Page 153 - DENG202_ELECTIVE_ENGLISH_III

Elective English—III

Notes Next Sunday is a collection of weekly essays by R K Narayan published in 1960.
He was born in Madras in 1906 and educated there and at Maharajah’s College in Mysore.
Narayan experienced rejection with the short stories, which he wrote, although he
eventually succeeded in his ambition to get into print abroad when a piece he wrote for
Punch magazine in London was accepted and produced a handsome fee of six guineas.

Graham Greene played a vital role in Narayan’s life as he helped him in publishing his
first novel.
His writing style was simple and unpretentious with a natural element of humour about
it. It focused on ordinary people, reminding the reader of next-door neighbours, cousins
and the like.

In “The Crowd”, R K Narayan says that he likes Crowd. In a crowd, a man can attain great
calm- he can forget himself for a few hours. He has seen many crowds when he is in
Madras near radio stand at the Marina, Flower Bazaar road, Central Railway Station
platform and Parry’s corner to Moore market.
In the essay “Coffee”, the author describes the story of Coffee and the way it came to India.
Bababuden, a Muslim saint came from Mocha, bringing with him a handful of seeds and
settled himself on the slope of a mountain range in Kadur district, Mysore state.

R K Narayan wrote these essays for ‘The Hindu’ and other periodicals. They were written
when he has at the peak of his career. These pieces represent various aspects of Narayan’s
engagement with Post-Independence India.

His prose essays are ideal to read because of funny, warm-hearted, satirical and yet serious
aspects of those essays.

The Later Essays are longer than the other two. R K Narayan wrote on the topics that were
significant to him. One such essay is ‘A Writer’s Nightmare’ (1988).

11.7 Keywords

Anecdote: A short amusing or interesting story about a real incident or person.

Catharsis: The purification or purgation of emotions, particularly pity and fear with the help of
art, providing relief from repressed emotions.
Invigorate: To make one feel strong and full of energy.

Pathos: A power or quality that evokes sadness or pity.
Samuel Johnson: Also known as Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made great contributions
to English literature as a poet, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor and
lexicographer.

11.8 Review Questions

1. Write critical analysis on Narayan’s writings.
2. Describe in detail the theme of Next Sunday.

3. What is the writing style of Narayan? How this style made him different from other
writers and helped him gain popularity?
4. Write a brief biography of Narayan.

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