india author m 1- a-nan - University of Wollongong

oots. Both novelists have been overpraised by non-Indian critics and over-denounced by
Indian critics. Parameswaran rigorously examines Markandaya's first eight novels with regard
to structure, dialogue, sociological verity and use of symbols; this critic is particularly good at
analysing characterisation. In terms of style, the first five novels are remarkable for their simple
and effective language, while a note of experimentation with prose style is present in The
Coffer Dams (1969) and later novels. Parameswaran discerns a pattern--as long as one has
roots, one survives, and the delineation of the roots of different classes of society is
Markandaya's continuing theme. The Coffer Dams and The Nowhere Man are powerful
novels which deal with the problems of expatriation, in different contexts.
POLLARD, ARTHUR. "Kamala Markandaya's The Golden Honeycomb." JIWE 8, no.1/2
(1980): 22-26. Reprinted in Through Different Eyes,edited by Kirpal Singh. (Calcutta: Writers
Workshop, 1984): 27-33.
Markandaya's novel shows British-Indian relations from the Indian angle, just as Paul
Scott's Raj Quartet presented it from the British angle. Another important theme is princely
India. Markandaya brings a greater subtlety to this theme than Anand (Private Life of an
Indian Prince) or Malgonkar (The Princes). A leading concern of the novel is with the failure
to show understanding, and one of Markandaya's strengths is that she can create sympathy for
characters like the Maharajah and Sir Arthur Copeland, while never concealing her real
condemnation of them for lack of sensitivity. Markandaya is on the whole succcessful in
presenting the richness and contrasts that are India. Though the novel is the tale of Bawajiraj
and his son Rabi, it is dominated by women
PRASAD, MADHUSUDAN. ed. Perspectives on Kamala Markandaya. Ghaziabad:Vimal
Prakashan, 1984, xxxiv-269pp.
Contains eighteen essays on various aspects of Markandaya's work.
1. Introduction MADHUSUDAN PRASAD i-xxxiv. Detailed introduction to the first nine
novels, taking due note of the comments of various critics. Examines Markandaya's tragic
vision, her humanism and social concern, craftsmanship, plot structure, narrative technique,
and prose style. Though she uses imagery and symbolism, she is not an imagist novelist like
Anita Desai. Prasad praises her gift for characterization, and points out a weakness in her
work--she is too conscious of a Western audience, and her detailed explanations and
descriptions can be irritating for the Indian reader.
2. Continuity and Change in the Novels of Kamala Markandaya A.V. KRISHNA RAO. 1-
27. See RAO, A.V KRISHNA above, p.l.
3. Victims and Virgins: Some Characters in Kamala Markandaya's Novels. HAYDN M
WILLIAMS: 28-36. Reprinted in WILLIAMS, HAYDN MOORE, Galaxy of Indian
Writing in English (Delhi: Akshat Publications, 1987):30-38. Williams analyses the first eight
novels. The most memorable characters are victims. Markandaya takes her characters from a
wide spectrum: Indian peasants, students, film producers, Indian emigrés in England, English
engineers and their wives on contract service in India, English working class types from pubs.
Her women are peculiarly memorable. There is little humour in Markandaya. Williams
considers the movement from the tragic despair of Nectar in a Sieve to the angry satire of The
Nowhere Man a decline. The Nowhere Man is a cry of protest against the inhumanity of
racism, she does not attempt to analyse the causes of racial conflict. The portrayal of Srinivas,
the protagonist, a victim, is quite successful, but all the other characters, including Mrs