Indian books and authors - Page 2

Originally posted by: Justmoi

My background - I am of Indian origin, living abroad. I don't have exposure or know about Indian authors.

I am looking for Indian authors and Indian stories to read. Please recommend your favorites. Contemporary stories and ancient ones welcome. I know the main story of the Ramayana and Mahabharata. Not many of the side ones except famous ones like the Karna story.

Also, I would like to learn about Indian history. What are some good books. I know the Mughals vaguely, Ashoka. Now Baji Rao because of the movie. Nothing more. Thank you.

• A Forgotten Empire: Vijayanagar - Sewell
• Orientalism - Said
• Castes of Mind Dirks
• The Scandal of Empire Dirks
• The History and Culture of the Indian People
• A History of South India: From Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar
• India after Gandhi: The History of the World's Largest Democracy

Originally posted by: anonymous39

^You're asking in the wrong place. I don't think people who spend 24/7 bashing and worshipping stars on IF are going to be big on reading books. 😆

I'm in the same boat as you as I don't live in India and don't know a lot about it. However, if you're looking for historical books, you might try Khushwant Singh's books. He was extremely prolific. An author I came across recently is Rana Dasgupta who is also an NRI but returned to Delhi and a wrote a fabulous book called Capital about the city. It's worth reading if you're interested in the more current India. William Dalrymple is a white guy and writes from a more foreign perspective on India. It was easier for me to get into since he wasn't an insider just like myself. City of Jinns is a nice mixture of both the history of the mughals and the remnants left behind on contemporary India from those days.

If you're looking for fiction, there is an enormous amount available. It depends on your tastes. Just avoid Chetan Bhagat and all his copycats.

Originally posted by: pallavi25

If you want to learn a lot abt Indian history and mythology the fastest and easiest way is to read Amar Chitra Katha comic books

They have all the major Kings, Sultans, Mughal rulers, revolutionaries stories in short form

They also have some mythological comics

I think u can get them at Amazon

or u can try bookstores when u visit India

If any of those stories interest u and you want to learn more abt a particular King or leader then just read his or her Wikipedia

In fiction, best Hindi writer is Premchand, his short stories are the best

There are a lot of famous Bengali authors like Saratchandra Chattopadhyay (who wrote Devdas), Bibhuti Bhushan Bandopadhyay (who wrote the Apu Trilogy, 1st one was Pather Panchali) and of course Rabindranath Tagore's novels and short stories

You can get all of these in translation

If you like detective stories, then Sharadindu's Byomkesh series, Satyajit Rays Feluda series will interest u...also available in translation

Indo American writers, I really like Jhumpa Lahiri, I feel her words, seems like shes writing my feelings and those of our kids who grow up in US

Also Chitra Divakaruni wrote a few good novels, try them

will post more when I remember

Originally posted by: anonymous39

oh man, I hated God of Small Things. It does provide an interesting look at communism but ugh I can't handle the incest.

Originally posted by: Pooku123

Jhumpa Lahiri is my fave...especially Interpreter of Maladies and The Namesake