The Missing Mail | R K Narayan | Fiction | Book Review

Book Info

Name of Book : Missing Mail

Author : R K Narayan

Publisher : Indian Thought Publications

Publication Date : 1942

Format : Hardcover

Why I Picked The Book?

Reading books is my hobby and passion both. I am a thriller and horror genre lover. Also I love to read Indian classic authors. Only because of this reason started reading R K Narayan. But this story eventually turned out to be an emotional one.

From Where I bought this book?

I bought the book, Missing Mail from Flipkart, an online shopping platform. You would not find this book in a second hand book market or local book stalls.

www.flipkart.com
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Author Introduction

The Missing Mail is a short story written by R K Narayan which was published in 1947. He is a leading Indian author and was founder of Indian Thought Publications. His many works include Swami and his friends, Malgudi Days, The Guide and The Bachelor of Arts. This story is a part of Malgudi Days.

Blurb

Thanappa is a dedicated postman living in Malgudi village. His daily routine involves delivering letters,sometimes reading them for fellows who are illiterate. Thanappa has gained a considerable reputation as a postman in the village.

Ramanujam is a clerk and has friendly relations with Thanappa. He is like friend and family both to Ramanujam.

The whole story revolves around Thanappa, Ramanujam and his daughter, Kamakshi.

One day Thanappa delivers a letter to Ramanujam and he informs that Ramanujam has become a father of a beautiful daughter. Soon time passes by and Kamakshi is a grown up girl now. Her parents are worried about her marriage as they are not getting good proposals. But, Thanappa enters the scene and takes the responsibility of her marriage offering a boy's proposal.

Ramanujam and his family are very happy because their daughter's marriage got fixed with the help of Thanappa. Thanappa took the sole responsibility of the marriage arrangements.

On the day of marriage, Thanappa receives a letter for Ramanujam and out of curiosity he reads the letter. But Thanappa did not deliver it to Ramanujam.

What was in the letter? Why did Thanappa hide the letter from Ramanujam?

Characters Portrayal

The story revolves around three characters only, THANAPPA, RAMANUJAM and KAMAKSHI. The portrayal of the characters is very descriptive except Kamakshi as the writer has taken utmost care in defining their appearances.

My Opinion

This story has a beautiful emotional attachment between Thanappa and Ramanujam. I loved this feeling in this story. It is really not necessary that emotional bonds are developed only between those who are related by blood but also between those who share same feelings and compassion for each other. The story also shows that how much pa daughter's parents are stressed out for getting a good marriage proposal rather than education. For them marriage is the only important thing in life. The only drawback is that I wanted a little more character explanation of Ramanujam's family. If you love to cry while reading, I would strongly recommend this story.

Narrative Style

R K Narayan was one of those eloquent writers whose characters speak for themselves. Their characterization is performed in such a way that you would easily feel connected to them. The writer has very beautifully defined the protagonist and other characters. The choice of words is very good probably adding more to our vocabulary. If you ask me to define the author's writing style in short, I would say " Creative and Descriptive".

Ratings

• Plot - 5/5
• Characters - 5/5
• Climax - 5/5
• Recommendation - 5/5
• Writing Style - 5/5