Me Grandad Ad An Elephant

The Novel in India

First published in 1970, The Novel in India traces the birth and development of prose fiction in Bengali, Marathi, Urdu, Hindi, Tamil and Malayalam. It is addressed not only to academic students of Asian culture but to all who are interested in literary history. India and Pakistan have many great literatures, but they are almost unknown beyond their own boundaries. Language is a formidable barrier, and this book is offered in the hope that it can bridge the cultural divide that language has created. It has a fascinating story to tell of the endeavours, experiments and achievements of writers who deserve to be better known outside their native land.

Poovan Banana and the Other Stories

This carefully selected collection of Vaikom Muhammad Basheer s short stories are characterised by a variety in theme and tone. He has enshrined in them every kind of experience from the pangs of hunger and sex to the rapture of mystic vision. Its range includes stark realistic pictures of the material world as well as the realm of fantasy haunted by ghosts and spirits. Basheer has written on love and hate, on politicians and pickpockets, on the fancies of childhood and on the disillusionments of adult life with an intense sense of the tragedy of life and at the same time an irrepressible sense of humour.

Classics of Modern South Asian Literature