My Top Ten Novels by Desi Writers

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my criteria was twofold (1) novels whose stories I enjoyed (2) PROSE style. i.e. novels WRITTEN beautifully. I am an aesthete and so beautiful language and prose is vitally important. That is also why Nadeem Aslam tops the list...

Naqsh sahib,

(a fictionalised account of the writing of the Kamasutra )

I think the work you are referring to is the Mrichhakatika or the Little Clay Cart but I am not sure that is a novel. It is a Sanskrit Drama.

Regards

ShoreSaheb:

Yes, spoken Hindi and Urdu are the same languages with different scripts, the language of Munshi Prem Chand or of Bollywood.

Asif - what was your modus for the selection. Going through the list - i can see that there is a certain eclecticism in your choice
. Maps for Lost Lovers by Nadeem Aslam
2. Psychoraag by Suhail Saadi
3. An Equal Music by Vikram Seth
4. Umrao Jaan by Mirza Muhammad Hadi Ruswa
5. Aag Ka Darya (River of Fire) by Qurratulain Hyder
6. A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth
7. Twilight in Delhi by Ahmed Ali
8. A River Sutra by Gita Mehta
9. Bazaar e Husn (Courtesans’ Quarter) by Munshi Premchand
10. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy


huge volumious efforts (both in chronological time as well as in pages) have found place here - aagka darya, suitable boy etc. Historical novels - or stories set in a psecific historical period (umrao jaan, Twilight). also a nod towards eroticism in there (and given your comments on God of Small things - i would put it there (but I would disagree vehemently that homoeroticism is thekey issue win the book but lets tqke your take on it). Ofcourse a soft corner for brit authors.

If only we knew the criteria for this list. Just saying those that I read doesnot make sense and cannot make a discussion.

Re: # 21 read the perfumed garden

Dostmittar sahib,

I understand your point, but I can transcribe urdu poetry in english alphabet as well; It wouldnt mean that I wrote it both in Urdu and English.

I hope you understand what I mean. Writing in two scripts the same thing physically means not the same thing as writing in two different languages with a distinct expression. I have seen javed Akhtar's urdu poetry written in Devnagri script and published.

Its still Hindustani poetry and not Hindi.

Dosto,
let me reiterate that I only included those novels which I had READ. I made that abundantly clear in my article but it seems we desis often only skim read...

I'm sure there are many great novels I have not read...there is one--a fictionalised account of the writing of the Kamasutra by the sage Vatsyavana which I've been meaning to read for a while but cannot recall the name...

Shoresaheb:

You are both write and wrong. Munshi Premchand did write in the ordinary language spoken by the people of central UP. But it is also true that he wrote in both Urdu and Hindi, since he used both scripts. He started out writing in the Urdu script and later wrote in the Hindi script as well.

Munshi Prem Chand wrote neither in Urdu of Pakistan, nor the Hindi of modern India. He wrote in Hindustani!

Asif Ji,
Great to see Munshi Premchand on your list. If he was a Western writer, streets and universities would have been named after him. Writing equally beautifully in Hindi and Urdu is something few have tried, let alone succeed in it.

Re: # 16

Very soon this article is going to be " My Top TWENTY Novels by Desi writers". LOL

yaaron, how you could have a list and not include "Red earth and Pouring rain" by Vikram Chandra is beyond me... :(

What do you guys think about " Raja gidh" by Bano Qudsiyaa?

Naqshbandi sahib:

Thanks, for some reason it was not showing on amazon.com. I ordered. I grew up reading Munshi Premchand's short stories in Hindi. One that remains etched even after 45 years, is the short story "Idgaah". Little boy Hamid goes to Idgaah on Eid, and few paise he had saved to enjoy, he spends it on buying a "chimtaa" for his grandma so that she would not burn her hand while cooking.

Simplicity of plots gave powerful visualizations for a child me. I would rank Munshi Premchand as the best short story writer on the sub-continent. Manto as close second.

Not a bad list......

Nadeem Aslam's Maps for Lost Lovers is, hands down, the best book ever written by any author of Pakistani heritage, writing in english....Nadeem Aslam is, head and shoulders, above any Pakistani english author...in fact, it is the only, "world class" piece of english literature ever written by an author of Pakistani origin.....

i haven't read all the books in your list, but i cannot think of any better piece of english prose than, "An Equal Music" by Vikram Seth.....a story of a deaf musician who is married, yet is in love with the author of the book......I read it in one go, and regularly read it again and again...

it inspired me to pen a similar story of my life, for chowk....

This list appears to be incomplete

Midnights Children and Shame are missing.

Although the same author also wrote the worst book...