BEST BOOKS WRITTEN BY INDIAN AUTHORS TO READ
If you like to read and want to expand your literary horizons beyond your usual canon, I highly recommend picking up something written by an Indian author. Even if that’s not your style, there are some books on this list that everyone should read at least once in their lives. If you’re looking for good literature from India but don’t know where to start, here’s a list of great books written by great Indian authors to start:
BOOKS WRITTEN BY INDIAN AUTHORS
1. Godan by Munshi Premchand
Godan, a short novel by Munshi Premchand, is about the life of a farmer named Shivnath. The story takes place in Uttar Pradesh and follows Shivnath as he tries to farm his land with his brother-in-law Gauridas. When Gauridas dies suddenly, Shivnath has no choice but to take over the farm himself. He struggles throughout the book but eventually succeeds in making enough money off of his harvest so that he can send his children to school. And also have enough left over for him and his wife to live comfortably.
2. The Guide by R.K. Narayan
The Guide is written by R.K. Narayan in the 1930s. It is the story of a man who wants to be a writer but ends up stuck in a job he hates. The job is of a tourist guide in the fictional town of Malgudi. The book explores themes like class and social mobility, religion versus science, tradition versus modernity, and more through interactions between characters and their lives in this small Indian town. The Guide was also an early example of “magic realism” — a genre that blends elements from fantasy or myth into realistic settings — and helped popularize it as one of India’s most important contributions to world literature. (alongside Salman Rushdie).
3. The Great Indian Novel by Shashi Tharoor
The Great Indian Novel is a satirical work, which examines the state of India’s democracy. The main character, who is unnamed throughout the book. He lives in Delhi and works for an NGO dedicated to promoting democracy among Indians. He writes letters to friends about characters he meets on his travels around India and at home in Delhi. Through these letters, we learn more about the political climate in India and its people during this time period.
The writing style is very accessible — I devoured it pretty quickly! I learned so much about Indian culture while reading this book; I highly recommend it if you want to learn more about modern-day politics there or if you’re interested in learning more about what life was like under British rule during colonial times. (which has impacted current events today).
4. The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
The Namesake is a coming-of-age story about an Indian family living in the US. It follows the journey of Gogol Ganguli, the son of Ashima and Ashoke Ganguli, as he struggles with his identity in America. He discovers that his name isn’t really Gogol but Nikhil, which is what his parents call him when they are alone or talking to each other. He learns more about his family’s history through this name change and realizes that it wasn’t just one thing that caused them to come to America — it was many things. The book was written by Jhumpa Lahiri who won a Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2000 for her novel Interpreter Of Maladies. (also published by Riverhead Books).
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