"Swami and Friends" - R.K Narayan

Swami and friends is probably one of favourite series from "R.K Narayan's" Series "Malgudi Days" i loved reading this one as a kid and would recommend anyone looking for a real good read..
Certain books define coming of age for an English fiction reader. Sherlock Holmes, Famous Five, Hercule Poirot…the list goes on. Some of us have different lists, but in a readers’ group it would be astonishing that if we have skipped the must-reads, it is a blot in our readership career.
Swami is used to a simple life, and just when he had it under control, new things start to happen for him. He has to prepare for exams, cope with his new baby brother, and his new high school certainly hasn't gotten of to a very good start. Life starts to get very overwhelming, and Swami might just have to run away. This is one Indian novel, that isn't just about snake charmers and tigers, and is one of the world's best English novels by an Indian author

RK Narayan is probably the most eminent writer of this genre — light fiction — any day, any time read, with a flow that rivals native English writers. Humor and irony are his mainstay, yet it does not devolve into satire because his characters carry with them the whole baggage of their attributes.

Swami and Friends is a beautifully crafted series of short stories, connected by the characters. In today’s parlance, this would turn as a novel, and if televised a series with couple of seasons and multiple episodes.

Swami and Friends is the second book in the Malgudi Schooldays series. RK Narayan has woven together, all from the depths of his own imagination, the magical village of Malgudi in India. But the best thing is, you don't have to have read the first book to understand this one. Can be read by anyone, anytime and anywhere. Whatever the village is up to, whether it's strikes or cricket matches it will have you in fits of laughter. And if you (like Swami) are one of those people who rush through homework in the morning, then this is definitely one for you!

This could just have easily been a normal story, as there are so many tales told from the eyes of young people. But RK Narayan has somehow turned this book into something special, and made it the one of a kind. Reading Swami and Friends made me want to visit Malgudi so badly, and I can tell you with confidence it will do the same for you!

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