Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma University of Oklahoma

R. K. Narayan: An Anthology of Recent Criticism by C. N. Srinath Review by: A. L. McLeod World Literature Today, Vol. 75, No. 2 (Spring, 2001), p. 328 Published by: Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40156581 . Accessed: 09/07/2013 08:59
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma and University of Oklahoma are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to World Literature Today.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 14.139.86.99 on Tue, 9 Jul 2013 08:59:17 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

talentand makesno pretenseof being a greatwriter.It is enough for her to spend her "onecent/' as she calls it, speaking out abouther country'ssocialproblems as franklyas she can. That,she says, is the primaryfunctionof a writerin Vietnam today. Huong'slatestnovel in translation,
Memoriesof a Pure Spring, is a lengthy

story that follows severalNorth Vietnamese characters throughthe critical turnsthey make in the firstfive years War."They are prinafterthe "American cipallycohortsfrom the artisticcommudirectorand nity - a composer-artistic his singerwife, an unfulfilledwriter,a deviantpainter,a clown-sage- who, such as along with ancillarycharacters the singer'syoungerbrother,are trying to find a connectionbetween the past It is and theirpresentcircumstances. that their different approaches through the authorexaminesher own relationships and the quandariesshe faces as a patriotand artistwho has fallen out of favorwith the authorities. WhereHuong's meditationshave takenher is unclear.As in her previous work, she expressesdismay at the demoralizedstate of a society abandoning its ideals and giving in to cowardiceand Ratherthan delve deeply materialism. into the hatred,humiliation,fear,and however, the emptinessof her characters, authoronly skims the surfaceof their motivations,occasionallydipping into popularpsychologyto sort throughtheir Amid the detailed tangledpredicaments. comprisethe novel, the fragments^that Westernreadermay find the message ambiguousand even contradictory not a desirableoutcomefor a work intended for consumptionin Europeand America. version is readThe English-language beable, albeitdry, with the characters in lancominglargelyindistinguishable guage and manner.As with an earlier NovelWithwork by the same translators, outa Name(1995;see WLT 69:3,p. 653), Memories lacks the flavorof Vietnam. Readersshould note Nina McPherson's admissionthat the Vietnamesemanuscripthas been edited, althoughthe para-

metersof the adaptationare undefined. The publisherhas includeda brief "Reader's Guide"with discussionquestions at the end of the story,an appendage the readercan overlookwith no greatsense of loss. To truly understandDuong Thu Huong, one must not get carriedaway by the hype generatedby the Western press and acknowledgethat the authoris and more complexthan the translators reviewershave chosen to depicther. If takenat her word, she does not seek notoriety,but only a chanceto deliverher message of a Vietnamhungry for freedom and a spiritualrevolution.In Memotrappedin the past, strugglingwithout a vision for the future.
JamesBanerian San Diego ries of a Pure Spring she appears to be

little they concern"thesmall,unimportant Severalof man, the child or even the animal." the essays should not have been included,as they detractfromthe overallpictureof Narayan:one proposesthatdeath,divorce,and are impossiblesituations! unemployment or follows no recognizable Documentation and uniformsystem;spelling,punctuation, are random.Notwithstanding, capitalization mentionedabovemeritincluthe contributions sion and reading.
A. L. McLeod Rider University

Raja Rao: An Anthology of Recent Criticism Ragini Ramachandra,ed. Delhi. Pencraft International. 2000. 192 pages. Rs350 isbn81-85753-39-3

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 proposesthat in R. K. Narayan'sficand tion "thereis no traceof intellectuality," that in takingas his subjectmatter"lifeas it is lived on the road,in marketsand homes"there is nevertheless"aphilosophical acceptance." Thisamountsto nonpolemical intellectuality, which is exploredin severalof the dozen esof recentcriticism," says in this "anthology to four of which have significantcontributions make.The longest,by the late WilliamWalsh, develops the point that threeof Narayan'snovels revealthe author'sabilityto "fixthe auand simulthenticindividualityof a character taneouslyestablishit solidly in a socialworld," in effectexploringboth personaland public philosophy.This idea is developedby K. Chel"Indianness as a lappanin his contribution, and by C. D. NarasimhaMode of Perception," iah in his lengthyexplicationof TheGuide. As S. C. Harrexpoints out, "Inmost of his of fiction,Narayanexposes the vulnerability privatevalues,"whetherin a provincialsetting Olinderconor in the "globalvillage."Britta tends,persuasively,thatNarayan'sshortstoas the novels in developries are as important ing the writer'sown philosophy,even when

who established Of the three nonagenarians the Indiannovel in English(theothersbeing MulkRajAnandand R. K. Narayan), RajaRao and has been hailedas the most philosophical true to a local (SouthIndian)versionof the language;he was, however,the leastprolific,but thanthe his workhas generatedmorecriticism othertwo authors'(see e.g. WLT 62:4,pp. 525little of the best criticismis 620).Unfortunately, includedin this anthology,which coversover thirtyyears (thoughthe series,New Orientations, is limitedto the past twenty,according Thirteen to the publisher). essays are reprinted fromthe over 150in print;some areby recognized criticssuch as M. K. Naik, S. C. Harrex, who and C. D. Narasimhaiah, PaulSharrad, observesthatRao "hasput Indiaon the world map in fiction." claimsare overblown.It Somecontributors' is difficultto endorsesuchjudgmentsas that Raois "themost innovatingnove^stnow writand His Moves ofing," or that The Chessmaster

we fers "thebroadest,deepestinternationalism have in fiction,"let alone thatRao"enlarges the frontiers of fictionalformitself."Theeditor acknowledgesthatsome criticshave reservations and expressdissentwhen Rao's"supremegifts"are claimedor it is assertedthat he is "themost Indianof the Indiannovelists" - which may have been truesome years ago, when K. R. S. Iyengarmade the claimin 1950. othSomechaptersmakeuse of diacriticals, are ers do not;two formsof documentation employed.The absenceof an index is a disadbut not, ultivantage.All in all, an interesting mately,very satisfyingselectionof recentcriticism.
A. L. McLeod Rider University

328

WORLDLITERATURE TODAY

75:2

SPRING2001

This content downloaded from 14.139.86.99 on Tue, 9 Jul 2013 08:59:17 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions