday 18 November 2013 – Day 11: Mysore
• A red-letter day! My best day in India and one of my best travelling days ever. An RK Narayan day of complete fulfilment, starting out full of hope and ending up far better than I dared expect. I found RKN’s house, and later a bookshop where I talked with a man who had met the author often.
• Started the day feeling better than I have for some time – always a good sign. Splendid breakfast of light curries, with a family sized dosa, made to order.
• Off on my own to find RKN’s house. I thought I would walk – on a temperate day, with low humidity (a relative concept). I had gone several blocks when a persistent auto rickshaw driver weakened my resistance, so I showed him my map to see if he could help. It turns out he could. At least he knew who RKN was and how to find his house on Vivekananda Road. The driver was David (really Ranesh). He stopped to pick up his friend Rajamani (the ‘guide’). Both have been in Mysore for decades. Rajamani knew a lot about RKN’s life in Mysore, or certainly the places he frequented, including a school (where RKN taught maybe, and his favourite Park, Cheluvamba Park on Kalidasa Road).
• RKN's house is in Yadavgiri – a well–to–do part of Mysore. I got a lump in my throat when I first saw the familiar building for real. I thought I would take a few photos from the street, but my guides went to the gate and talked to the caretaker - a poor, old man who had not been paid for three months. He let us in and we walked around. The house is still standing, but gutted with small piles of rubble inside. Despite the bareness of the building, or perhaps because of the emptiness, the absence of furniture and belongings set up as a memorial, I felt close to my hero – understanding and appreciating the environment he wrote in, unfiltered by a museum approach. I was able to imagine RKN and his family living in this lovely spacious two-story house, with its distinctive, curved living rooms with their large windows looking out onto pleasant greenery in the garden and the street. I went upstairs to the room where RKN created so many of his stories, and imagined the man at work. I felt privileged to be there.
• I took some photos and gave the caretaker some rupees.
• The driver and his mate drove past Cheluvamba Park - RKN’s favourite - and took me to Malgudi Café on Kalidasa Road. Simple murals cover the walls (on all three levels!). The food looked fresh and tasty. I thought I would shout my new friends coffee, but they were pretty well organised and soon plates of food started appearing in front of them. I wondered how much this was going got cost me. I need not have worried. It turned out to be 140 (AUD2.41). So cheap. I resolved to bring the family (Aleema, Zoe and young James) back here for a meal.
• Back to RKN’s house – forgot to take photos of me at the house…how lucky to find these guides.
• Returned to Sandesh the Prince, then all of us went out to shop for practical things. Walked up to Sayyaraji Rao Road in search of a supermarket, along wide avenues joined by roundabouts with statues in the middle (Malgudi style).
• A little further along, I discovered a beautiful little bookshop (J Nanumal & Sons) trading in the same location for 47 years and in total for four generations (back to the 1920s). Got some books: RK Laxman cartoons (RKN’s brother who published in the Times of India from the time of independence); biographies of ‘Tiger’ Pataudi and MS Dhoni and John Thieme’s book on RKN. The young man serving told us that RKN used to come to the shop. The gentleman’s father had actually met him. Later in the afternoon I returned to meet the senior bookseller who graciously spoke with me, over coffee, about RKN, the old Maharaja (who used to arrive outside the shop in his shiny black Rolls Royce and have books brought out to him for approval), and Mysore then and now. Mr Ashok Kumar is a man in his sixties I would think, who recalled RKN as a simple, humble person, coming to the shop and talking with his father and the customers. Mr Kumar also remembers visiting RKN’s house with his father in the 1960s and 1970s, for coffee, on the upstairs balcony, overlooking the street. I showed him my photographs from the morning, and he identified the spot. I asked Mr Kumar to sign my copy of The English Teacher.
Tuesday 19 November 2013 – Day 12
• Lunch at Malgudi Café on Kaladasi road. No westerners. Lovely South Indian vegetarian curries. Silver service and probably the best value meal we had in India. We asked one of the waiters about the locality and he could not really help us as he is from Kolkata.
• Had a ramble around Cheluvamba Park then took everyone to Vivekananda Road to see Narayan’s house then home.
-Ian’s Book of the Year 2007
In south India, Krishnan, a young English teacher, is joined by his wife, Susila, and baby daughter Leela.
They are able to set up a household together for the first time. Shortly thereafter, Susila contracts typhoid and dies. Krishnan, bereft, holds on through his love of his child, and with the help of his mother-in-law. Later, he makes contact with Susila in the spirit world and starts a new, more fulfilling job teaching children, away from the strictures of the formal syllabus.
An intensely moving story, which is all the more powerful because Narayan does something quite rare – tells a love story between two people already married - in this case the cautious and somewhat inhibited Krishnan (even though he displays an early cynicism about the English authors he has to teach to his college students) and the spontaneous, practical and determined Susila, whose character brings out Krishnan’s resolve and determination. He is a good man. They enhance each other. Susila’s illness and death is ineffably sad because her young life is cut so short and her affectionate relationships with husband and daughter are dashed. At this point there is a jolting change of direction in the story (she dies at the half way mark) which means the spiritual element becomes central, but it is neither surprising nor laughable. Krishnan’s endeavours to reach his wife after death are told with matter of fact sincerity, which makes his quest quite understandable. This also allows us to get to know Susila better (as does Krishnan, after she has gone from this world).
That the story is autobiographical makes it indelible - I feel we are reading Narayan’s actual diary when he recounts his state of being following her death. He wrote the story as a catharsis and thereafter maintained he had no need for an autobiography, because this was it. Three moments stand out for me: the horrendous description of the instant when an infected fly makes contact with Susila’s lip; the diary account mentioned above; and a memory of the nervous prospective bridegroom catching sight of his lovely prospective bride.
The English Teacher is my favourite Narayan - I’ve read them all – and this is the one I chose to read again on my first trip to India - in 2013.
***
From August to December 2013, my step-daughter Zoe worked in India, the final placement of her Social Work degree from the University of New South Wales, in Sydney, where we live. Zoe worked in Chennai, Kotagiri (‘the place where blue mountains turn green’), and Kochi, in Kerala, where we caught up with her in November 2013. One of the highlights of our stay in India was a trip to Mysore, in neighbouring Karnataka, to the home of RK Narayan. Here are extracts from my journal.
Tuesday 12 November 2013 – Day 5: Kochi
• Started re-reading RKN’s The English Teacher - so good, so simple, beautifully structured and incredibly moving because it is autobiographical: his description of Susila’s illness and death (read RKN’s wife Rajam) is restrained and simple and full of the utmost despair.
Friday 15 November 2013 – Day 8: Kochi
• Finished The English Teacher, a beautifully sad, uplifting, heart-aching experience. Very different from the first time: on first reading, the main impact of the story is the sudden and awful death of Krishnan’s wife and the unexpected contact with her after death. The second reading in India brings to life all the detail of how the characters live, and gives me time to reflect more upon the differences between the principals and how they complimented each other, even though they were together for such a short time.
Monday 18 November 2013 – Day 11: Mysore
• A red-letter day! My best day in India and one of my best travelling days ever. An RK Narayan day of complete fulfilment, starting out full of hope and ending up far better than I dared expect. I found RKN’s house, and later a bookshop where I talked with a man who had met the author often.
• Started the day feeling better than I have for some time – always a good sign. Splendid breakfast of light curries, with a family sized dosa, made to order.
• Off on my own to find RKN’s house. I thought I would walk – on a temperate day, with low humidity (a relative concept). I had gone several blocks when a persistent auto rickshaw driver weakened my resistance, so I showed him my map to see if he could help. It turns out he could. At least he knew who RKN was and how to find his house on Vivekananda Road. The driver was David (really Ranesh). He stopped to pick up his friend Rajamani (the ‘guide’). Both have been in Mysore for decades. Rajamani knew a lot about RKN’s life in Mysore, or certainly the places he frequented, including a school (where RKN taught maybe, and his favourite Park, Cheluvamba Park on Kalidasa Road).
• RKN's house is in Yadavgiri – a well–to–do part of Mysore. I got a lump in my throat when I first saw the familiar building for real. I thought I would take a few photos from the street, but my guides went to the gate and talked to the caretaker - a poor, old man who had not been paid for three months. He let us in and we walked around. The house is still standing, but gutted with small piles of rubble inside. Despite the bareness of the building, or perhaps because of the emptiness, the absence of furniture and belongings set up as a memorial, I felt close to my hero – understanding and appreciating the environment he wrote in, unfiltered by a museum approach. I was able to imagine RKN and his family living in this lovely spacious two-story house, with its distinctive, curved living rooms with their large windows looking out onto pleasant greenery in the garden and the street. I went upstairs to the room where RKN created so many of his stories, and imagined the man at work. I felt privileged to be there.
• I took some photos and gave the caretaker some rupees.
• The driver and his mate drove past Cheluvamba Park - RKN’s favourite - and took me to Malgudi Café on Kalidasa Road. Simple murals cover the walls (on all three levels!). The food looked fresh and tasty. I thought I would shout my new friends coffee, but they were pretty well organised and soon plates of food started appearing in front of them. I wondered how much this was going got cost me. I need not have worried. It turned out to be 140 (AUD2.41). So cheap. I resolved to bring the family (Aleema, Zoe and young James) back here for a meal.
• Back to RKN’s house – forgot to take photos of me at the house…how lucky to find these guides.
• Returned to Sandesh the Prince, then all of us went out to shop for practical things. Walked up to Sayyaraji Rao Road in search of a supermarket, along wide avenues joined by roundabouts with statues in the middle (Malgudi style).
• A little further along, I discovered a beautiful little bookshop (J Nanumal & Sons) trading in the same location for 47 years and in total for four generations (back to the 1920s). Got some books: RK Laxman cartoons (RKN’s brother who published in the Times of India from the time of independence); biographies of ‘Tiger’ Pataudi and MS Dhoni and John Thieme’s book on RKN. The young man serving told us that RKN used to come to the shop. The gentleman’s father had actually met him. Later in the afternoon I returned to meet the senior bookseller who graciously spoke with me, over coffee, about RKN, the old Maharaja (who used to arrive outside the shop in his shiny black Rolls Royce and have books brought out to him for approval), and Mysore then and now. Mr Ashok Kumar is a man in his sixties I would think, who recalled RKN as a simple, humble person, coming to the shop and talking with his father and the customers. Mr Kumar also remembers visiting RKN’s house with his father in the 1960s and 1970s, for coffee, on the upstairs balcony, overlooking the street. I showed him my photographs from the morning, and he identified the spot. I asked Mr Kumar to sign my copy of The English Teacher.
Tuesday 19 November 2013 – Day 12
• Lunch at Malgudi Café on Kaladasi road. No westerners. Lovely South Indian vegetarian curries. Silver service and probably the best value meal we had in India. We asked one of the waiters about the locality and he could not really help us as he is from Kolkata.
• Had a ramble around Cheluvamba Park then took everyone to Vivekananda Road to see Narayan’s house then home.
-Ian’s Book of the Year 2007
August 10, 2013
This was like walking into a plate glass door, bang! right on the nose, didn’t see it coming at all, ouch ouch. It was also like having one of those distressing conversations with a good friend where you go - what was that you just said? You don’t seriously believe that do you? - after which things get really awkward and you have to re-evaluate everything you thought they were. I previously read three RKN novels and thought they were a joy as everyone does, hence my consternation.
So, to be clear – first two thirds of this book 4 stars, last third two stars. And because of the problems of the last third, it can't be bumped up to three, sorry.
This novel cannot be discussed without complete spoilers, so
October 5, 2012
Public toilets in India always leave me breathless, with relief and also with lack of air. They also bring to mind the subtle differences between oft misused words such as available and accessibile, by virtue of being inaccessible even when they are available, which is not very often. A curious peek inside one transports the most hardened hearts and most insensitive noses to a well-stocked chemistry lab paying olfactory tribute to Messrs Haber & Bosch. On certain busy days, I'm told one can catch sight of silvery fumes of ammonia dancing the Tango around the feet of relieved gentlemen. A bold step inside one, as Voldemort will confide if you prod him hard enough, will blast your nose to smithereens if you're foolish enough to breathe while you're at it. However, they also reveal the haphazardly stacked quills of courage and mighty reservoirs of misplaced morality inside the most placid looking, puny-chested average Indian, who like a startled porcupine is ready to let go of his inhibitions and give in to the spirit of the moment by recklessly spraying around his deepest fears. Desperately seeking relief from his miserable plight, the conscientious Indian, the model citizen who otherwise has the convenient option of watering and nurturing a young sapling, is ready to prance around puddles and stand in impromptu queues holding his breath to reach that unearthly place called a much-delayed piss.
The English Teacher taught me that some public toilets won't just haunt your dreams and permanently damage your sense of smell, they can kill you. Seriously. If you don't believe me, you should talk to RK Narayan. He's dead but if you really want to, The English Teacher suggests you should be able to manage it. He'll tell you he wrote a lovely, life-affirming novel after an unfortunate woman who happened to be his wife visited your typical reeking public toilet and died soon after contracting typhoid. It was called The English Teacher.
The English Teacher taught me that some public toilets won't just haunt your dreams and permanently damage your sense of smell, they can kill you. Seriously. If you don't believe me, you should talk to RK Narayan. He's dead but if you really want to, The English Teacher suggests you should be able to manage it. He'll tell you he wrote a lovely, life-affirming novel after an unfortunate woman who happened to be his wife visited your typical reeking public toilet and died soon after contracting typhoid. It was called The English Teacher.
August 5, 2019
The book is semi autobiographical in nature and deals with life of an English teacher with a young daughter whose wife suddenly dies from typhoid. The plot is a good insight into the social customs and general life in a small town in India in early 1930s. The author also challenges the traditional teaching pedagogy and makes a strong pitch for reforms. Average read
July 31, 2011
A gem of a book. Elegant prose. It tells the story of Krishnan's grief over the loss of his wife and his desperate attempts to commune with her beyond the grave. On another level, it explores what gives meaning to work. Krishnan's lack lustre role as an English teacher is contrasted with the passionate commitment of the poor school master who runs a preschool for the neighborhood children. Teachers of literature would be able to identify with the exhilaration of seeking to enthuse students about great works of literature as well as the soul numbing throes of dissecting literary texts to prepare them for exams. Through the travails of Krishnan, Narayan takes us on a quest for the things in life that truly matter.
October 7, 2016
تاريخ القراءة الأصلي : ٢٠٠٢
معلم هندي يدرس اللغة الإنجليزية في مدينة هندية صغيرة في أواخر عهد الإستعمار البريطاني. هنا تجد التفاعلات حافلة ومكتوبة بأسلوب حي وقريب للقلب.
معلم هندي يدرس اللغة الإنجليزية في مدينة هندية صغيرة في أواخر عهد الإستعمار البريطاني. هنا تجد التفاعلات حافلة ومكتوبة بأسلوب حي وقريب للقلب.
February 24, 2021
This book is a masterpiece that can be considered an intensely human book. It demonstrates the perspective of a normal person in his life. It reveals the sorrow of the husband at the death of his wife and the way he attempts to connect with her outside the grave. The reader laughs during the good days of the couple, and then his wife gets sick, it causes a negative feeling. As she shows signs of healing, she looks strong again. Again, when he loses his wife, we can sense the desperation of the husband. It reveals the great truth of life that you have to face prosperity, pleasure, worries and defeats on your own, and no one can feel the same for you.
May 13, 2016
The English Teacher is set in India of the 150s and we meet Krishna, our protagonist, as he is living in a college hostel and teaching English at the school where he himself used to be a pupil. Despite living in this enclosed environment, he is married and has a young child. We see Krishna taking small steps, making preparations for his wife and child to join him and so setting off to find a good house, where they can be together as well as have a space away from each other. The discussions with his fellow teachers and Krishna’s thoughts about teaching and family were amusing and I was all in the mood for this novel to be a delightful read. Well, it was but it took a decidedly darker turn quite soon. Since these events can be found in summaries and even the goodreads description, I will not regard my thoughts here as spoilers. Nevertheless, if you truly wish to go into reading this novel blind, then please stop reading here!
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The first chapters show us how Krishna deals with leaving his prolonged bachelor life in the hostel to become a family man. Although this does not leave him any more time for writing poetry than his somewhat unsatisfying job, he reaches a stage of contented domesticity. Up until this point, I was utterly enthralled reading about such ordinary things as the family’s domestic happiness, written with a humorous touch in Narayan’s skilled prose. And then Krishna’s wife Sushila became ill and died. It was such a shocking twist and I was not at all prepared for the heartbreak and felt for Krisha and his sudden grief. It is heartbreaking to read his thoughts about learning life’s lessons:
“We come together only to go apart again. It is one continuous movement. They move away from us as we move away from them. The law of life can’t be avoided. The law comes into operation the moment we detach ourselves from our mother’s womb. All struggle and misery in life is due to our attempt to arrest this law or get away from it or in allowing ourselves to be hurt by it. The fact must be recognized. A profound unmitigated loneliness is the only truth of life.”
It was all the more shocking to learn about the parallels to the author’s life. The English Teacher is not autobiographical but it may as well be. And as such the sudden turn the novel took towards the spiritual made me react with compassion rather than dissatisfaction or skepticism. So even if Narayan was always trying to contact his wife in the spiritual realm, I was happy it worked out for Krishna and gave him a the possibility for closure. He also finds his place in caring for his daughter Leela and working in the nursery, learning from the way children interact with the world.
Another aspect that drew me in was how Narayan would treat colonialism, especially regarding Krishna’s occupation as an English teacher. Without making this the focus of the novel or taking a stance directly, Narayan does criticize the educational system colonialism has put into place:
“This education has reduced us to a nation of morons; we were strangers to our own culture and camp followers of another culture, feeding on leavings and garbage (…) What about our own roots? (…) I am up against the system, the whole method and approach of a system of education which makes us morons, cultural morons, but efficient clerks for all your business and administration offices.”
Without taking issue with English literature and the greats such as Shakespeare, this quote does seem to call for a turn towards the roots and the culture(s) of India. I know Narayan is celebrated in both India and the western world, but I don’t really have much knowledge about the stance he took on these issues and how Indian novelists writing in English are regarded nowadays. There were several critical comments made by Krishna throughout the novel and though I would have liked to explore this issue more, the way the ordinary becomes extraordinary in Narayan’s writing was a joy to discover.
.
.
.
The first chapters show us how Krishna deals with leaving his prolonged bachelor life in the hostel to become a family man. Although this does not leave him any more time for writing poetry than his somewhat unsatisfying job, he reaches a stage of contented domesticity. Up until this point, I was utterly enthralled reading about such ordinary things as the family’s domestic happiness, written with a humorous touch in Narayan’s skilled prose. And then Krishna’s wife Sushila became ill and died. It was such a shocking twist and I was not at all prepared for the heartbreak and felt for Krisha and his sudden grief. It is heartbreaking to read his thoughts about learning life’s lessons:
“We come together only to go apart again. It is one continuous movement. They move away from us as we move away from them. The law of life can’t be avoided. The law comes into operation the moment we detach ourselves from our mother’s womb. All struggle and misery in life is due to our attempt to arrest this law or get away from it or in allowing ourselves to be hurt by it. The fact must be recognized. A profound unmitigated loneliness is the only truth of life.”
It was all the more shocking to learn about the parallels to the author’s life. The English Teacher is not autobiographical but it may as well be. And as such the sudden turn the novel took towards the spiritual made me react with compassion rather than dissatisfaction or skepticism. So even if Narayan was always trying to contact his wife in the spiritual realm, I was happy it worked out for Krishna and gave him a the possibility for closure. He also finds his place in caring for his daughter Leela and working in the nursery, learning from the way children interact with the world.
Another aspect that drew me in was how Narayan would treat colonialism, especially regarding Krishna’s occupation as an English teacher. Without making this the focus of the novel or taking a stance directly, Narayan does criticize the educational system colonialism has put into place:
“This education has reduced us to a nation of morons; we were strangers to our own culture and camp followers of another culture, feeding on leavings and garbage (…) What about our own roots? (…) I am up against the system, the whole method and approach of a system of education which makes us morons, cultural morons, but efficient clerks for all your business and administration offices.”
Without taking issue with English literature and the greats such as Shakespeare, this quote does seem to call for a turn towards the roots and the culture(s) of India. I know Narayan is celebrated in both India and the western world, but I don’t really have much knowledge about the stance he took on these issues and how Indian novelists writing in English are regarded nowadays. There were several critical comments made by Krishna throughout the novel and though I would have liked to explore this issue more, the way the ordinary becomes extraordinary in Narayan’s writing was a joy to discover.
October 11, 2012
I swear that if anyone else, any other author would have crafted the story line similar to this book, I would have hated him. Must have cursed him with all my heart and would also have made an attempt or two to leave the book midway.
But no sir, not Mr. Narayan. He won't let me do it.
Every time my thoughts went awry he built a new wave of ideas to bring me back. The reader is coaxed and cajoled as much as the characters to keep going and take it all head on. A little bit too literally, I must say.
We are incorrigible morons if we look to Bhagats and like for inspiration when the master has already left him most precious gems behind.
What is left is to find them and admire them. I wasn't able to do anything more than that. Just stand by and see the master at work.
The magic of Mr. Narayan lives and with it lives my love for the one who is for the masses.
July 31, 2007
R. K. Narayan is an absolute favourite of mine and some of his works are undoubtedly masterpieces.
His The English Teacher is the third part of Narayan's trilogy after Malgudi Days and The Bachelor of Arts (for review, you could check out sandyi.blogspot.com.
The first part of this particular book is brilliant and extremely touching but the second part moves into very unexpected territory, leaving one a bit confused. Yet, if you are a Narayan fan, I would still go ahead and recommend this book to you.
His The English Teacher is the third part of Narayan's trilogy after Malgudi Days and The Bachelor of Arts (for review, you could check out sandyi.blogspot.com.
The first part of this particular book is brilliant and extremely touching but the second part moves into very unexpected territory, leaving one a bit confused. Yet, if you are a Narayan fan, I would still go ahead and recommend this book to you.
January 3, 2015
Reading R.K.Narayan is like time-travelling to another dimension. Hypnotized and disconnected from reality. The English Teacher is no exception. It is a journey towards understanding life and death!
August 25, 2021
Mr.R.K. Narayan pens down a wonderful story of Krishnan "The English Teacher”. Through his excellent narration the author takes you through the experiences of significant years of Krishnan life, who has different roles to play as a Teacher, Husband, father, Son, and friend to the various people in his life. In some pages, the author's writing makes you feel as if you were present in the situations that goes in the story. The story touches lot of aspects such as love and affection of the Kith and kin, pangs of pain and suffering, reality of life and death, spirituality, beyond world after the death. After reading this book, it will leave a profound impact of its story on you. A worthy read.
July 18, 2017
My beloved brother Shadman Hasan has suggested me about this precious book and posed that R.K. Narayan will take me a different universe perhaps a private realm created by his touch of ink. After going through of the book I am acceding that contemplation regarding this book is quite approvable.
✎Name of the book: The English Teacher
✎Author: R. K. Narayan
✎Publisher: Indian Thought Publications
✎Year of Publication: 2016
✎First Published: 1945 (In England)
✎Genres: Novel, Autobiographical Fiction
✎Number of Pages: 280
The novel was the third part of Malgudi Days series written by R.K. Narayan preceded by Swami and Friends (1935) and The Bachelor of Arts (1937).
This story is not about mere the intuition of an English lecturer from Albert Mission College named Krishna but the nectar of life he discovered through the candour of belief.
In the hostel Krishna’s life was irksome and wearisome. He longed to have a new start or might expect himself having a new personality as an author or poet. At that time a letter from his parental house turned around the circle of his past ten years. A instruction was provided there that he had to be ready to receive his wife and newborn child and set up his family with a view to ending his forlorn bachelor life. Though he was married and already have a baby, he was scrupled as he had no experience of running domestic life.
Yet his wife, Susila with the baby had arrived accompanied by his father-in-law. In course to time they set their own world not a bit unlike king, queen and the little princess. Susila waited for Krishna at the afternoon but never recognized the sense perception of waiting. Everything was going so perfect.
But in an abrupt incident all the settlements of their universe was turned around. His beloved wife got Typhoid. Krishna fetched his every effort vehemently to cure her and found her smile again. But all lost in vain. Susila passed away perhaps the world created by them either. When she was placed on the pyres for funeral, burned and turned into ashes, He was wordless and quiet undecided to accept the reality.
But present always echoes. Father and daughter tried to recollect the broken world again. Krishna thrilled to rear his daughter and being very rigid to observe his duty of his daughter. Though Krishna’s parents urged to take Leela with them, he was reluctant to the proposal.
Krishna destroyed the belongings of Susila, thinking he was destroying her memories. But he never found a relief to forget her for a single day. But one day a boy having a cluster of papers came to meet him at college. He became baffled after having the news from the boy. The boy accompanied him to a man and a pyol beside a Shrine by whose he got her beloved wife Susila back. But how? To know you must read this illusive creation of author R.K. Narayan.
Personal Opinion:
Initially I wanna say I am longing for a wife and a baby after reading this book.
The materialistic Susila was visualized as character not for a long time in the story, yet her personality attracts me most both as a wife and a mother. Love is not a impulse to demonstrate. If it exists, it occupies. Susila never said that but presented.
Besides one character readers may find interesting. The headmaster of Leela’s school is that person who didn’t believe in so called education ongoing. So he built a school without regulation but affection for children. once Krishna was also vehemently impacted by this lunatic headmaster.
Favourite Quotes:
✍ “The soul loves through the eyes, it is body who laughs with lips...”
✍ “The kitchen is the deadliest arsenal a woman possesses.”
✎Name of the book: The English Teacher
✎Author: R. K. Narayan
✎Publisher: Indian Thought Publications
✎Year of Publication: 2016
✎First Published: 1945 (In England)
✎Genres: Novel, Autobiographical Fiction
✎Number of Pages: 280
The novel was the third part of Malgudi Days series written by R.K. Narayan preceded by Swami and Friends (1935) and The Bachelor of Arts (1937).
This story is not about mere the intuition of an English lecturer from Albert Mission College named Krishna but the nectar of life he discovered through the candour of belief.
In the hostel Krishna’s life was irksome and wearisome. He longed to have a new start or might expect himself having a new personality as an author or poet. At that time a letter from his parental house turned around the circle of his past ten years. A instruction was provided there that he had to be ready to receive his wife and newborn child and set up his family with a view to ending his forlorn bachelor life. Though he was married and already have a baby, he was scrupled as he had no experience of running domestic life.
Yet his wife, Susila with the baby had arrived accompanied by his father-in-law. In course to time they set their own world not a bit unlike king, queen and the little princess. Susila waited for Krishna at the afternoon but never recognized the sense perception of waiting. Everything was going so perfect.
But in an abrupt incident all the settlements of their universe was turned around. His beloved wife got Typhoid. Krishna fetched his every effort vehemently to cure her and found her smile again. But all lost in vain. Susila passed away perhaps the world created by them either. When she was placed on the pyres for funeral, burned and turned into ashes, He was wordless and quiet undecided to accept the reality.
But present always echoes. Father and daughter tried to recollect the broken world again. Krishna thrilled to rear his daughter and being very rigid to observe his duty of his daughter. Though Krishna’s parents urged to take Leela with them, he was reluctant to the proposal.
Krishna destroyed the belongings of Susila, thinking he was destroying her memories. But he never found a relief to forget her for a single day. But one day a boy having a cluster of papers came to meet him at college. He became baffled after having the news from the boy. The boy accompanied him to a man and a pyol beside a Shrine by whose he got her beloved wife Susila back. But how? To know you must read this illusive creation of author R.K. Narayan.
Personal Opinion:
Initially I wanna say I am longing for a wife and a baby after reading this book.
The materialistic Susila was visualized as character not for a long time in the story, yet her personality attracts me most both as a wife and a mother. Love is not a impulse to demonstrate. If it exists, it occupies. Susila never said that but presented.
Besides one character readers may find interesting. The headmaster of Leela’s school is that person who didn’t believe in so called education ongoing. So he built a school without regulation but affection for children. once Krishna was also vehemently impacted by this lunatic headmaster.
Favourite Quotes:
✍ “The soul loves through the eyes, it is body who laughs with lips...”
✍ “The kitchen is the deadliest arsenal a woman possesses.”
December 16, 2010
An intensely spiritual book, the transition in the narrator's life from being a bachelor to moving on to a happy married life...and the consequent death of his wife is heart touching. A particularly moving part of the story is the description of the day when his wife dies. The way he seeks to find her presence in his surroundings.. his supernatural encounters.. the innocence of his daughter... the most insignificant details are perfect and in sync with the storyline. This book is nothing short of a masterpiece... one of my all time favorites.
June 5, 2015
A different take on Spirituality. While i was reading this book, i got typhoid, which was really strange(not sure if that is the right word to use here) since the teacher's wife in the novel was down with typhoid too and she dies. I gave up reading this book right away after getting to know that i was down with typhoid.Part of me giving such low ratings is due to this. Its too much of coincidence. I dont know what made me to take up the book again.Well, i have finished it . It was a light read. I expected more though.
July 21, 2019
Narayan is always a joy to read. This one, however, wasn't consistent in its delivery. Losing a loved one can be deeply traumatizing and what he goes through post the event makes up a good chunk of this novel.
I am much disappointed not with the outlook he has but the way its expressed. Narayan and his expression is what that sets him apart not just from his contemporaries but the plethora of writers who write in similar genre. With this novel that borderline on magical realism, it's more confusing than consuming.
I am much disappointed not with the outlook he has but the way its expressed. Narayan and his expression is what that sets him apart not just from his contemporaries but the plethora of writers who write in similar genre. With this novel that borderline on magical realism, it's more confusing than consuming.
December 4, 2018
One of the best ever book that I have read in my entire life. Real gem. Such a refined tone. It relates to the story of the main character of the story Krishnan's loss of his wife and his various attempts to communicate with her soul. Through the sorrows of krishanan, Narayanan takes us to the many things related to life that mattes a lot.
August 18, 2021
I really enjoyed this story, beautifully written and very moving in parts. The word I would choose to apply to it would be 'endearing' as I felt almost related to the narrator by the end, but maybe that is too twee and might put people off. Easy to read and entertaining at any rate! Worth giving it a try!
February 2, 2018
One of the best stories by R.K Narayan. The story is completely unexpected and the suspense is thrilling. I like the second half of the book when the story took an unexpected turn and hook you to the seat.
I heard a lot about this book and was very keen to read. I absolutely loved it.
I heard a lot about this book and was very keen to read. I absolutely loved it.
September 8, 2012
I love the way Narayan writes so that you can hear the Indian voices. Doesn't really matter what the story is, he gives you a glimpse into another world.
December 24, 2021
Enough to make a grown man cry :")
June 21, 2014
Even before you begin to read my review, I must confess that I'm a die-hard fan of R.K. Narayan for his poignant stories bail me out of this mundane world effortlessly. While all the authors, whom I have acquainted through their books, help me escape reality, R.K. Narayan makes it hard to go back to the real world after reading his books as readers like me suffer from the inability to comfort our souls that want to live in Malgudi and refuse to accept this sphere. Yes, so, please forgive me if you find me gushing here. But I really can't help.
I started reading R.K. Narayan a couple of years ago and I have read 'Malgudi Days', 'A Tiger for Malgudi', 'Swami and Friends', 'The Bachelor of Arts' and just finished reading 'The English Teacher'. Thanks to a lot of unexpected turns that my life took, I could buy a lot of time to read and I decided to rekindle my love for R.K. Narayan. I read 'Swami and Friends' last week and chose to finish the informal trilogy 'Swami and Friends', 'The Bachelor of Arts' and 'The English Teacher'. While I found 'Swami and Friends' and 'The Bachelor of Arts' heartwarming, humourous and insightful, I was moved by 'The English Teacher'. It was heartbreaking and after God-knows-when, tears rolled down my cheeks and landed on the book as I followed Krishna, the protagonist, who's an English teacher, as he suffered irreplaceable losses and struggled to make peace with his past.
Although many of my friends raved about this book, it didn't occur to me to google about it for after all it was R.K. Narayan's. So I read it with an open mind and was surprised when the second part of the book travelled to metaphysical and supernatural grounds. I was certainly not shocked nor disappointed by the way the story de toured as I could closely follow Krishna in his search to gulf the abyss between the past and present.
And on top of all these, it was even more harrowing to learn that 'The English Teacher' is autobiographical.
R.K. Narayan's books don't fail to touch its readers' souls and with 'The English Teacher', it goes a level deeper. When Krishna smiled, I smiled. When Krishna cried, I cried. When Krishna was engulfed by loneliness, I was lonely too. Finally when he understood 'The Law of Life', he made me appreciate the law as well. And unlike R.K. Narayan's other books that leave the readers with a sense of happiness and satisfaction, 'The English Teacher' leaves the readers with a lump in their throats that doesn't go down for a few days after finishing reading and the readers can't help but mull over and make conscious efforts to disconnect themselves from the masterpiece. Not that because it's morbid, tragic and touching. But because readers can find a 'Krishna' in themselves. Krishna's conundrums, losses, searches are strikingly ours too.
Here are a couple of my favourite quotes from the book:
"The twists and turns of fate would cease to shock us if we knew, and expected nothing more than, the barest truths and facts of life."
“I returned from the village. The house seemed unbearably dull. But I bore it. "There is no escape from loneliness and separation...." I told myself often. "Wife, child, brothers, parents, friends.... We come together only to go apart again. It is one continuous movement. They move away from us as we move away from them. The law of life can't be avoided. The law comes into operation the moment we detach ourselves from our mother's womb. All struggle and misery in life is due to our attempt to arrest this law or get away from it or in allowing ourselves to be hurt by it. The fact must be recognized. A profound unmitigated loneliness is the only truth of life. All else is false. My mother got away from her parents, my sisters from our house, I and my brother away from each other, my wife was torn away from me, my daughter is going away with my mother, my father has gone away from his father, my earliest friends - where are they? They scatter apart like the droplets of a waterspray. The law of life. No sense in battling against it...." Thus I reconciled myself to this separation with less struggle than before.”
I started reading R.K. Narayan a couple of years ago and I have read 'Malgudi Days', 'A Tiger for Malgudi', 'Swami and Friends', 'The Bachelor of Arts' and just finished reading 'The English Teacher'. Thanks to a lot of unexpected turns that my life took, I could buy a lot of time to read and I decided to rekindle my love for R.K. Narayan. I read 'Swami and Friends' last week and chose to finish the informal trilogy 'Swami and Friends', 'The Bachelor of Arts' and 'The English Teacher'. While I found 'Swami and Friends' and 'The Bachelor of Arts' heartwarming, humourous and insightful, I was moved by 'The English Teacher'. It was heartbreaking and after God-knows-when, tears rolled down my cheeks and landed on the book as I followed Krishna, the protagonist, who's an English teacher, as he suffered irreplaceable losses and struggled to make peace with his past.
Although many of my friends raved about this book, it didn't occur to me to google about it for after all it was R.K. Narayan's. So I read it with an open mind and was surprised when the second part of the book travelled to metaphysical and supernatural grounds. I was certainly not shocked nor disappointed by the way the story de toured as I could closely follow Krishna in his search to gulf the abyss between the past and present.
And on top of all these, it was even more harrowing to learn that 'The English Teacher' is autobiographical.
R.K. Narayan's books don't fail to touch its readers' souls and with 'The English Teacher', it goes a level deeper. When Krishna smiled, I smiled. When Krishna cried, I cried. When Krishna was engulfed by loneliness, I was lonely too. Finally when he understood 'The Law of Life', he made me appreciate the law as well. And unlike R.K. Narayan's other books that leave the readers with a sense of happiness and satisfaction, 'The English Teacher' leaves the readers with a lump in their throats that doesn't go down for a few days after finishing reading and the readers can't help but mull over and make conscious efforts to disconnect themselves from the masterpiece. Not that because it's morbid, tragic and touching. But because readers can find a 'Krishna' in themselves. Krishna's conundrums, losses, searches are strikingly ours too.
Here are a couple of my favourite quotes from the book:
"The twists and turns of fate would cease to shock us if we knew, and expected nothing more than, the barest truths and facts of life."
“I returned from the village. The house seemed unbearably dull. But I bore it. "There is no escape from loneliness and separation...." I told myself often. "Wife, child, brothers, parents, friends.... We come together only to go apart again. It is one continuous movement. They move away from us as we move away from them. The law of life can't be avoided. The law comes into operation the moment we detach ourselves from our mother's womb. All struggle and misery in life is due to our attempt to arrest this law or get away from it or in allowing ourselves to be hurt by it. The fact must be recognized. A profound unmitigated loneliness is the only truth of life. All else is false. My mother got away from her parents, my sisters from our house, I and my brother away from each other, my wife was torn away from me, my daughter is going away with my mother, my father has gone away from his father, my earliest friends - where are they? They scatter apart like the droplets of a waterspray. The law of life. No sense in battling against it...." Thus I reconciled myself to this separation with less struggle than before.”
November 9, 2020
Well R.K.Narayan makes me feel nostalgic and with the simple characters that he creates he takes us back to a dust filled streets with simple people and with much simpler needs, whether it's Raju of The Guide or Chandran of The Bachelor of Arts or Krishnan of this book none of these characters were very ambitious yet readers could relate with them on so many levels for their simplicity, for an instance when Swami from Swami and Friends considers Monday to be most unpleasant day of the calendar we immediately remember how once we dreaded Monday mornings(not now though:)) and that's what sets Narayan's novels apart from others.. Narayan's books are uncomplicated yet the philosophical tinge in them makes them great and precious....
June 27, 2012
An intensely spiritual book. And an intensely human book. It has the whole myriad of experiences a normal person would have in his life. You smile along during the happy days of the couple, you get this sinking feeling when the wife falls ill, gets worse day by day. You celebrate when she shows signs of improvement. You feel the husband's utter despair when he loses his wife.
You need not believe the metaphysical part in the book. Even so, you sure will appreciate what is being communicated in this part of the novel. This line hit me hard : "A profound unmitigated loneliness is the only truth of life." One knows this, but gets so caught up in the routine life that one seems to forget it. One has to face fears, failures, successes, happiness all by themselves. No one can experience them for you.
A must read book in my reckoning.
You need not believe the metaphysical part in the book. Even so, you sure will appreciate what is being communicated in this part of the novel. This line hit me hard : "A profound unmitigated loneliness is the only truth of life." One knows this, but gets so caught up in the routine life that one seems to forget it. One has to face fears, failures, successes, happiness all by themselves. No one can experience them for you.
A must read book in my reckoning.
February 7, 2012
I found 'English Teacher' quite different from R.K.Narayan's other works. It may be because this one is more serious and deals with the spiritual side. It is a poignant narration of how the loss of a loved one(for Krishna, the protagonist) or from constantly waiting for death to deciding to live life more fully(for the schoolmaster) changes the course of life.
December 17, 2012
A nice read! Found the 'platonic love' between Krishna and Sushila more inspiring and the later 'spiritual love' more ecstatic! R.K.Narayan has the connection of the scenes in a nice flow and one need not look back to revise before reading further.
February 7, 2016
Didn't like the intervention of supernatural powers... otherwise 5 star stuff!!
Husband wife relation is very cutely and realistically portrayed! The child is very innocent raising cute little curious questions everytime :)
Husband wife relation is very cutely and realistically portrayed! The child is very innocent raising cute little curious questions everytime :)
January 8, 2012
This was a fairly simple book to read, once I got myself into it. It is compelling and interesting, but it wasn't until I reached the final paragraph that I felt it was truly beautiful.
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