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7/28/2019 RKN Criticism
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Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma
University of Oklahoma
R. K. Narayan: An Anthology of Recent Criticism by C. N. SrinathReview by: A. L. McLeodWorld Literature Today, Vol. 75, No. 2 (Spring, 2001), p. 328Published by: Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma
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7/28/2019 RKN Criticism
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/rkn-criticism 2/2
talentandmakes no pretenseof beinga
greatwriter. t is enoughfor her to spendher "onecent/' as she callsit, speakingout abouthercountry's ocialproblemsas franklyas she can.That,she says, istheprimary unctionof a writer n Viet-namtoday.
Huong's atest novel in translation,Memoriesof a Pure Spring,is a lengthy
storythat follows severalNorthViet-namese charactershrough hecriticalturnstheymakein the first five yearsafter he "AmericanWar."Theyareprin-cipallycohorts rom the artistic ommu-
nity- a composer-artisticirectorand
his singerwife,an unfulfilledwriter,adeviantpainter,a clown-sage who,
alongwithancillary haracters uch asthesinger'syoungerbrother,aretryingto find a connectionbetween thepastandtheirpresentcircumstances.t is
through heir differentapproacheshatthe authorexaminesher own relation-
shipsandthequandaries he facesas a
patriotandartistwho has fallen out of
favorwith the authorities.WhereHuong'smeditationshave
takenher is unclear.As in herpreviouswork,sheexpressesdismayat the de-moralized tate of a society abandoningits idealsandgivingin to cowardiceandmaterialism.Rather han delve deeplyinto thehatred,humiliation,ear,and
emptinessof hercharacters, owever,theauthoronlyskimsthe surfaceof their
motivations,occasionallydippinginto
popularpsychologyto sortthrough heir
tangled predicaments.Amidthe detailed
fragments^thatomprise henovel,theWestern eadermayfindthemessageambiguousandeven contradictory
not a desirableoutcomefora workin-tended forconsumptionn EuropeandAmerica.
TheEnglish-languageersion s read-
able,albeitdry,with thecharacters e-
coming argely ndistinguishablen lan-
guageand manner.As with anearlierworkby the sametranslators,NovelWith-outa Name 1995; ee WLT 9:3,p. 653),Memoriesacks the flavorof Vietnam.Readers hould noteNina McPherson'sadmission hattheVietnamesemanu-
scripthas beenedited,although hepara-
metersof the adaptationare undefined.Thepublisherhas includeda brief"Reader'sGuide"with discussionques-tionsat the end of thestory,an append-age thereadercan overlookwith no
greatsense of loss.TotrulyunderstandDuongThu
Huong,one mustnot get carriedawayby thehype generatedby the Western
pressandacknowledge hat the author smorecomplexthan the translators nd
reviewershave chosen to depicther.If
takenat herword,she does not seek no-
toriety,but only a chance o deliverher
messageof a Vietnamhungryfor free-dom and a spiritualrevolution. nMemo-riesof a Pure Springshe appears to be
trapped n thepast, strugglingwithouta
vision for the future.
JamesBanerian
San Diego
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 proposes hat n R. K.Narayan's ic-
tion "theres no traceof intellectuality,"nd
that n takingas his subjectmatter"lifeas it is
lived on theroad, n marketsand homes" here
is nevertheless"aphilosophical cceptance."Thisamounts o nonpolemicalntellectuality,which is explored n severalof the dozenes-
saysin this"anthology f recentcriticism,"four of which have significant ontributionso
make.The ongest,by the lateWilliamWalsh,
developsthepointthat threeof Narayan'snov-
els reveal he author'sability o "fix heau-
thentic ndividualityof a characterndsimul-taneouslyestablisht solidlyin asocialworld,"in effectexploringbothpersonalandpublic
philosophy.This deais developedby K.Chel-
lappan n his contribution, Indianness s a
Mode of Perception,"ndby C.D.Narasimha-
iah in his lengthyexplication f TheGuide.As S. C. Harrexpointsout,"Inmostof his
fiction,Narayan xposesthevulnerability f
privatevalues,"whether n a provincial ettingorin the"globalvillage."BrittaOlindercon-
tends,persuasively,hatNarayan's hortsto-
ries are as important s the novelsin develop-
ing thewriter'sown philosophy,even when
theyconcern"thesmall,unimportantittle
man,thechild or eventheanimal." everalof
theessaysshouldnot have beenincluded,as
theydetract rom he overallpictureof Na-
rayan: neproposes hatdeath,divorce,and
unemployment re mpossible ituations!
Documentationollowsno recognizable r
uniform ystem; pelling,punctuation, nd
capitalizationrerandom.Notwithstanding,the contributionsmentionedabove merit nclu-
sionandreading.A. L. McLeod
RiderUniversity
Raja Rao: An Anthology of Recent Criticism
RaginiRamachandra,ed. Delhi. Pencraft Interna-
tional. 2000. 192 pages. Rs350
isbn81-85753-39-3
Of the three nonagenarians ho established
theIndiannovelin English theothersbeingMulkRajAnandand R. K.Narayan),RajaRao
has beenhailed as themostphilosophical nd
true to a local(South ndian)versionof thelan-
guage;he was,however, heleastprolific,but
his work hasgeneratedmore criticismhan he
other wo authors' seee.g. WLT 2:4,pp.525-620).Unfortunately,ittle of the best criticisms
included n thisanthology,which coversover
thirtyyears(though heseries,New Orienta-
tions, s limited o thepasttwenty, accordingto thepublisher).Thirteen ssaysarereprintedfrom he over150 n print; omeareby recog-nizedcritics uch as M. K.Naik,S.C.Harrex,PaulSharrad, ndC.D.Narasimhaiah, ho
observes hatRao "hasput Indiaon the world
mapin fiction."Somecontributors'laimsare overblown. t
is difficult o endorsesuch udgmentsas that
Rao s "themostinnovatingnove^stnow writ-
ing," or that TheChessmaster nd His Moves of-
fers"thebroadest,deepest nternationalisme
havein fiction,"et alone that Rao"enlargesthe frontiers f fictional orm tself."The editor
acknowledgeshat some criticshave reserva-tionsandexpressdissentwhenRao's"su-
premegifts"are claimedorit is asserted hat
he is "themostIndianof theIndiannovelists"- whichmayhave beentrue someyearsago,whenK. R.S.Iyengarmadethe claim n 1950.
Somechaptersmake use of diacriticals,th-
ers do not; wo formsof documentation re
employed.The absenceof anindex s a disad-
vantage.All in all,aninteresting utnot,ulti-
mately,very satisfying electionof recentcriti-
cism.A. L. McLeod
RiderUniversity
328 * WORLDLITERATURE ODAY • 75:2 * SPRING2001
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