Creation and Criticism

Rajan Lal’s edited book, titled, Indian English Fiction: Recent Critical Dimensions contains 27 research articles on the popular Indian authors, namely, Chitra Divakaruni, Vikas Sharma, Arundhati Roy, Amish Tripathi, Kavita Kane, Chetan Bhagat, Rohinton Mistry, Shashi Deshpande, Easterine Kire, Aravind Adiga, Mulkraj Anand, Jhumpa Lahiri, R. K. Narayan, Kiran Desai, Shashi Tharoor and Mahasweta Devi. Its “Foreword” is written by Prof. Shiv Govind Puri while the book is dedicated to Prof. Vikas Sharma whom the editor considers an icon for budding poets and novelists. One third part of the book is devoted to the novels of Vikas Sharma and Amish Tripathi.

Alka Sharma traces an endless struggle of a woman in Suvidha of Vikas Sharma’s Ashes and Fire while Reenu highlights dowry, widowhood and remarriage in the same novel. Shailendra studies the novel Vikas Sharma’s 498A: Fear and Dreams from the psychoanalytic angle and talks of the misuse of the article 498 A against the innocent men while highlighting the gender issue. Nempal Singh compares Vikas Sharma’s Sana with Doris Lessing’s The Golden Book focusing on identity and freedom of living while Rachna Dhansoia sees in Sana a story of money, ambition and corruption resulting in selfish motives and materialistic pleasures.

Poonam Choudhary appreciates the idea of rewriting the great epics while keeping the modern scenario in view. She makes a comparative study of Sita and Urmila while taking these two characters from Amish Tripathi’s Sita: Warrior of Mithila and Kavita Kane’s Sita’s Sister. Shruit Mishra traces out Medusa complex in women and finds that Amish Tripathi has created a feminist icon in the character of Sita by making her an element of Shakti and divine power. Vaishali Malik deconstructs myths, philosophy and history in Amish Tripathi’s novels while Rupali Tyagi makes a deconstructive analysis of Amish Tripathi’s Shiva Trilogy.

Sonu Kumar Mishra studies Aravind Adiga’s Selection Day from the point view of a father’s obsession for the success of his sons highlighting ambition and failure in cricket. Himanshu Sharma studies Aravind Adiga’s The White Tiger and finds in it the celebration of mini narratives and fragmentation resulting in the postmodernist perspective. Biri Singh Jurel traces gender discrimination and patriarchal structures in Chetan Bhagat’s One Indian Girl while Swati traces stream of consciousness, flashback and renunciation techniques highlighting the contemporary issues illustrating her points from Five Points Someone and One Night at the Call Centre.

Aditi Abhishikta explores a continuous transformation of the Self in Chitra Divakaruni’s Olender Girl while Vandana Rohila traces the roots and identity along with the multi-generation bonding in Chitra Divakaruni’s Before We Visit the Goddess. Pallavi Saxena studies Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things from the effect of the psychological trauma that triggers the memory highlighting the social cultural issues in the contemporary scenario.

R. Latha explores the Parsis’ ethnic consciousness along with the subaltern space in Rohinton Mistry’s novels. Preeti Chaudhary highlights femininity and masculinity traits in Shashi Despande’s novels while focusing subalternity and gender discrimination. Gitanjali studies myths in Easterine Kire’s When the River Sleeps and Son of the Thundercloud and raises some ecocritical issues in order to bring out the environmental sensitivity.

Surbhi Goswami takes Ashok Banker, Amish Tripathi and Devdutt Patnaik and in their writings reveals myths and fictional stories which take cultural transformation into focus. Ruby writes on social protest in Mulk Raj Anand’s Untouchable while Dinesh Kumar analyses the diasporic trajectory in Jhumpa Lahiri’s Unaccustomed Earth taking the ethnic criterion and socio-cultural perspectives in view. Devendra Kumar Maurya analyses Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Lowland from the point of view of social turmoil and politics keeping the impact of the Naxalite movement in view.

Umangee Sharma compares Draupadi from Mahabharat with Mahasweta Devi’s Dopi Mahajen and finds that both of them have become the victim of vicious men and exploited in the name of patriarchal system. Rukshar studies the narrative technique in R. K. Narayan’s The Guide while Rajendra Kumar finds socio-economic hardship and crisis in Kiran Desai’s The Inheritance of Loss. Mohammad Tariq makes a critique of Shashi Tharoor’s Riot: A Love Story highlighting its narrative structure, viewpoints, representations, historicity, and diversity of themes.

Rajan Lal has done labour in editing the book, but in spite of this, some grammatical and typographical errors remain. But, overall, the book is a feast for the lovers of literature, particularly those who love to read Indian English novels. What makes the book striking is its low price and paperback edition. Kudos to the editor and the publisher!

About the Reviewer:

sudhir-kumar-arora Dr Sudhir K. Arora, the Editor-in-Chief of Creation and Criticism, currently holds the position of Professor of English at Maharaja Harishchandra P. G. College in Moradabad, affiliated to M. J. P. Rohilkhand University, Bareilly, India. He has authored several significant publications, including Aravind Adiga’s The White Tiger: A Freakish Booker and Cultural and Philosophical Reflections in Indian Poetry in English in Five Volumes. He can be reached at drsudhirkarora@gmail.com.