6.6 /10 1 Votes
3.6/5 Goodreads Media type Print OCLC 14166421 LC Class PR9499.3.N3 T3 1987 Country India | 3/5 MouthShut Publication date 1986 ISBN 978-0-670-81341-4 Dewey Decimal 823 19 Originally published 1986 Publisher Heinemann Genres Fiction, Novel | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Preceded by Under the Banyan Tree and Other Stories Similar Works by R K Narayan, India books, Novels | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Talkative Man is a novel by R. K. Narayan first published in 1986 by Heinemann. The book is Narayan's 13th novel. Like his earlier novels, this one is also set in the fictional town of Malgudi. The novel is a bit short by Narayan's standards but provides the same level of enjoyment one experiences with his other writings.
Plot
The main character is an ordinary man who is wealthy and works as a journalist. He has a regular routine in his life: post articles in the post box, have a talk with people in a tea shop, go to library and house. One day, he meets a man from an unknown land called "Timbuctoo", another of Narayan's creations, the land being similar to the US. The man seems to have come for an official duty for UN and, seeing the calmness of the place, decides to stay here for his work. There comes a twist of what is exactly the man up to and how the main character of the novel solves the problem. The story is simple, and the author honestly admits to being a short story writer, rather than a novelist as he tells; most of the people skip the intrinsic details given about the places and only catch the content (at the end of the book, his words about the story). It is a good read book and can be read for the calmness with which Narayan writes his story, as a critic rightly points out .