favourite authors and their books relating to India

Strange, but I didn't see this thread on this site.
Here are some of mine, in no particular order:

Amitav Gosh- Shadow Lines
RK Narayan- Swami and Friends, Malgudi Days, (Etc)
Francois Bernier- Travels in the Mogul Empire
James Tod- Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan
Kushwant Singh- Train to Pakistan
William Dalrymple- City of Djinns
Collins & La Pierre- Freedom at Midnight
Lady Wilson- Letters From India

I could go on, but first-
What are yours?

PS- Current India Read: W. Dalrymple- White Mughal

BiJ

Just finished Rohinton Mistry--"Such a Long Journey",Which I enjoyed very much.

I like Dalrymple, but thought "White Mugals" dragged a bit.

Cheers

I couldn't finish that Mistry book, self-defeating title!
And yeah, I can see WM beginning to sag, but very engaging first 100 pages, isn't it?

Yes the title sort of makes you tired before you start! Still I enjoyed it, even if it strayed from reality by having a happy ending! A good funeral scene.

Two other good recent reads

Monica Ali---Brick Lane
Ahmed Ali---Twilight in Delhi (great wedding scene)

1. Rohinton Mistry - A fine balance
2. Rohinton Mistry - Such a long journey
3. Rohinton Mistry - Family Matters
4. Rohinton Mistry - Tales from Fairozsha Baag

looks like I'm a big Mistry fan

the next are of no particular order:

William Sutcliffe - Are your experienced?
Salman Rushdie - Midnight's children
John Irving - A son of the circus
William Dalrymple- City of Djinns
Vikram Seth - A suitable boy
V.S. Naipaul - India. A million mutinies now
Alexandra David-Néel - L'Inde où j'ai vécu
Elisabeth Burmiller - May you be the mother of a hundred sons
Gita Mehta - Karma Cola
Tahir Shah - Sorcerer's Apprentice
Royina Grewal - In Rajasthan
Mala Sen - India's Bandit Queen (The true store of Phoola Devi)
Sakuntala Narasimhan - Sati (A study of widow burning in india)
Lonely planet - World Food Inda

and off-topic because it is about nepal:

Jeff Greenwald - Shopping for Buddhas

I second Kushwant Singh's Train to Pakistan (he is a very witty columnist too and one of my favourite Indians...).

Raj Quartet by Paul Scott/also, Staying On by Paul Scott.

So many more authors, including some mentioned above, but I'm too tired to get a list together at the moment...

Mark Tully...

I have a whole heap of books on my to read pile - including a trio by guess who, Rohinton Mistry! (must be the flavour of the month, lol - was a special at my bookstore, three of his novels shrink-wrapped together at a "special price").

Vikram Seth "A Suitable Boy" - yes, I've actually read it! (a tome, as is Raj Quartet - both can be used as heavy paperweights...but beautiful writing).

I have Rohinton Mistry unread on my bookshelf - life keep getting in the way of my reading

I also have a friend here who is reading his latest book and ask me question abt words I cant pretend to know (the latest was "mulla mulla shawl")

anyone with a tip of a online dictionary that can help me
A) to fake knowledge
B) and/or pass along the URL

ah, yes, Sri Vidya's Million Mutiies, he predicted so much that came to become true in that book, or so it seems.

BOMBAY TIME by Thrity Umrigar -- about Parsees in Mumbai. It's not my favorite book, but it was very interesting, especially for a first novel.


Two of my favorite authors are Bharati Mukerjhee and Chitra Bannarjee Divakaruni. They both write about expatriate Indian women, but that's where the similarity ends.

I recently read "Vine of Desire" by Chitra Bannarjee Divakaruni. Sloppy plot, but I felt it very convincingly captured the flavor of the Indian diaspora in silicon Valley. since I spend a good deal of time there, I was parcitularly moved by the novel. Was it the same one you read, WW?

Bij, the book BEFORE "Vine of Desire" is the beginning of that story -- forget the title but you might also want to try that one -- the story of the two cousins.

Sloppy? Maybe .. that didn't seem important when I read it. Maybe a "woman thang."

Can't believe no one has listed these yet (!):

The God of Small Things - Arundhati Roy
Interpreter of Maladies - Jhumpa Lahiri

Both amazing - go pick up a copy!

peace,
~Ben~

a coffee table book that doubles as a guidebook:
The Forts of India
by Fass

sadly out of print now, but prolly can be found in India. A treasure trove of info on forts and the palaces/temples they contain

bijapuri - here's one.... but it seems pretty pricey!

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...370881-2581531

peace,
~Ben~

Seoulman... just read a review of Jhumpa Lahiri's new book - her first novel. Have you heard of it? Interpreter of Maladies had some of the most beautiful short stories ever... loved it.