Jul 11, 2005 10:15 PM
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(Updated Jul 11, 2005 10:15 PM)
Hi Friends,
R. K. Narayan was a very popular and loved writer. Majority of his works (fiction) are based in the fictional territory of Malgudi.
Narayan was a voracious reader of British magazines of the late 1920s, most of which had stories narrated by someone in a club or by the fireside after dinner. One assumes that these gave Narayan the idea of using the literary device of a narrator in his own right. The result was ‘Talkative Man’ who tells, in first person, several of the early stories Narayan wrote, which usually deal with some minor catastrophe that occurred to him.
Talkative Man
Talkative Man or TM as he is called by his friends is the central character of the story. He narrates his story in first person. In this story he meets Dr. Rann who is working on a UN project of some sort and is writing a book simultaneously. Commandant Sarasa, is his wife, who is on hunt for her lost husband.
These are the three main characters of the story. There are some other Malgudi people also in the story. Printer Natraj (of The Man-eater of Malgudi) also comes in for a brief interval. The town photographer, some neighbors, the station master and his porter – all are usual Malgudi people who live normal, content and happy lives.
The Story
Story is very simple. TM is a resident of Kabir Street. People of Kabir Street are wealthy, thanks to their forefathers. They don’t have to do much for a living. Yet, TM has a dream to be a journalist. He collects stories and mails them to newspapers regularly but nothing appears. One day he meets a gentleman with a three piece blue suit in the library of Malgudi. The man is called Dr. Rann, who asks TM to help his find some accommodation since he is living in Station waiting room for past three days and which according to Rann is below human standards. The bugs are bugging him! After a lot of search Rann takes shelter in TM’s house. (This gesture of hospitality seems very similar to the one done by Natraj to Vasu in ‘The Man-eater of Malgudi’. The character of TM has a lot of similarities with that of Natraj, I noticed).
After Rann takes shelter in TM’s house things start to get complicated and finally TM settles down everything. These complications make the story very interesting and comical. And the whole episode of TM settling out everything is very enjoyable.
‘Talkative Man’ is basically an extended short story. It is too long to be called a short story and too short to be called a novel. But it is very enjoyable.
Final Comments
As I said above, it is too short to be called a novel. But the people who are regular readers of Narayan or who have read his short stories will immediately recognize the character of TM. This man also appears in some short stories of Narayan. If you liked those stories, you will love this novella. In case you have read this one, do search out for stories of Narayan in which TM appears and enjoy them.
Finally, it is a short very enjoyable story. But it is just a time pass sort of story. Nothing very deep, it is a tragicomic story that seems exotic seems familiar.
Happy Reading,
Khagesh Gautam
