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The Guide
Formerly India's most corrupt tourist guide, Raju—just released from prison—seeks refuge in an abandoned temple. Mistaken for a holy man, he plays the part and succeeds so well that God himself intervenes to put Raju's newfound sanctity to the test. Narayan's most celebrated novel, The Guide won him the National Prize of the Indian Literary Academy, his country's highest literary honor.
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1958
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About the author
R.K. Narayan
143 books1,936 followersR. K. Narayan is among the best known and most widely read Indian novelists who wrote in English.
R.K. Narayan was born in Madras, South India, in 1906, and educated there and at Maharaja's College in Mysore. His first novel, Swami and Friends and its successor, The Bachelor of Arts, are both set in the enchanting fictional territory of Malgudi and are only two out of the twelve novels he based there. In 1958 Narayan's work The Guide won him the National Prize of the Indian Literary Academy, his country's highest literary honor.
In addition to his novels, Narayan has authored five collections of short stories, including A Horse and Two Goats, Malguidi Days, and Under the Banyan Tree, two travel books, two volumes of essays, a volume of memoirs, and the re-told legends Gods, Demons and Others, The Ramayana, and the Mahabharata. In 1980 he was awarded the A.C. Benson Medal by the Royal Society of Literature and in 1982 he was made an Honorary Member of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters.
Most of Narayan's work, starting with his first novel Swami and Friends (1935), captures many Indian traits while retaining a unique identity of its own. He was sometimes compared to the American writer William Faulkner, whose novels were also grounded in a compassionate humanism and celebrated the humour and energy of ordinary life.
Narayan who lived till age of ninety-four, died in 2001. He wrote for more than fifty years, and published until he was eighty seven. He wrote fourteen novels, five volumes of short stories, a number of travelogues and collections of non-fiction, condensed versions of Indian epics in English, and the memoir My Days.
-Wikipedia & Amazon.co.uk
R.K. Narayan was born in Madras, South India, in 1906, and educated there and at Maharaja's College in Mysore. His first novel, Swami and Friends and its successor, The Bachelor of Arts, are both set in the enchanting fictional territory of Malgudi and are only two out of the twelve novels he based there. In 1958 Narayan's work The Guide won him the National Prize of the Indian Literary Academy, his country's highest literary honor.
In addition to his novels, Narayan has authored five collections of short stories, including A Horse and Two Goats, Malguidi Days, and Under the Banyan Tree, two travel books, two volumes of essays, a volume of memoirs, and the re-told legends Gods, Demons and Others, The Ramayana, and the Mahabharata. In 1980 he was awarded the A.C. Benson Medal by the Royal Society of Literature and in 1982 he was made an Honorary Member of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters.
Most of Narayan's work, starting with his first novel Swami and Friends (1935), captures many Indian traits while retaining a unique identity of its own. He was sometimes compared to the American writer William Faulkner, whose novels were also grounded in a compassionate humanism and celebrated the humour and energy of ordinary life.
Narayan who lived till age of ninety-four, died in 2001. He wrote for more than fifty years, and published until he was eighty seven. He wrote fourteen novels, five volumes of short stories, a number of travelogues and collections of non-fiction, condensed versions of Indian epics in English, and the memoir My Days.
-Wikipedia & Amazon.co.uk
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 826 reviews
September 4, 2022
The movie GUIDE is my grandmother's favourite movie and she often praises the story for being exceptionally good and she know I love reading so she urged me to read the book for her. I can't deny . I love her so much.
Read in Hindi, I had fun time with my grandmother narrating the story to her and reliving every character again with her. I didn't like the book much but it gave me a memory of lifetime to cherish.
Read in Hindi, I had fun time with my grandmother narrating the story to her and reliving every character again with her. I didn't like the book much but it gave me a memory of lifetime to cherish.
November 23, 2025
“I’ve come to the conclusion that nothing in this world can be hidden or suppressed. All such attempts are like holding an umbrella to conceal the sun.”
The Guide by R K Narayan, without a shred of doubt, is one of the finest novels ever produced by an Indian novelist! The novel is written in the simplest possible manner so that the readers can have more reading pleasure and less delayed decoding. The story isn’t told in chronological order but is easily enough followed and is more interesting for its nonlinear telling.
The novel is a reflection of our society on a critical and intellectual level, and it is still relevant today. We always come across people who despise dancers. People who still believe in marriage as an institution that cannot be paralleled with the occurrence of divorce are always visible. In our society, orthodoxy still exists. We still find people who are sentimental and touchy about their faith and easily trust a person to be their ultimate saviour!
We have The Guide everywhere… yesterday, today and tomorrow!
You might like to wander through a few artistic journals — they’re full of sparks and surprises.
The Guide by R K Narayan, without a shred of doubt, is one of the finest novels ever produced by an Indian novelist! The novel is written in the simplest possible manner so that the readers can have more reading pleasure and less delayed decoding. The story isn’t told in chronological order but is easily enough followed and is more interesting for its nonlinear telling.
The novel is a reflection of our society on a critical and intellectual level, and it is still relevant today. We always come across people who despise dancers. People who still believe in marriage as an institution that cannot be paralleled with the occurrence of divorce are always visible. In our society, orthodoxy still exists. We still find people who are sentimental and touchy about their faith and easily trust a person to be their ultimate saviour!
We have The Guide everywhere… yesterday, today and tomorrow!
You might like to wander through a few artistic journals — they’re full of sparks and surprises.
May 6, 2015
First book of 2014.
Narayan's The Guide is a good story about a man who is a tourist guide who does his absolute best to please his customers honestly or dishonestly, as is the nature of tourist guides everywhere. But he is brought low by romance and becomes a bit of a rogue. I don't want to spoil the story by writing out the plot but eventually, from the absolute depths a man can sink to, he rises on the back of being thought a holy man. His innate moral sense overrides his desire for an easier life and he risks all by telling it how it is.
Lucky for him, he isn't believed and the superstitious locals continue to treat him as a guru. Or maybe he has become a guru. Sometimes you can have your cake and eat it too.
Narayan's The Guide is a good story about a man who is a tourist guide who does his absolute best to please his customers honestly or dishonestly, as is the nature of tourist guides everywhere. But he is brought low by romance and becomes a bit of a rogue. I don't want to spoil the story by writing out the plot but eventually, from the absolute depths a man can sink to, he rises on the back of being thought a holy man. His innate moral sense overrides his desire for an easier life and he risks all by telling it how it is.
Lucky for him, he isn't believed and the superstitious locals continue to treat him as a guru. Or maybe he has become a guru. Sometimes you can have your cake and eat it too.
October 30, 2019
I am quite ashamed to say that apart from a few stories here and there, I have not a read a single book by R. K. Narayan, the creator of the mythical Malgudi. So what better place to start with than this iconic novel? There is hardly any person of my generation who does not know the story of the fraudster turned godman who performs the miracle of bringing rain to a parched village through his penance - if not from the novel, then at least from the classic 1965 movie starring Dev Anand and Waheeda Rehman.
This is the story of 'Railway Raju', from his start as a humble storekeeper, through his rise in life as a guide to visitors and then the lover and manager of the dancer Rosie, and his fall at the pinnacle of his success to the status of a forgery convict, to his ultimate redemption as an accidental saint. It is a fascinating human journey, filled with laughter, sorrow, love and hatred; told by the author with his traditional mix of sarcasm and sympathy.
Raju is a storekeeper at the railway station in the village of Malgudi when he discovers he can make more money (assisted by his glib tongue) as a guide to the visitors to the village, who come there for its scenic beauty and historical ruins. He entrusts the running of the store to the station porter's son and with the help of his friend Gaffur and his ramshackle taxi, becomes a guide famed throughout India. Then one day, the scholarly Marco arrives with his drop-dead gorgeous dancer wife Rosie, and Raju falls for her like a ton of bricks and becomes her clandestine lover. When he learns that Marco does not care for his wife other than cart her round like a trophy, and - most importantly - does allow her to indulge in her passion for dance, Raju confesses his love for her and urges Rosie to dump her husband; which ultimately happens, though not exactly in the way he envisages.
Teaming up with Rosie - a woman of the caste of courtesans, and somebody else's wife to boot - results in Raju getting estranged from his mother and extended family. He also loses his house to debt, and his store which he had been neglecting in his amorous pursuits. However, he and Rosie stand by each other, and he encourages her to take up dancing with gusto. Rosie's talent and looks coupled with Raju's managerial skills make her one of the top dancers in India, with wealth and fame in plenty. Then, a silly misjudgement by Raju and a thoughtless act of dishonesty brings his world crashing down: overnight, he is in jail as a forger, having lost everything.
Coming out after two years, Raju is resting in an abandoned temple by a river when a local villager, Velan, takes him to be a Sadhu and approaches him for advice. The random words spoken by him work out, and suddenly, he has become a saint (this is India!). Raju considers this a godsend, and starts living on the largesse dished out by the illiterate yokels, dispensing ambiguous nonsense in the name of divine wisdom. Until one day, in the middle of a severe drought, his words are interpreted to mean that he will do a twelve-day fast to bring rain. Hoist with his own petard, Raju is now in the unenviable position of living up to his reputation, even if it means his ultimate demise. And as he tries to do so, and the village becomes the cynosure of India and the world, the story comes to its beautiful, ambiguous ending...
***
This is ultimately a tale of redemption. One of the popular fable types in India is that of the reformed rogue, who having led a life of dissolution, suddenly comes into contact with the Godhead and is redeemed (remember, even the legendary Valmiki, the writer of Ramayana, was a highwayman once). This is Narayan's take on the same - however, he being who he is, his tongue is in his cheek many a time.
The author does not idealise any of his characters, neither does he demonise any of them. Raju, Rosie and Marco are all human beings with virtues and flaws. By the time I came to the end of the tale of their convoluted fates, the only emotion I felt for all of them was sympathy; especially Rosie, trying to realise herself, "follow her bliss" (to borrow from Joseph Campbell) in a patriarchal society which would never accept her as person, but only as pativrata (chaste woman) or a veshya (prostitute).
Raju's forced sainthood is treated with refreshing humour. Initially, it is only another con-job in a largely fraudulent life: just a matter of survival. However, as the days go by, we find him slowly growing into the persona he has created for himself - and the world following, to the extent of the government sending officials to see that no harm comes to him, and the inevitable American journalist arriving at the spot with his cameras to broadcast the tale of the Indian Yogi to the world! The concluding part walks the tightrope between tragedy and farce perfectly, and the ending is near-perfect.
I must read more from this master storyteller!
This is the story of 'Railway Raju', from his start as a humble storekeeper, through his rise in life as a guide to visitors and then the lover and manager of the dancer Rosie, and his fall at the pinnacle of his success to the status of a forgery convict, to his ultimate redemption as an accidental saint. It is a fascinating human journey, filled with laughter, sorrow, love and hatred; told by the author with his traditional mix of sarcasm and sympathy.
Raju is a storekeeper at the railway station in the village of Malgudi when he discovers he can make more money (assisted by his glib tongue) as a guide to the visitors to the village, who come there for its scenic beauty and historical ruins. He entrusts the running of the store to the station porter's son and with the help of his friend Gaffur and his ramshackle taxi, becomes a guide famed throughout India. Then one day, the scholarly Marco arrives with his drop-dead gorgeous dancer wife Rosie, and Raju falls for her like a ton of bricks and becomes her clandestine lover. When he learns that Marco does not care for his wife other than cart her round like a trophy, and - most importantly - does allow her to indulge in her passion for dance, Raju confesses his love for her and urges Rosie to dump her husband; which ultimately happens, though not exactly in the way he envisages.
Teaming up with Rosie - a woman of the caste of courtesans, and somebody else's wife to boot - results in Raju getting estranged from his mother and extended family. He also loses his house to debt, and his store which he had been neglecting in his amorous pursuits. However, he and Rosie stand by each other, and he encourages her to take up dancing with gusto. Rosie's talent and looks coupled with Raju's managerial skills make her one of the top dancers in India, with wealth and fame in plenty. Then, a silly misjudgement by Raju and a thoughtless act of dishonesty brings his world crashing down: overnight, he is in jail as a forger, having lost everything.
Coming out after two years, Raju is resting in an abandoned temple by a river when a local villager, Velan, takes him to be a Sadhu and approaches him for advice. The random words spoken by him work out, and suddenly, he has become a saint (this is India!). Raju considers this a godsend, and starts living on the largesse dished out by the illiterate yokels, dispensing ambiguous nonsense in the name of divine wisdom. Until one day, in the middle of a severe drought, his words are interpreted to mean that he will do a twelve-day fast to bring rain. Hoist with his own petard, Raju is now in the unenviable position of living up to his reputation, even if it means his ultimate demise. And as he tries to do so, and the village becomes the cynosure of India and the world, the story comes to its beautiful, ambiguous ending...
***
This is ultimately a tale of redemption. One of the popular fable types in India is that of the reformed rogue, who having led a life of dissolution, suddenly comes into contact with the Godhead and is redeemed (remember, even the legendary Valmiki, the writer of Ramayana, was a highwayman once). This is Narayan's take on the same - however, he being who he is, his tongue is in his cheek many a time.
The author does not idealise any of his characters, neither does he demonise any of them. Raju, Rosie and Marco are all human beings with virtues and flaws. By the time I came to the end of the tale of their convoluted fates, the only emotion I felt for all of them was sympathy; especially Rosie, trying to realise herself, "follow her bliss" (to borrow from Joseph Campbell) in a patriarchal society which would never accept her as person, but only as pativrata (chaste woman) or a veshya (prostitute).
Raju's forced sainthood is treated with refreshing humour. Initially, it is only another con-job in a largely fraudulent life: just a matter of survival. However, as the days go by, we find him slowly growing into the persona he has created for himself - and the world following, to the extent of the government sending officials to see that no harm comes to him, and the inevitable American journalist arriving at the spot with his cameras to broadcast the tale of the Indian Yogi to the world! The concluding part walks the tightrope between tragedy and farce perfectly, and the ending is near-perfect.
I must read more from this master storyteller!
July 23, 2012
Those of you who think that Indian novels are always about sadness and despair of poor people, must think again. This book, The Guide by R. K. Narayan is funny. Unlike let's say, The God of Small Things or The Inheritance of Loss, this book will not make you squirt some tears from your eyes. Rather, when you close the book, you'll be happy yet mesmerized by its beauty.
It's beauty is not really in the narration or innovative storytelling. The novel's beauty is its ability to show you the traditional Indian way of storytelling that is not really different from the not-too-old stories here in the Philippines. The story is about a tourist guide Raju who gets convicted for a crime of forgery. On his way back home after two years in prison, he is mistaken for a holy man. Then he becomes like a God-like symbol and ends up fasting for the rain to come to Malgudi. This reminded me of a scene in the Ishmael Bernal's masterpiece 1984 movie, Himala where provincial people are asking Elsa, the fake faith healer, to rain. The Oscar-nominated 2001 film Lagaan also has that scene and so the barrio folks go out from their huts and palaces and wait for the rain to come
In the middle of the story is a flashback to Raju's life prior to being incarcerated. He is a tourist guide (that reminded me of Slumdog Millionaire) but he cheats his customers. Then comes his love affair with a dancer Rosie who is married to Marco who ridicules her dancing. Rosie falls in love with Raju because he supports her passion and so they live together and she becomes a star. Raju lives on her money and he gets involved in a crime so he gets imprisoned.
I used to have a boss, a regional manager of supply chain, who has a wife that studied traditional Indian dancing in the university. So, I know how important is dancing in that country. It is one of the highest expression of artistry so while reading the book, I could emphatise with Rosie whose passion is dancing yet her husband does not appreciate him. Her walking away from him to live in with Raju seems like a justified move because of this. So, she dances and dances until she becomes rich. However, she still keeps the picture of her husband Marco in her wallet. This again is quite the same with her in the Philippines. Since our country is predominantly Catholic, there is no divorce and we are told to believe that what God put together let no man put asunder. So, in Rosie's eyes, Marco and not Raju, is still her husband.
The use of shifting timeline as the scenes are presented back and forth makes up for the simple story. It is a light classic book, but classic nevertheless. It is similar to Rabindarath Tagore's The Home and the World because they both have marital conflict as their main course. However, Narayan has superstitious beliefs (religion) and art (dancing) as his side dishes while Tagore has social status and politics. So this Narayan's book is much lighter and even funnier than that of the Nobel laureate's.
Overall, nice book. Not sure if it will stick with me though. There are just too many other memorable Indian books that have refused to leave my mind and probably decided to stay there forever.
It's beauty is not really in the narration or innovative storytelling. The novel's beauty is its ability to show you the traditional Indian way of storytelling that is not really different from the not-too-old stories here in the Philippines. The story is about a tourist guide Raju who gets convicted for a crime of forgery. On his way back home after two years in prison, he is mistaken for a holy man. Then he becomes like a God-like symbol and ends up fasting for the rain to come to Malgudi. This reminded me of a scene in the Ishmael Bernal's masterpiece 1984 movie, Himala where provincial people are asking Elsa, the fake faith healer, to rain. The Oscar-nominated 2001 film Lagaan also has that scene and so the barrio folks go out from their huts and palaces and wait for the rain to come
and when the rain finally comes, they all dance merrily.
In the middle of the story is a flashback to Raju's life prior to being incarcerated. He is a tourist guide (that reminded me of Slumdog Millionaire) but he cheats his customers. Then comes his love affair with a dancer Rosie who is married to Marco who ridicules her dancing. Rosie falls in love with Raju because he supports her passion and so they live together and she becomes a star. Raju lives on her money and he gets involved in a crime so he gets imprisoned.
I used to have a boss, a regional manager of supply chain, who has a wife that studied traditional Indian dancing in the university. So, I know how important is dancing in that country. It is one of the highest expression of artistry so while reading the book, I could emphatise with Rosie whose passion is dancing yet her husband does not appreciate him. Her walking away from him to live in with Raju seems like a justified move because of this. So, she dances and dances until she becomes rich. However, she still keeps the picture of her husband Marco in her wallet. This again is quite the same with her in the Philippines. Since our country is predominantly Catholic, there is no divorce and we are told to believe that what God put together let no man put asunder. So, in Rosie's eyes, Marco and not Raju, is still her husband.
The use of shifting timeline as the scenes are presented back and forth makes up for the simple story. It is a light classic book, but classic nevertheless. It is similar to Rabindarath Tagore's The Home and the World because they both have marital conflict as their main course. However, Narayan has superstitious beliefs (religion) and art (dancing) as his side dishes while Tagore has social status and politics. So this Narayan's book is much lighter and even funnier than that of the Nobel laureate's.
Overall, nice book. Not sure if it will stick with me though. There are just too many other memorable Indian books that have refused to leave my mind and probably decided to stay there forever.
September 15, 2025
A book published over half a decade ago that feels like it could have been set in India today, a true testament to its timelessness as a classic.
The Guide is the story of Raju, a carefree, jovial man who takes up fancies to "guide" people as they come. We are introduced to his character as he leaves jail, for some unknown crime, and is mistaken for a saint when he takes refuge in a temple overnight. The story is told in dual timelines of his past as a young tour guide, where he meets a young woman, Rosie, and his pretense of a holy man in the present.
“Tell me about it,” Raju said, the old, old habit of affording guidance to others asserting itself. Tourists who recommended him to one another would say at one time, “If you are lucky enough to be guided by Raju, you will know everything. He will not only show you all the worthwhile places, but also help you in every way.” It was in his nature to get involved in other people’s interests and activities. “Otherwise,” Raju often reflected, “I should have grown up like a thousand other normal persons, without worries in life.”
I had to marvel at the way R.K. Narayan wielded the characterization of Raju, a truly realistic, flawed, cunning character whose virtues and vices grapple with each other in his decisions, and Rosie, the archetype woman vilified by traditional society, who had incredible competence and independence, but was trapped and neglected in her marriage. Such nuanced and layered characters are the main feat of this book. In fact, the innate morality of each of the characters takes center stage at different points of the novel, and often, they dive into murkier waters, which makes it difficult to root for anyone.
He now saw the enormity of his own creation. He had created a giant with his puny self, a throne of authority with that slab of stone.
The concept of performance and self-discovery is a core element of this book, and how far one can take it. Is spirituality achieved, or bestowed? At first, Raju keeps up the pretense that he is a saint in order to get a steady supply of food, but harboring the unwavering faith of people leads him to several predicaments. R.K. Narayan pokes fun at the hero-worship of certain men elevated to a station where their disciples will never critique them, even as he weaves irony into the plot and ending.
He was of the stuff disciples are made of; an unfinished story or an incomplete moral never bothered him; it was all in the scheme of life.
Lastly, the simple, yet sophisticated prose made this one of the easier classics I've picked up, but no less profound. R.K. Narayan also manages to keep the narrative witty and full of ironic, biting humor. The social commentary and exploration of faith, prosperity, intellectual versus artistic ambitions, and the reality of realised dreams alone make this worthy of every award it won and more.
The Guide is the story of Raju, a carefree, jovial man who takes up fancies to "guide" people as they come. We are introduced to his character as he leaves jail, for some unknown crime, and is mistaken for a saint when he takes refuge in a temple overnight. The story is told in dual timelines of his past as a young tour guide, where he meets a young woman, Rosie, and his pretense of a holy man in the present.
“Tell me about it,” Raju said, the old, old habit of affording guidance to others asserting itself. Tourists who recommended him to one another would say at one time, “If you are lucky enough to be guided by Raju, you will know everything. He will not only show you all the worthwhile places, but also help you in every way.” It was in his nature to get involved in other people’s interests and activities. “Otherwise,” Raju often reflected, “I should have grown up like a thousand other normal persons, without worries in life.”
I had to marvel at the way R.K. Narayan wielded the characterization of Raju, a truly realistic, flawed, cunning character whose virtues and vices grapple with each other in his decisions, and Rosie, the archetype woman vilified by traditional society, who had incredible competence and independence, but was trapped and neglected in her marriage. Such nuanced and layered characters are the main feat of this book. In fact, the innate morality of each of the characters takes center stage at different points of the novel, and often, they dive into murkier waters, which makes it difficult to root for anyone.
He now saw the enormity of his own creation. He had created a giant with his puny self, a throne of authority with that slab of stone.
The concept of performance and self-discovery is a core element of this book, and how far one can take it. Is spirituality achieved, or bestowed? At first, Raju keeps up the pretense that he is a saint in order to get a steady supply of food, but harboring the unwavering faith of people leads him to several predicaments. R.K. Narayan pokes fun at the hero-worship of certain men elevated to a station where their disciples will never critique them, even as he weaves irony into the plot and ending.
He was of the stuff disciples are made of; an unfinished story or an incomplete moral never bothered him; it was all in the scheme of life.
Lastly, the simple, yet sophisticated prose made this one of the easier classics I've picked up, but no less profound. R.K. Narayan also manages to keep the narrative witty and full of ironic, biting humor. The social commentary and exploration of faith, prosperity, intellectual versus artistic ambitions, and the reality of realised dreams alone make this worthy of every award it won and more.
March 8, 2009
My friend Jim Earl recently wrote an excellent article entitled "How to Read the Indian Novel." This article was the culmination of reading sixty Indian novels over a fairly short period of time. His favorite Indian novelist of the many he read is R.K. Narayan. So I picked up Narayan's "The Guide" and read it with some words from Jim ringing in my ears: "Narayan always seems simple and easy to read, but he leaves one with much to ponder." Yes indeed. Raju, the central character in this novel, is a guide in several respects: a tourist guide, a guide to his lover's new career as a dancer, a guide to the inmates in the prison where he serves, and finally, and most significantly, a spiritual guide. However, he is always either exploiting others or acting disingenuously. He falls madly in love with a married woman named Rosie, detaches her from her scholar-husband, and builds her new career as a dancer into a remarkable success. Still, this is an exploitative relationship as his sexual obsession turns into an obsession to use her talent, as well as her access to a box of jewels, to acquire as much wealth as possible. His fall ensues, and after two years in prison, where he becomes the warden's chief assistant, he takes up residence in a temple along the Sarayu River. Soon villagers come, somewhat mysteriously, to regard him as a saint, and Raju inadvertently is caught up in a new act, one which is sometimes quite funny and yet may (or may not) ultimately lead him to become precisely the holy man the worshippers think he is. Narayan writes all this with great skill. The novel is essentially a flashback, as Narayan weaves together the story of Raju the holy man with Raju the scoundrel and obsessed lover. "The Guide," I think, will stay with me, and, if it does, it will one day perhaps be upgraded to five stars!
November 27, 2014
Just quoting from the song written by Shailendra for the movie, sung by none other the great S.D Burman.
kehte hain gyaani,
duniyaa hai faani
paani pe likhi likhaayi
hai sabki dekhi,
hai sabki jaani
haath kisike na aayi
kuchh tera naa mera,
musafir jaayega kahaan
dam lele ghadi bhar,
ye chhaiyyaan,
payega kahaan
wahaan kaun hai tera
O traveller.. where will you go..
Learned people say,
this world is a mirage
everything is written on water
it is seen by all, it is experienced by all
but no one has understood it
nothing is yours, nothing is mine
so where will you go, o traveller
better take a breather here,
here, if only for a moment
you may not get this cool shade again
There is to call your own, o traveller
there is no one yours...
The Video
kehte hain gyaani,
duniyaa hai faani
paani pe likhi likhaayi
hai sabki dekhi,
hai sabki jaani
haath kisike na aayi
kuchh tera naa mera,
musafir jaayega kahaan
dam lele ghadi bhar,
ye chhaiyyaan,
payega kahaan
wahaan kaun hai tera
O traveller.. where will you go..
Learned people say,
this world is a mirage
everything is written on water
it is seen by all, it is experienced by all
but no one has understood it
nothing is yours, nothing is mine
so where will you go, o traveller
better take a breather here,
here, if only for a moment
you may not get this cool shade again
There is to call your own, o traveller
there is no one yours...
The Video
November 11, 2016
From life on the earth to the Karmic theories of purgatory; from real life details to the world of Gods; from sin to atonement... this book, The Guide, by R K Narayan will take you to new dimensions of readership. Perhaps one of the greatest novels Indian authors writing in English have produced, this book is a classic in the sense it's always there. Today also, you can find the novel's relevance in the society.
Plot, theme, plot movement, language... everything about the novel is perfect and you get this masterpiece by Narayan. Still the most loved novel in India, if I may say so, it will always be there as a reminder that once Indian authors could also touch the heights of writing! A must read!
Plot, theme, plot movement, language... everything about the novel is perfect and you get this masterpiece by Narayan. Still the most loved novel in India, if I may say so, it will always be there as a reminder that once Indian authors could also touch the heights of writing! A must read!
May 13, 2011
it has truly been described as a 'pensive comedy' - this is the story of Raju, an ordinary middle class man in South India, who vicariously rose to the height of fame, had a plunging fall, then again rose up like the phoenix to become a swamiji, a demi-god. More than Raju, I sympathize with Rosy, the dreamy eyed girl, whose only passion was dance, for which she had to suffer. Her husband left her, she took up with Raju, but then Raju soon became somewhat like a mercenary feeding upon her income. To the end, she remains true to those who befriend her. I would have loved to hear the story from Rosy's view point too. All in all, an enjoyable book with the usual R K Narayan flare for creating unusual situations involving ordinary people.
May 30, 2021
R.K. Narayan books have been widely recognised among Indian literature students. He has written fifteen books along with several short stories centering around the society and its lifestyle in general. I have personally heard a lot of praise about his books and diverse spheres of life, that it covers in detail. Finally after going through a lot of recommendations, i have decided to pick this book on my father's advice. He asked me to go through this book throughly and understand the philosophy delineated by the author in the very book. The Guide is a story about a young aspiring town-boy Raju, who used to live near the railway station with his mother and father. Having been at home most of the time, he used to help his father at the shop aside from studying at a nearby school. Due to financial problems and workload at the shop, he however, have to drop his schooling in between. Later he grew up into a smart and talented boy, who managed to both work at the shop amd become a tourist guide for all the pilgrims who came, from far off states, to visit Malgudi village at Ramanathapuram, Tamil Nadu.
He was quite famous among the tourist. People used to address him at Railway Raju. One day, as part of his work, he received a married couple at the railway station. A charmingly beautiful woman with a weird looking man in coat and pants. They were rigorously quarrelling upon god-knows-what-reasons. When the strange-looking man named Marco approached Raju for the address of an old cave, he found it quite eerie. But being part of his job, he safely locate them at a good hotel and also told him about the oldest caves in the city and its particular location. While going through the process, he somehow came close to Marco's poor wife Rosie, who though was the wife of the richest man in Madras/Chennai, nevertheless she found herself aloof and insolated. She told Raju about the reason she had to get married wit the man and the passion she had for dancing. Raju, being a soft-hearted person could resist himself to help Rosie, come out of her shell. He fell in love with her beauty and charm, and made up his mind to spend his entire life with her.
This decision of his, proved out to be life-changing for him. That's when his journey begin from being a shopkeeper, to a railway raju- the guide, to being a village saint. He had to go through number of incidents before landing up to being the godly figure for the entire nation. R.K. Narayan has very appropriately choose the title of this book, as it present the series of phases, that Raju's life has gone through. Apart from the main character, the character of Rosie also seemed compelling to me, as it explains the challenges a low-caste woman has to go through in her life. She never got to live the life of peace and calmness, that she had always aspired for. She was inhumanly mistreated first by his husband then by his lover. It's indeed a very good story that expresses the toughness one has to bear for one's living.
My Rating - 4/5
He was quite famous among the tourist. People used to address him at Railway Raju. One day, as part of his work, he received a married couple at the railway station. A charmingly beautiful woman with a weird looking man in coat and pants. They were rigorously quarrelling upon god-knows-what-reasons. When the strange-looking man named Marco approached Raju for the address of an old cave, he found it quite eerie. But being part of his job, he safely locate them at a good hotel and also told him about the oldest caves in the city and its particular location. While going through the process, he somehow came close to Marco's poor wife Rosie, who though was the wife of the richest man in Madras/Chennai, nevertheless she found herself aloof and insolated. She told Raju about the reason she had to get married wit the man and the passion she had for dancing. Raju, being a soft-hearted person could resist himself to help Rosie, come out of her shell. He fell in love with her beauty and charm, and made up his mind to spend his entire life with her.
This decision of his, proved out to be life-changing for him. That's when his journey begin from being a shopkeeper, to a railway raju- the guide, to being a village saint. He had to go through number of incidents before landing up to being the godly figure for the entire nation. R.K. Narayan has very appropriately choose the title of this book, as it present the series of phases, that Raju's life has gone through. Apart from the main character, the character of Rosie also seemed compelling to me, as it explains the challenges a low-caste woman has to go through in her life. She never got to live the life of peace and calmness, that she had always aspired for. She was inhumanly mistreated first by his husband then by his lover. It's indeed a very good story that expresses the toughness one has to bear for one's living.
My Rating - 4/5
December 3, 2021
It's such a wonder I remember every detail about this book. I read it more than two years ago. I need to write a review for this one asap.
November 8, 2015
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06l36xyDescription: Raju's first stop after his release from prison is the barber's shop. Then he decides to take refuge in an abandoned temple. Raju used to be India's most corrupt tourist guide - but now a peasant mistakes him for a holy man. Gradually, he begins to play the part.
It is written on the brow of someRaju seems to be somewhat Zelig in nature, becoming anything at a pitch of a hat.
That they shall never be left in peace
His Holy Man routine becomes ever believable.
July 11, 2024
For starters, ‘The Guide’ is as much an Indian novel as Raja Rao's ‘The Serpent and the Rope’, from the thematic and descriptive belvederes and from the class of Indians. But Rosie and Marco are modernized Indians. Rosie. despite her desertion like Sita, and her modern-type relationship with Raju, still regards Marco as her husband.
Besides the spiritual side of India, India's poverty and squalor, the ignorance of its people and their illiteracy are also reflected time and again in this novel. The picture of a village teacher portrayed in the novel is typically Indian. Raju's father never wrapped in paper the things he sold; Raju's mother kept in a box a number of costly sarees, but never put them on except on exceptional occasions; and despite her education and co-operation from Raju-like helper and lover; Rosie was obsessed with thoughts of her husband because she was wedded to Marco --- all these show the Indianness of the novel.
Even the villagers sit at the feet of Raju to hear stories. Being a pure artist, Narayan does not idealize the country nor does he condemn it. Temple, astrology, fate, the Gita are all referred to in the novel.
Narayan’s India is not the tourists' India. He has not mollycoddled to foreign sensibility and does not intend to present a chocolate-box India for those foreigners who take sentimental interest in this country of ancient culture. He does not indulge in self-mystification nor does justify credulousness, lethargy and inefficiency in the name of Indianness.
Though Narayan has written tragedies yet the tone of this novel is principally comic. Raju's story of his love for Rosie the dancer, and his rise and fall as guide, lover and impresario are half comedy. This novelist does not end this novel on a pessimistic or disappointing note. ‘The Guide’ ends neither at the time of Raju's landing in jail for moral degradation, nor when Raju's love affair with Rosie comes to an end at the discovery of the book published by Rosie's husband. The novelist turns the imposter into a Sadhu, the mask becomes a reality.
Narayan is neither a spiritualist nor a social reformer nor a pure writer of comedies. He is an eyewitness of life and records life as it appears to him. It is neither chastely tragic nor purely comic. It is the mixture of the two. So is this novel. Raju has his best days, he becomes a successful tourist guide, he enjoys the best of another's wife, he becomes a very successful impresario, and above all, is worshipped like a true Sadhu and saint and dies like a martyr.
But at the same time, he has his moments of suffering and guilt and sin. He involves with a woman who belongs to somebody else. He becomes too much possessive, he picks up a quarrel with his mother and maternal uncle, he forges Rosie's signature, and becomes a jail bird.
All these things are ingredients of a true comic vision – a comic vision marked by realism. Narayan’s vision in this novel is neither of a buffoon nor of a very solemn philosopher, but of a writer who has studied and observed life carefully and credibly.
One of the best Indian novels of all-time.
Besides the spiritual side of India, India's poverty and squalor, the ignorance of its people and their illiteracy are also reflected time and again in this novel. The picture of a village teacher portrayed in the novel is typically Indian. Raju's father never wrapped in paper the things he sold; Raju's mother kept in a box a number of costly sarees, but never put them on except on exceptional occasions; and despite her education and co-operation from Raju-like helper and lover; Rosie was obsessed with thoughts of her husband because she was wedded to Marco --- all these show the Indianness of the novel.
Even the villagers sit at the feet of Raju to hear stories. Being a pure artist, Narayan does not idealize the country nor does he condemn it. Temple, astrology, fate, the Gita are all referred to in the novel.
Narayan’s India is not the tourists' India. He has not mollycoddled to foreign sensibility and does not intend to present a chocolate-box India for those foreigners who take sentimental interest in this country of ancient culture. He does not indulge in self-mystification nor does justify credulousness, lethargy and inefficiency in the name of Indianness.
Though Narayan has written tragedies yet the tone of this novel is principally comic. Raju's story of his love for Rosie the dancer, and his rise and fall as guide, lover and impresario are half comedy. This novelist does not end this novel on a pessimistic or disappointing note. ‘The Guide’ ends neither at the time of Raju's landing in jail for moral degradation, nor when Raju's love affair with Rosie comes to an end at the discovery of the book published by Rosie's husband. The novelist turns the imposter into a Sadhu, the mask becomes a reality.
Narayan is neither a spiritualist nor a social reformer nor a pure writer of comedies. He is an eyewitness of life and records life as it appears to him. It is neither chastely tragic nor purely comic. It is the mixture of the two. So is this novel. Raju has his best days, he becomes a successful tourist guide, he enjoys the best of another's wife, he becomes a very successful impresario, and above all, is worshipped like a true Sadhu and saint and dies like a martyr.
But at the same time, he has his moments of suffering and guilt and sin. He involves with a woman who belongs to somebody else. He becomes too much possessive, he picks up a quarrel with his mother and maternal uncle, he forges Rosie's signature, and becomes a jail bird.
All these things are ingredients of a true comic vision – a comic vision marked by realism. Narayan’s vision in this novel is neither of a buffoon nor of a very solemn philosopher, but of a writer who has studied and observed life carefully and credibly.
One of the best Indian novels of all-time.
October 31, 2016
"The Guide" by R.K. Narayan is an excellent example that how beautiful and intriguing simplicity can be . Mr. Narayan wrote the novel with sheer simplicity of language and expression .
Even with simplicity - which is the power of the novel - the story is deep and touches the inner recesses of human nature . The story is about how a being makes himself and destroys himself , but in midst of this creation and destruction the changes which takes place in a person are more important . I think through Raju , Mr. Narayan has painted the very basic of human psyche i.e. how far can a human go to what he wants and what changes occurred in him while getting what he wants . And somewhere these changes later define one's fate .
The female protagonist character Rosie is in my opinion a representation of the human "want" for which human doesn't care that whatever he is doing is whether right or wrong . On the other hand the character of Rosie is a satire on the so called modernity of the society . Like when you hear the name Rosie the first image comes in mind is that she is a modern girl aware of creating her identity . But in the novel Rosie is a common woman desperate to create her identity but bound by notions and hypocrisy of the society . And in Raju she finds that chance to create her identity . In short it can be said that Raju and Rosie are each other's want and the story is about what they do for what they want .
Other than simplicity and clarity of expression the characters were perfectly built and aptly used .
I don't think that any other author can pen down the human psyche with so much simplicity .
Perfect 5 stars .
Indeed A Classic .
A Must Read .
Even with simplicity - which is the power of the novel - the story is deep and touches the inner recesses of human nature . The story is about how a being makes himself and destroys himself , but in midst of this creation and destruction the changes which takes place in a person are more important . I think through Raju , Mr. Narayan has painted the very basic of human psyche i.e. how far can a human go to what he wants and what changes occurred in him while getting what he wants . And somewhere these changes later define one's fate .
The female protagonist character Rosie is in my opinion a representation of the human "want" for which human doesn't care that whatever he is doing is whether right or wrong . On the other hand the character of Rosie is a satire on the so called modernity of the society . Like when you hear the name Rosie the first image comes in mind is that she is a modern girl aware of creating her identity . But in the novel Rosie is a common woman desperate to create her identity but bound by notions and hypocrisy of the society . And in Raju she finds that chance to create her identity . In short it can be said that Raju and Rosie are each other's want and the story is about what they do for what they want .
Other than simplicity and clarity of expression the characters were perfectly built and aptly used .
I don't think that any other author can pen down the human psyche with so much simplicity .
Perfect 5 stars .
Indeed A Classic .
A Must Read .
August 5, 2019
This is the first blockbuster from R.K.Narayan's pen. The story line is pretty complex and brings forth the complex husband-wife relationship. A sensitive portrayal of woman's ambition and feelings, the pace is fast unlike his other previous books. The story was later adapted into a successful Bollywood film starring Waheeda Rehman and Dev Anand. Must and a great read
March 30, 2018
'Guide' is one of the most ambitious books of Narayan. One reason for this could be that this book was adapted into a successful film. So very often one cannot separate the two. I saw the film first and read the book later.
Let us talk about the book first. It is a story of Raju– a charming Guide with loose morals– who wants to attain success at any cost. It is by his ingenious and charming sense of humor, his clever persuasion, his rhetoric in short, that he achieves whatever he wants. He meets Rosie, a married woman, who is not at all happy in her marriage. Raju encourages her to be a dancer, and slowly with his help, she becomes a famous dancer. He arranges shows for her and manages her career. In the meantime, Rosie has big problems with her husband who forbids her from dancing. He considers that below his status. Rosie, supported by Raju, stands up to her husband and ignores him. ( In the film, when Rosie leaves her (impotent) husband, for the first time, she feels truly emancipated. Never in Hindi film before a woman is shown in this way; after leaving her husband, she celebrates the newly found (sexual) freedom, and openly claims her desire and passions. The song is beautifully picturized and even if one does not understand the highly explicit lyrics, one sees in her movements, in her deeply felt bliss that she embraced without guilt. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KS5K... ).
Of course, the book is far more subdued. Narayan would not have gone that far in depicting passion and desire. He definitely does not want his characters so free that they give up tradition and caste and therefore unleash chaos in his society (I wrote more on this here (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...). He could not have imagined what the film did to his book. The landscape of the film has nothing to do with Narayan's 'Malgudi, he could not have imagined giving Rosie the sort of freedom she attains in the film. Such brazen acts would play havoc in his cool and conservative Malgudi. In one of his interviews, he said, “... by abolishing Malgudi, they had discarded my own values in the milieu and human characteristics. my characters were simple enough to lend themselves for observation; they had definite outlines-not blurred by urban speed, size, and tempo ...”
As the story further unfolds, Raju embezzles funds and gets a term imprisonment. After he is released, he does not want to come back to Malgudi. He stays at the periphery of Malgudi. In the meantime, there is draught in the town. Simple villagers take Raju for a 'sadhu' ( a fakir). First he resents it because there is nothing about him that is fakir-like, he is a petty criminal, but when he sees the trust and belief people show in him, he goes on fasting till it rains in Malgudi (the film shows this part with such drama and intensity, the draught shown in the family could never have occurred in Malgudi). Towards, the end many people visit him, they want to see the 'Sadhu' doing fasting and praying for them.
The book ends on an ambiguous note; Narayan does not tell us if Raju lives or dies, or if at last it rains and the draught comes to an end. The last scene is described thus;
“ ... the morning sun was out by now; a great shaft of light illuminated the surroundings. it was difficult to hold Raju on his feet, as he had a tendency to flop down. They held him as if he were a baby. Raju opened his eyes, looked about, and said, ‘Velan, it’s raining in the hills. I can feel it coming up under my feet, up my legs-‘ he sagged down ...”
Towards the end, the book is not anymore about Raju and Rosie, it enters a much wider domain. One can write an entire book studying how myriad themes emerge and intersect as Raju, the charlatan by default embarks on another journey. As a reader, one sees how this new situation in his life compels us to think of god, death, ethics, renunciation, science, and superstition.
May 31, 2025
Ik onthoud dat de gevangenis de chillste plek op aarde is, en dat heilig zijn nog zo slecht niet klinkt. Héél intrigerend en goed verhaal!!
October 21, 2007
This is the first of Narayan's novels that I've read, and I was bothered by it in the same way I'm always bothered by stories that sacrifice psychological verisimilitude for the sake of plot. Raju, the main character, begins the book as an unethical, opportunistic, but essentially likable fellow; as the story goes on he transforms first into a money-grubbing, misogynistic, self-serving asshole, and then into some semblance of a holy man. I don't have a problem with characters undergoing changes, but none of these changes felt organic to Raju's development, and they foiled my attempts to connect with the book on an emotional level. I will say, however, that the final image of Raju collapsing while he feels the river rising around his legs is poignant, enduring, and powerfully drawn.
August 5, 2018
My first book of R.K.Narayan.Though the book ended ambiguously, I loved the transformation of Raju throughout.
I wanted to read it before watching the movie. I have read that R.K.Narayan disliked the movie adaptation, which made me more curious to read this book.
I wanted to read it before watching the movie. I have read that R.K.Narayan disliked the movie adaptation, which made me more curious to read this book.
November 30, 2020
So much is talked about "The Guide" not least the highly touted (at least here in India, as far as I am aware) film adaptation that the actual novel by one of India's most gifted, deceptively congenial and perceptive storytellers does get overshadowed in the glare of its cinematic counterpart. I will try here to restore the novel to its deserved status as one of the definitive works of Indian literature in the post-colonial period - a novel that stands above works by his other peers because of how Narayan's simplicity serves as a perfect foil for intricate moral complexity with such seemingly effortless skill and how he makes us believe in his characters, even the most unscrupulous of them, something that even reputed expatriates like Rushdie and his numerous imitators cannot do with all their fancy trickery.
At heart, then, "The Guide" is an exceptionally simple, even unspectacular story. The titular "guide" is Raju, a native of Malgudi, the beloved humdrum South Indian town that has served as the milieu of Narayan's other, equally indelible stories and novels. Born and brought up on the fringes of a burgeoning railway line, thus linking his destiny forever to the clanging and chugging of trains, Raju grows up from being a shopkeeper on the platform to a know-it-all, smart-mouthed, quick-witted resident of the town who escorts every new traveller around to all the local and popular attractions and thus earns his main living. One day, before he can realise what is happening, he falls in love.
Or rather, a love bordering on an unhealthy carnal obsession that would only lead him to his own damnation and doom, a denouement that Narayan hints only subliminally at throughout the two-fold narrative unfolding at its own leisurely, mesmerising pace. We are told, for instance, that Raju has been disgraced by this very obsession and now, out of prison and without anywhere else to go, he finds unlikely refuge in another humdrum South Indian town on the other bank of the river, only to find himself confronted suddenly with a strange chance at wiping the slate clean, a suicidal shot at that thing that has eluded him thus - redemption. But we are then compelled, deceptively, by the writer to listen to Raju bare his heart out, to follow him back in his reminiscences and to think and reflect on what he did and what led him only deeper into an abyss of sin and deceit, never to judge him for his actions or deeds but only to believe in what he confesses to us through his own first-person narrative.
The detailing, as always with Narayan, is a marvel and I leave it to the uninitiated to dig all those finely, immaculately tailored touches on their own, that is if they are not already compelled by the elegant, almost flowing but always agile and amusing prose. What has always been observed truly of Narayan - that his mastery of characterisation and nuance always remind the reader that despite the fine but never pretentious usage of English language, the story and its people are always unmistakably Indian and thus even more believable - is to be found here in spades and there is always something plausible about how Raju, despite his lack of scruples, yearns to rise above his own bare beginnings and is then drunk on the fame and wealth that his sleight of hand brings to him.
There is something undeniably real and believable about how Rosie, the neglected wife and eager closet artist, yearns for her own moment in the sun, to hone her own artistry and devotion to her art to finesse and yet retain her independence of thought and action. And similarly, the other characters populating this intimate little ensemble of many lives, aspirations, dreams and passions, are all sketched with so much conviction that even people do good and bad things in "The Guide", the reader is unable to separate the "good" from the "bad" in any easy, throwaway style.
Even with its simplicity and linearity, "The Guide" can be difficult to sum up in just a single statement or conclusion. It feels almost miraculous just how unpredictable the narrative is and this is once again due to how beautifully and organically does Narayan refrain from interfering in the natural flow of events, actions, thoughts and motives. We trust our characters to take along the story, to tie up the threads in the end and yet Narayan never fails to orchestrate them elegantly, unhurriedly on their predestined paths, so much that even as this is a moral parable at heart, there is so much excitement, even romance crammed between the pages, as if something as wondrous as the highest form of art is being revealed to an audience or the love of a woman, for her feminine grace and charm, is leading a taciturn man to lose his way for once and for all.
But then, "The Guide", as so much of Narayan, is all about the wonder of the most minor miracles. As evidenced in its climax, a scene both heartbreaking and hopeful, both poignant and realistic. It is a fitting end to a novel which portrays life in all its glory and despair, with both its disappointments and its equally astonishing capacity to surprise, to amuse and to enlighten. It is without a shred of doubt one of the most beautiful novels that one will ever read, as beautiful, mesmerising, melancholic and miraculous as life can be.
PS (and Spoiler Alert): Mr. Michael Gorra's introduction to the novel in this edition is best to be avoided at all costs if one is to savour the pleasures of the novel firsthand and in all their bejewelled beauty. Not only does it reveal too much of the plot and the characters' intentions and leave precious little to the imagination (never a very good thing in a foreword or an introduction) but it also commits the cardinal sin (in my opinion, that is) of comparing the novel with "The End Of The Affair" and then declaring that Mr. Greene was insisting on faith in that novel's climax which Mr. Narayan does not do in the end of his novel. I don't find any merit in this comparison. Mr. Greene's novel ends on an equally ambiguous note and rather leaves the reader wondering as if a character has really become a saint or whether Maurice Bendrix, the narrator and atheistic protagonist, is now in the throes of his envy and hatred for the seemingly all-powerful entity who has taken away the only woman he ever loved. Mr. Narayan's book too ends with a note of ambiguity - but it is clear that Raju has achieved what he did not deserve for so long - redemption. Mr. Gorra is clearly very worried about Mr. Greene's religious views and perhaps that is why he mentions that rather unnecessary point when he could easily have equated "The Guide" with "A Burnt-Out Case" - after all, both Raju and Querry are closer in vein as two spiritual losers seeking some salvation in a new initiative and trying to move ahead even as the past catches on with them.
Apologies for that last bit of self-indulgence, though. But I thought this was a thing that nagged me when reading this edition.
At heart, then, "The Guide" is an exceptionally simple, even unspectacular story. The titular "guide" is Raju, a native of Malgudi, the beloved humdrum South Indian town that has served as the milieu of Narayan's other, equally indelible stories and novels. Born and brought up on the fringes of a burgeoning railway line, thus linking his destiny forever to the clanging and chugging of trains, Raju grows up from being a shopkeeper on the platform to a know-it-all, smart-mouthed, quick-witted resident of the town who escorts every new traveller around to all the local and popular attractions and thus earns his main living. One day, before he can realise what is happening, he falls in love.
Or rather, a love bordering on an unhealthy carnal obsession that would only lead him to his own damnation and doom, a denouement that Narayan hints only subliminally at throughout the two-fold narrative unfolding at its own leisurely, mesmerising pace. We are told, for instance, that Raju has been disgraced by this very obsession and now, out of prison and without anywhere else to go, he finds unlikely refuge in another humdrum South Indian town on the other bank of the river, only to find himself confronted suddenly with a strange chance at wiping the slate clean, a suicidal shot at that thing that has eluded him thus - redemption. But we are then compelled, deceptively, by the writer to listen to Raju bare his heart out, to follow him back in his reminiscences and to think and reflect on what he did and what led him only deeper into an abyss of sin and deceit, never to judge him for his actions or deeds but only to believe in what he confesses to us through his own first-person narrative.
The detailing, as always with Narayan, is a marvel and I leave it to the uninitiated to dig all those finely, immaculately tailored touches on their own, that is if they are not already compelled by the elegant, almost flowing but always agile and amusing prose. What has always been observed truly of Narayan - that his mastery of characterisation and nuance always remind the reader that despite the fine but never pretentious usage of English language, the story and its people are always unmistakably Indian and thus even more believable - is to be found here in spades and there is always something plausible about how Raju, despite his lack of scruples, yearns to rise above his own bare beginnings and is then drunk on the fame and wealth that his sleight of hand brings to him.
There is something undeniably real and believable about how Rosie, the neglected wife and eager closet artist, yearns for her own moment in the sun, to hone her own artistry and devotion to her art to finesse and yet retain her independence of thought and action. And similarly, the other characters populating this intimate little ensemble of many lives, aspirations, dreams and passions, are all sketched with so much conviction that even people do good and bad things in "The Guide", the reader is unable to separate the "good" from the "bad" in any easy, throwaway style.
Even with its simplicity and linearity, "The Guide" can be difficult to sum up in just a single statement or conclusion. It feels almost miraculous just how unpredictable the narrative is and this is once again due to how beautifully and organically does Narayan refrain from interfering in the natural flow of events, actions, thoughts and motives. We trust our characters to take along the story, to tie up the threads in the end and yet Narayan never fails to orchestrate them elegantly, unhurriedly on their predestined paths, so much that even as this is a moral parable at heart, there is so much excitement, even romance crammed between the pages, as if something as wondrous as the highest form of art is being revealed to an audience or the love of a woman, for her feminine grace and charm, is leading a taciturn man to lose his way for once and for all.
But then, "The Guide", as so much of Narayan, is all about the wonder of the most minor miracles. As evidenced in its climax, a scene both heartbreaking and hopeful, both poignant and realistic. It is a fitting end to a novel which portrays life in all its glory and despair, with both its disappointments and its equally astonishing capacity to surprise, to amuse and to enlighten. It is without a shred of doubt one of the most beautiful novels that one will ever read, as beautiful, mesmerising, melancholic and miraculous as life can be.
PS (and Spoiler Alert): Mr. Michael Gorra's introduction to the novel in this edition is best to be avoided at all costs if one is to savour the pleasures of the novel firsthand and in all their bejewelled beauty. Not only does it reveal too much of the plot and the characters' intentions and leave precious little to the imagination (never a very good thing in a foreword or an introduction) but it also commits the cardinal sin (in my opinion, that is) of comparing the novel with "The End Of The Affair" and then declaring that Mr. Greene was insisting on faith in that novel's climax which Mr. Narayan does not do in the end of his novel. I don't find any merit in this comparison. Mr. Greene's novel ends on an equally ambiguous note and rather leaves the reader wondering as if a character has really become a saint or whether Maurice Bendrix, the narrator and atheistic protagonist, is now in the throes of his envy and hatred for the seemingly all-powerful entity who has taken away the only woman he ever loved. Mr. Narayan's book too ends with a note of ambiguity - but it is clear that Raju has achieved what he did not deserve for so long - redemption. Mr. Gorra is clearly very worried about Mr. Greene's religious views and perhaps that is why he mentions that rather unnecessary point when he could easily have equated "The Guide" with "A Burnt-Out Case" - after all, both Raju and Querry are closer in vein as two spiritual losers seeking some salvation in a new initiative and trying to move ahead even as the past catches on with them.
Apologies for that last bit of self-indulgence, though. But I thought this was a thing that nagged me when reading this edition.
May 17, 2016
The Guide is set up as a frame story, beginning with our protagonist, Raju, turning up at an abandoned temple after being released from prison. Basically, he's squatting, but a local person named Velan comes to ask Raju to help him solve a problem with his willful daughter. Raju keeps feeding Velan statements of profound nonsense, but when Velan's daughter comes around, word spreads about Raju's holy nature. When a drought hits, Raju offers one of his statements, which is interpreted around the country side as his promise to fast for eleven days to ask the gods to send relief. In a desperate attempt to show that he's a fraud, Raju spends one night explaining his life to Velan.
That's when we get the backstory of Raju growing up as the son of a shopkeeper who is more interested in conversation than selling or family, Raju's love of trains, his own shopkeeping days, and finally his involvement with a dancer named Rosie, which brings about his rise and downfall, landing him in prison. Velan hears it all, but the story makes him believe in Raju even more. Raju is left then with the choice of simply leaving in the night or going through with the fast.
I admit that I found the frame story about Raju's stint as a faux-swami far more fascinating than the story of his life -- until he became involved with Rosie. His mother calls her the serpent-woman, but Narayan's description of Rosie's serpent dance is one of the most intense and visual descriptions I have ever read. I could see the dance lifting off the page and carrying on around me. There is a movie version of The Guide, but I don't think I want to see it just because no visual interpretation of this dance could match the beauty of the one in my head.
Another striking aspect of the book is its presentation of Hindu culture and belief in the growth of the soul. This is a complex process in Hinduism, but Narayan's skill makes it digestible for Western readers without much of a background in Hindu belief. For readers who know that religion, how Narayan builds Raju's character from its selfish depths to the point where he can become a vessel of Brahman (symbolized by the empty aluminum vessel where he hides food) is truly profound.
While some of the backstory got a bit tedious while I was reading it, once I got to the end, I realized that all of it was necessary for what Narayan was doing: showing the slow pace of self change in which tragedy and joy run parallel, and I was even more impressed. The Guide is simply an amazing achievement.
That's when we get the backstory of Raju growing up as the son of a shopkeeper who is more interested in conversation than selling or family, Raju's love of trains, his own shopkeeping days, and finally his involvement with a dancer named Rosie, which brings about his rise and downfall, landing him in prison. Velan hears it all, but the story makes him believe in Raju even more. Raju is left then with the choice of simply leaving in the night or going through with the fast.
I admit that I found the frame story about Raju's stint as a faux-swami far more fascinating than the story of his life -- until he became involved with Rosie. His mother calls her the serpent-woman, but Narayan's description of Rosie's serpent dance is one of the most intense and visual descriptions I have ever read. I could see the dance lifting off the page and carrying on around me. There is a movie version of The Guide, but I don't think I want to see it just because no visual interpretation of this dance could match the beauty of the one in my head.
Another striking aspect of the book is its presentation of Hindu culture and belief in the growth of the soul. This is a complex process in Hinduism, but Narayan's skill makes it digestible for Western readers without much of a background in Hindu belief. For readers who know that religion, how Narayan builds Raju's character from its selfish depths to the point where he can become a vessel of Brahman (symbolized by the empty aluminum vessel where he hides food) is truly profound.
While some of the backstory got a bit tedious while I was reading it, once I got to the end, I realized that all of it was necessary for what Narayan was doing: showing the slow pace of self change in which tragedy and joy run parallel, and I was even more impressed. The Guide is simply an amazing achievement.
November 6, 2020
Raju used to work at a railway station in Malgudi until he realizes that he can be more than that. He becomes a tourist guide and then falls in love with Rosie. Rosie happens to be married to someone else but eventually leaves her husband for Raju. Then one day Raju gets thrown in jail and he remains there for two years.
When Raju leaves the jail and stops to rest at a temple, he is mistaken for a Saadhu (Kinds like a god's messenger). His miracles become famous worldwide and then people all around him seek his advice and his blessings.
I laughed and laughed because it has actually happened so many times for real in India that it didn't seem like a fictional work. This was so so enjoyable.
4.5 stars
When Raju leaves the jail and stops to rest at a temple, he is mistaken for a Saadhu (Kinds like a god's messenger). His miracles become famous worldwide and then people all around him seek his advice and his blessings.
I laughed and laughed because it has actually happened so many times for real in India that it didn't seem like a fictional work. This was so so enjoyable.
4.5 stars
February 27, 2021
ರಾಜು ಎಂಬ ರೈಲ್ವೆ ಗೈಡ್, ಒಮ್ಮೆ ಒಂದು ಜೋಡಿಗೆ ಗೈಡ್ ಆಗುತ್ತಾನೆ.. ಗಂಡ ಪುರಾತತ್ತ್ವಜ್ಞ, ಹೆಂಡತಿ ನರ್ತಕಿ.. ರಾಜು ನರ್ತಕಿಯನ್ನು ಪ್ರೀತಿಸುತ್ತಾನೆ, ಗಂಡನ ನೃತ್ಯ ದ್ವೇಷದಿಂದ ರೋಸೆದ್ದು ನರ್ತಕಿಯೂ ರಾಜುವನ್ನು ಪ್ರೀತಿಸುತ್ತಾಳೆ.. ರಾಜು ಕಷ್ಟ ಪಟ್ಟು ನರ್ತಕಿಯನ್ನು ಪೋಷಿಸಿ ದೊಡ್ಡ ನೃತ್ಯಗಾರ್ತಿಯನ್ನಾಗಿ ಮಾಡುತ್ತಾನೆ... ಆದರೆ ಗೆಳೆಯ ಮತ್ತು ಸಂಬಂಧವೃಂದವನ್ನು ಕಳೆದುಕೊಳ್ಳುತ್ತಾನೆ.. ಖೋಟಾ ತಪ್ಪಿಗೆ ಜೈಲನ್ನು ಸೇರುತ್ತಾನೆ... ಜೈಲಿನಿಂದ ಮರಳಿ ಎಲ್ಲರನ್ನು ಕಳೆದುಕೊಂಡು ಗೊತ್ತಿಯೋ ಗೊತ್ತಿಲ್ಲದೆಯೋ ಸಂತನಾಗುತ್ತಾನೆ... ಇದು ಕಥೆ.... ಈ ರೀತಿಯ ವಸ್ತು ಹೊಂದಿರುವ ಕಾದಂಬರಿ ಬಹಳ ಬಂದಿರುವದರಿಂದ ಇದು ಹಳೆ ಕಥೆ ಎಂದು ಓದುವ ತೃಪ್ತಿ ಕೊಡುವುದಿಲ್ಲ
ಸಾಮಾನ್ಯ ಬರವಣಿಗೆ, ಮೊದಲ 60 ಪುಟವಂತು ಕುಂಟುತ್ತಲೇ ಸಾಗುತ್ತದೆ.... ನಂತರ ಕೊಂಚ ವೇಗ ಪಡೆದುಕೊಂಡರೂ ಇಷ್ಟವಾಗುವುದಿಲ್ಲ... ಅಂತ್ಯ ಸಪ್ಪೆ ಎನ್ನಿಸುತ್ತದೆ....
ಸಾಮಾನ್ಯ ಬರವಣಿಗೆ, ಮೊದಲ 60 ಪುಟವಂತು ಕುಂಟುತ್ತಲೇ ಸಾಗುತ್ತದೆ.... ನಂತರ ಕೊಂಚ ವೇಗ ಪಡೆದುಕೊಂಡರೂ ಇಷ್ಟವಾಗುವುದಿಲ್ಲ... ಅಂತ್ಯ ಸಪ್ಪೆ ಎನ್ನಿಸುತ್ತದೆ....
December 16, 2024
A decent book. A bit different from the movie, especially the individual characteristics but I liked it nonetheless. An easy to read and easy to forget kind of a book. I think the movie was a shade better. 3.5 stars.
July 2, 2020
A simple, easy to read, beautiful story
September 8, 2024
This is very enjoyable: easy to read and often very funny, it also has more depth than meets the eye. There is something also Monty Pythonish about the way the credulous villagers take the ex con Raju for a guru. But to what extent is he really a charlatan? Is there redemption, or is he always a fraud at heart? We all play roles, of course – either roles we choose or that others project onto us. If we adopt a role, to what extent do we really become it? I went from being scandalised at Raju, to laughing at him, to feeling moved. I particularly liked the way the ending is open to different interpretations. It made me reflect that I am also something of a charlatan. But – perhaps - not entirely, or at least not to everyone.
February 26, 2015
Hmm. What do i say about a book that i just finished last night and which has been growing on me since then...too early to say anything? yeah, maybe. but if i delay, i won't be able to pen down this mini-review of sorts.
R.K. Narayan writes in the simplest of English, a bildungsroman of sorts of a man named Raju. Actually, weaves would be a better word instead of writes, because the book is actually a tapestary of Raju's life and that of other major and minor characters, Velan, Rosie, Marco (whose temperament I found close to mine!), Gaffur, Rahu's mother and uncle interwoven with life in a small town and villages in southern India. Actually India is as much a character in this story as the main protagonists, because i don't think it would have taken place anywhere else in world. And yet, like truly great stories, it is universal in appeal. The rise and fall of a man, love and 'unlove', marriage and infidelity, a woman's place in a patriarchal society, a conman and his final redemption (maybe?)- there are so many lenses that this story could be viewed from, understood and appreciated. And then there is humor, sparkling and earthen and as Indian it can get, though it kind of toned down towards the latter part of the story.
I'd seen the classic Indian movie based on this novel a few times already and i've always loved the story, especially the lyrics by Shailendra and music direction of S.D. Burman but i found the novel more mature than it. The open way infidelity is introduced and the ambiguous ending, wouldn't have been possible in the India of 50s and 60s.
All in all, a must read for its timeless tale of a man's fight with himself, what he was, what he could have been, and what he became.
R.K. Narayan writes in the simplest of English, a bildungsroman of sorts of a man named Raju. Actually, weaves would be a better word instead of writes, because the book is actually a tapestary of Raju's life and that of other major and minor characters, Velan, Rosie, Marco (whose temperament I found close to mine!), Gaffur, Rahu's mother and uncle interwoven with life in a small town and villages in southern India. Actually India is as much a character in this story as the main protagonists, because i don't think it would have taken place anywhere else in world. And yet, like truly great stories, it is universal in appeal. The rise and fall of a man, love and 'unlove', marriage and infidelity, a woman's place in a patriarchal society, a conman and his final redemption (maybe?)- there are so many lenses that this story could be viewed from, understood and appreciated. And then there is humor, sparkling and earthen and as Indian it can get, though it kind of toned down towards the latter part of the story.
I'd seen the classic Indian movie based on this novel a few times already and i've always loved the story, especially the lyrics by Shailendra and music direction of S.D. Burman but i found the novel more mature than it. The open way infidelity is introduced and the ambiguous ending, wouldn't have been possible in the India of 50s and 60s.
All in all, a must read for its timeless tale of a man's fight with himself, what he was, what he could have been, and what he became.
June 9, 2024
The Guide , a novel by R. K. Narayan, with quite Indian themes, like a sage, meditation, raining, the railway, dancing, poor uneducated people and ancient ruins and paintings. The writer succeeds to mix all these into an interesting and eventful plot, with some flashbacks and changing of times until the climaxing end.
I totally enjoyed the beautiful book that I happened to buy by chance during my visit to gracious India without me knowing the writer or any information about the novel.
The language is also very fluent and elegant, easy to read, which made me find even more Indian words that have travelled to Iraq and we still use till this day. Like Anna and gunny sack, beside other words I know before like Sharbat, Panka, Baharat and others.
What is more interesting about India, is that English language has removed many barriers for an interested person like me, you can travel there, and read many texts and books and immerse into the rich Indian culture easily through the Indian English, as many Indian texts have been originally written with it.
And here at last is a small spoiler, from the book cover's (Time) review:
"THE GUIDE floats as gently as lily pad on the surface of Indian life and yet suggests the depths beneath. It manages to describe a saint who is neither born nor made but simply happens, almost like the weather."
I totally enjoyed the beautiful book that I happened to buy by chance during my visit to gracious India without me knowing the writer or any information about the novel.
The language is also very fluent and elegant, easy to read, which made me find even more Indian words that have travelled to Iraq and we still use till this day. Like Anna and gunny sack, beside other words I know before like Sharbat, Panka, Baharat and others.
What is more interesting about India, is that English language has removed many barriers for an interested person like me, you can travel there, and read many texts and books and immerse into the rich Indian culture easily through the Indian English, as many Indian texts have been originally written with it.
And here at last is a small spoiler, from the book cover's (Time) review:
"THE GUIDE floats as gently as lily pad on the surface of Indian life and yet suggests the depths beneath. It manages to describe a saint who is neither born nor made but simply happens, almost like the weather."
April 12, 2011
The writing is quite spare and there is little description of the backdrop of the novel, apart from what is necessary.
The Guide is about Raju, who tells his story in the present and past. He has been in prison and has taken refuge in an empty temple by a river. The locals begin to believe he is a holy man. Interspersed is the story of Raju's past, his childhood, his time as a tourist guide. Then his affair with a married woman and its consequences. Raju is a rogue who is often self serving, but has some likeable qualities. The end is left open; has Raju really become a holy man as he fasts for rain.
There is a strong comedic element in the book, but it is also a fable. Human issues are addressed rather than politics directly and critics have pointed out that there is little to relate the book to a time or political background. Hence, I think the fable element.
It has been suggested that Narayan is easy to read and hard to understand. He is certainly easy to read, but the end of the novel is enigmatic; The Guide is certainly thought provoking.
The Guide is about Raju, who tells his story in the present and past. He has been in prison and has taken refuge in an empty temple by a river. The locals begin to believe he is a holy man. Interspersed is the story of Raju's past, his childhood, his time as a tourist guide. Then his affair with a married woman and its consequences. Raju is a rogue who is often self serving, but has some likeable qualities. The end is left open; has Raju really become a holy man as he fasts for rain.
There is a strong comedic element in the book, but it is also a fable. Human issues are addressed rather than politics directly and critics have pointed out that there is little to relate the book to a time or political background. Hence, I think the fable element.
It has been suggested that Narayan is easy to read and hard to understand. He is certainly easy to read, but the end of the novel is enigmatic; The Guide is certainly thought provoking.
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