Editing R. K. Narayan (section)

===Writing style===
Narayan's writing technique was unpretentious with a natural element of humour about it.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=204597|title=Remembering the man who brought Malgudi alive|date=10 October 2006|newspaper=[[The Indian Express]]|access-date=24 August 2009}}{{dead link|date=February 2023|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> It focused on ordinary people, reminding the reader of next-door neighbours, cousins and the like, thereby providing a greater ability to relate to the topic.<ref name="A companion to Indian fiction in English">{{cite magazine|last=Piciucco|first=Pier Paolo|title=A companion to Indian fiction in English|magazine=Atlantic|year=2002|page=2|isbn=81-269-0310-4}}</ref> Unlike his national contemporaries, he was able to write about the intricacies of Indian society without having to modify his characteristic simplicity to confirm to trends and fashions in fiction writing.<ref name="Hartford Courant">{{cite news|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/courant/access/73093443.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20141010140251/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/courant/access/73093443.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=10 October 2014|title=R. K. Narayan Focused On Everyday People; An Appreciation|date=17 May 2001|newspaper=[[The Hartford Courant]]|access-date=23 August 2009|first=Indraneel|last=Sur}}</ref> He also employed the use of nuanced dialogic prose with gentle [[Tamil language|Tamil]] overtones based on the nature of his characters.<ref name="Centenary conference - The Daily Star">{{cite news|url=http://www.thedailystar.net/2006/12/02/d612022102117.htm|title=R. K. Narayan's Centenary Conference (Concluding Part)|date=11 October 2006|newspaper=The Daily Star|access-date=23 August 2009|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024111300/http://www.thedailystar.net/2006/12/02/d612022102117.htm|archive-date=24 October 2012}}</ref> Critics have considered Narayan to be the ''Indian [[Anton Chekhov|Chekhov]]'', due to the similarities in their writings, the simplicity and the gentle beauty and humour in tragic situations.{{Sfn|Dayal|1985}} Greene considered Narayan to be more similar to Chekhov than any Indian writer.<ref name="NYT Obit" /> [[Anthony West (author)|Anthony West]] of ''[[The New Yorker]]'' considered Narayan's writings to be of the realism variety of [[Nikolai Gogol]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/courant/access/914855742.html?dids=914855742:914855742&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Mar+30%2C+1958&author=&pub=Hartford+Courant&desc=Legend+Grows&pqatl=google|title=Legend Grows|date=30 March 1958|newspaper=[[The Hartford Courant]]|access-date=20 October 2009|first=Samuel F|last=Morse|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121023082651/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/courant/access/914855742.html?dids=914855742:914855742&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Mar+30,+1958&author=&pub=Hartford+Courant&desc=Legend+Grows&pqatl=google|archive-date=23 October 2012}}</ref>

According to [[Pulitzer Prize]] winner [[Jhumpa Lahiri]], Narayan's [[short story|short stories]] have the same captivating feeling as his novels, with most of them less than ten pages long, and taking about as many minutes to read. She adds that Narayan provides the reader something novelists struggle to achieve in hundreds more pages: a complete insight to the lives of his character between the title sentence and the ends. These characteristics and abilities led Lahiri to classify him as belonging to the pantheon of short-story geniuses that include [[O. Henry]], [[Frank O'Connor]] and [[Flannery O'Connor]]. Lahiri also compares him to [[Guy de Maupassant]] for their ability to compress the narrative without losing the story, and the common themes of middle-class life written with an unyielding and unpitying vision.<ref name="Narayan days - Lahiri" /> [[V. S. Naipaul]] noted that he "wrote from deep within his community", and did not, in his treatment of characters, "put his people on display".<ref name="Master of small things"/>

Critics have noted that Narayan's writings tend to be more descriptive and less analytical; the objective style, rooted in a detached spirit, providing for a more authentic and realistic narration.{{Sfn|Bhatnagar, M.|2005|pp=205–206}} His attitude, coupled with his perception of life, provided a unique ability to fuse characters and actions,{{Sfn|Kain|1993|p=79}} and an ability to use ordinary events to create a connection in the mind of the reader.{{Sfn|Badal|1976}}{{Page number|date=February 2024}} A significant contributor to his writing style was his creation of [[Malgudi]], a stereotypical small town, where the standard norms of superstition and tradition apply.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/1999/99dec26/book.htm|title=Malgudi, hamlet of millennium|date=26 December 1999|newspaper=[[The Tribune (Chandigarh)|The Tribune]]|access-date=24 August 2009|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090614052408/http://www.tribuneindia.com/1999/99dec26/book.htm|archive-date=14 June 2009}}</ref>

Narayan's writing style was often compared to that of [[William Faulkner]] since both their works brought out the humour and energy of ordinary life while displaying compassionate humanism.<ref name="RKN 1906-2001">{{cite news|url=http://www.hinduonnet.com/2001/05/16/stories/05162512.htm|title=R. K. Narayan, 1906–2001|newspaper=[[The Hindu]]|access-date=22 July 2009|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090720100231/http://www.hinduonnet.com/2001/05/16/stories/05162512.htm|archive-date=20 July 2009}}</ref> The similarities also extended to their juxtaposing of the demands of society against the confusions of individuality.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/73004946.html?dids=73004946:73004946&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=May+14%2C+2001&author=MYRNA+OLIVER&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=Obituaries%3B+R.K.+Narayan%3B+Wry+Novelist+Brought+India+to+the+World&pqatl=google|title=R. K. Narayan; Wry Novelist Brought India to the World|date=14 May 2001|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=26 August 2009|first=Myrna|last=Oliver|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121106142508/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/73004946.html?dids=73004946:73004946&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=May+14,+2001&author=MYRNA+OLIVER&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=Obituaries%3B+R.K.+Narayan%3B+Wry+Novelist+Brought+India+to+the+World&pqatl=google|archive-date=6 November 2012}}</ref> Although their approach to subjects was similar, their methods were different; Faulkner was rhetorical and illustrated his points with immense prose while Narayan was very simple and realistic, capturing the elements all the same.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/sptimes/access/49934626.html?dids=49934626:49934626&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Feb+15%2C+1987&author=MALCOLM+JONES&pub=St.+Petersburg+Times&desc=R.+K.+Narayan%27s+work+is+crafted+with+deceptive+simplicity&pqatl=google|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130111084947/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/sptimes/access/49934626.html?dids=49934626:49934626&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Feb+15,+1987&author=MALCOLM+JONES&pub=St.+Petersburg+Times&desc=R.+K.+Narayan's+work+is+crafted+with+deceptive+simplicity&pqatl=google|url-status=dead|archive-date=11 January 2013|title=R. K. Narayan's work is crafted with deceptive simplicity|date=15 February 1987|newspaper=[[St. Petersburg Times]]|access-date=26 August 2009|first=Malcolm|last=Jones}}</ref>