The Guide (Modern Classics)

Set in Malgudi, a corrupt tourist guide, together with his lover, the dancer Rosie, leads a prosperous life before he is thrown into prison. After release he rests on the steps of an abandoned temple when a peasant passing by mistakes him for a holy man. Slowly, almost reluctantly, he begins to play the part, acting as a spiritual guide to the village community. Raju’s holiness is put to the test when a drought strikes the village, and he is asked to fast for twelve days to summon the rains.

‘The best of R.K. Narayan’s enchanting novels’-New Yorker

‘A brilliant accomplishment . . . Narayan is the compassionate man who can write of human life as comedy’-New York Times Book Review

‘Narayan is such a natural writer, so true to his experience and emotions’-V.S. Naipaul

About the Author

R.K. Narayan is one of the most prominent Indian novelists of the twentieth century. Born in 1906, Narayan was the recipient of the National Prize of the Indian Literary Academy, India’s highest literary honor. His numerous works Mr. Sampath – The Printer of Malgudi, Swami and Friends, Waiting for Mahatma and Gods, Demons and Others, all published by the University of Chicago Press.