Who are the five Indian authors that you read? Mostly, the favourites who make on the list are from the passionate corridors of fiction who write about ‘skin on skin’ face-offs and take away the senses of the readers (mostly youths). However, have you ever tried to look beyond the trend? Have you ever looked for the authors who actually write fiction with meaning? Have you ever known the novelists who are worthy enough to be read and shared? Have you got a chance to read some of those who have made it to the top literary prizes and either won or became the finalists? Today, we will tell you the five contemporary novels that you must read if you are tired of reading the romances you have reading recently. And here we go:
Narcopolis: A novel by the Man Booker fame (not winner) Jeet Thayil which will make you feel the pleasures of real fiction… Narcopolis takes you deeper into the cobweb of lust – lust for flesh and lust for addiction which once ruled the city of Mumbai… dreams shatter and build every day and night and the city goes on! A pure fiction based on and inspired by the realities that Jeet Thayil himself witnessed during his early days of youth in Mumbai, Narcopolis will make you understand what went wrong in the age of pop and what do we still regret. If you haven’t read this novel, you have been missing the real taste of true Indian fiction until now! Go for it now!
Narcopolis on Amazon – Buy Now
The Hungry Tide: Let the newly crowned scholars cry about the aspects of ecocriticism in the novel by Amitav Ghosh, you will surely be treated with a tension of human emotions in the magical fiction created in the form of The Hungry Tide! Human emotions are chained; human emotions collide; human emotions galore; human emotions are packed and launched… the implicit story of Fokir Mondal and the explicit story of Piyali Roy, the dolphin researcher in rustic words… Kanai only plays a role which might be seen as an insinuator used by the author to dig the past and link two stories with a glue. This novel might make you cry because your emotions might be out of the emotionally frying pan instantly! If you miss this one, you miss a larger part of the 21st-century Indian fiction in English! Go for it now.
The Hungry Tide on Amazon – Get your copy now
The Guide: This is a novel from the older days and written by one of the authors who initiated the global movement in Indian English fiction, R. K. Narayan. You will read this fiction to know that how good the author was in judging the situations at that time in the society and making it work in his novel with a pure magical touch to make the fiction synchronise with the realism and offer the readers something that we often look for today! The Guide is about Raju, a fraud who turns towards goodness when he meets an intimidated woman named Rosie who is nothing but a baggage of flesh for her husband. Their love is something that cannot be termed anything and when the dream is flushed and reality strikes, it’s too late for both! They separate and things change dramatically… and you have to read this wonderful novel to understand the craft of fiction in those days of Indian literature. Get your copy now!
The Guide by R. K. Narayan on Amazon – Buy now
Despite Stolen Dreams: Well, a contemporary novelist, but Anita Krishan matches her vision and horizon of fiction with none others than the authors of repute – likes of Amitav Ghosh and Khushwant Singh. Her novel, Despite Stolen Dreams, is a fresh attempt at serious fiction writing and has succeeded as well. Published in 2017, the novel is based on the theme of terrorism but has successfully juxtaposed the ugliness of terror with the brighter side that a happy and peaceful life brings to humanity. Her language is rich and her plot is decorated and you cannot miss this wonderful work of fiction by her! Get your copy now!
Despite Stolen Dreams on Amazon India – Purchase now
Difficult Daughters: This 1998 novel has been very popular since the very month it came into existence. Manju Kapur’s portrayal of Virmati has been the favourite subject for feministic studies in the recent academic years and you will find it yourself in the novel what might have been the possible reasons for the same. The novel, however, takes you back in the past and you will find a young girl trapped between her love (illicit as the societal norms say) and her desire to find herself a good education. The novel is compelling enough to make you read thoroughly and you will like it as well! Get your copy now as we have reached the fifth on the list now!