Eversince its inception, the Indian fiction in English has grown considerably in bulk, variety and maturity, and, as Mulk Raj Anand says, it has ‘come to stay as part of world literature.’ On account of historical reasons, however, the Indian novelist in English has to face unprecedented challenges arising out of his quest for and assertion of identity and the choice of medium. The present volume, containing eighteen essays by eminent scholars, discusses the problems of the Indian fiction in English in considerable detail. The novelists included for analysis are: Mulk Raj Anand, R.K. Narayan, Raja Rao, K.A. Abbas, Kamala Markandaya,
R.P. Jhabvala, Nayantara Sahgal, Anita Desai, Arun Joshi, Shashi Deshpande, Salman Rushdie, Kusum Ansal and V.A. Shahane.
Review
“The book attempts to define some of the problems and promises of this highly significant branch of Indian English literature. It offers a judicious, though mixed, fare of essays some of which are marked by fresh approach on authors and works, both old and new.
The anthology explores some of the challenging problems of Indian fiction in English and in the process promises new postures for its future growth in new directions.’’
Dr. M. K. Chowdhary, Review Projector (India),
Vol. II (4–6), pp. 47–48.
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