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Mirrorwork: 50 Years of Indian Writing 1947-1997
This unique anthology, Mirrorwork , presents thirty-two selections by Indian authors writing in English over the past half-century. Selected by Salman Rushdie and Elizabeth West, these novel excerpts, stories, and memoirs illuminate wonderful writing by authors often overlooked in the West.
Chronologically arranged to reveal the development of Indian literature in English, this volume includes works by Jawaharlal Nehru, Nayantara Sahgal, Saadat Hasan Manto, G.V. Desani, Nirad C. Chaudhuri, Kamala Markandaya, Mulk Raj Anand, R.K. Narayan, Ved Mehta, Anita Desai, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Satyajit Ray, Salman Rushdie, Padma Perera, Upamanyu Chatterjee, Rohinton Mistry, Bapsi Sidhwa, I. Allan Sealy, Shashi Tharoor, Sara Suleri, Firdaus Kanga, Anjana Appachana, Amit Chaudhuri, Amitav Ghosh, Githa Hariharan, Gita Mehta, Vikram Seth, Vikram Chandra, Ardashir Vakil, Mukul Kesavan, Arundhati Roy, and Kiran Desai.
Chronologically arranged to reveal the development of Indian literature in English, this volume includes works by Jawaharlal Nehru, Nayantara Sahgal, Saadat Hasan Manto, G.V. Desani, Nirad C. Chaudhuri, Kamala Markandaya, Mulk Raj Anand, R.K. Narayan, Ved Mehta, Anita Desai, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Satyajit Ray, Salman Rushdie, Padma Perera, Upamanyu Chatterjee, Rohinton Mistry, Bapsi Sidhwa, I. Allan Sealy, Shashi Tharoor, Sara Suleri, Firdaus Kanga, Anjana Appachana, Amit Chaudhuri, Amitav Ghosh, Githa Hariharan, Gita Mehta, Vikram Seth, Vikram Chandra, Ardashir Vakil, Mukul Kesavan, Arundhati Roy, and Kiran Desai.
560 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
14 people are currently reading
437 people want to read
About the author
Salman Rushdie
201 books13k followersSir Ahmed Salman Rushdie is an Indian-born British and American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern and Western civilizations, typically set on the Indian subcontinent. Rushdie's second novel, Midnight's Children (1981), won the Booker Prize in 1981 and was deemed to be "the best novel of all winners" on two occasions, marking the 25th and the 40th anniversary of the prize.
After his fourth novel, The Satanic Verses (1988), Rushdie became the subject of several assassination attempts and death threats, including a fatwa calling for his death issued by Ruhollah Khomeini, the supreme leader of Iran. In total, 20 countries banned the book. Numerous killings and bombings have been carried out by extremists who cite the book as motivation, sparking a debate about censorship and religiously motivated violence. In 2022, Rushdie survived a stabbing at the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, New York.
In 1983, Rushdie was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. He was appointed a Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of France in 1999. Rushdie was knighted in 2007 for his services to literature. In 2008, The Times ranked him 13th on its list of the 50 greatest British writers since 1945. Since 2000, Rushdie has lived in the United States. He was named Distinguished Writer in Residence at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute of New York University in 2015. Earlier, he taught at Emory University. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In 2012, he published Joseph Anton: A Memoir, an account of his life in the wake of the events following The Satanic Verses. Rushdie was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine in April 2023.
Rushdie's personal life, including his five marriages and four divorces, has attracted notable media attention and controversies, particularly during his marriage to actress Padma Lakshmi.
After his fourth novel, The Satanic Verses (1988), Rushdie became the subject of several assassination attempts and death threats, including a fatwa calling for his death issued by Ruhollah Khomeini, the supreme leader of Iran. In total, 20 countries banned the book. Numerous killings and bombings have been carried out by extremists who cite the book as motivation, sparking a debate about censorship and religiously motivated violence. In 2022, Rushdie survived a stabbing at the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, New York.
In 1983, Rushdie was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. He was appointed a Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of France in 1999. Rushdie was knighted in 2007 for his services to literature. In 2008, The Times ranked him 13th on its list of the 50 greatest British writers since 1945. Since 2000, Rushdie has lived in the United States. He was named Distinguished Writer in Residence at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute of New York University in 2015. Earlier, he taught at Emory University. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In 2012, he published Joseph Anton: A Memoir, an account of his life in the wake of the events following The Satanic Verses. Rushdie was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine in April 2023.
Rushdie's personal life, including his five marriages and four divorces, has attracted notable media attention and controversies, particularly during his marriage to actress Padma Lakshmi.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
February 28, 2019
Rushdie and West’s anthology seems still to be the go to one for modern Indian literature, and it is a rich work worth more than a casual browse. It’s arranged chronologically and provides a good overview of the post-independence Anglophone Indian tradition from Nehru’s ‘Tryst with Destiny’ or ‘Freedom at Midnight’ speech of 14-15 August 1947 through to an excerpt from Kiran Desai’s first novel, published here before the novel itself appeared in 1998. A casual reader of Indian literature, however the collocation is understood—and Rushdie and West understand it widely (according to Rushdie in the introduction V. S. Naipaul declined to be included)—will recognise familiar names: R. K. Narayan, Anita Desai, Rushdie himself, Rohinton Mistry, Amitav Ghosh, Vikram Seth, Arundhati Roy.
But for me the value of the book came from filling in gaps and finding extraordinary work by writers whose names have fallen out of the book chats. Excerpts from G. V. Desani’s All About H. Hatterr and N. C. Chaudhuri’s Autobiography of an Unknown Indian alone are worth the price of admission. Nearly all readers will find amongst the thirty-four works gems not discovered before.
Mirrorwork was controversial amongst Indian writers and intellectuals when it appeared, and Rushdie was spoiling for the fight:
‘[T]his large and various survey turns out to be making, fundamentally, just one—perhaps rather surprising—point’, he writes in the introduction, and, ‘This is it:
‘the prose writing—both fiction and non-fiction—created in this period by Indian writers working in English is proving to be a stronger and more important body of work than most of what has been produced in the 16 “official languages” of India, the so-called “vernacular languages”, during the same time; and, indeed, this new, and still burgeoning, “Indo-Anglian” literature represents perhaps the most valuable contribution India has yet made to the world of books.’
The book includes only one work not originally written in English, a translation of S. H. Manto’s Urdu ‘Toba Tek Singh’.
This seems not to have bothered readers not South Asian, but it didn’t set well at home. Sunil Khilnani, for example, in review noted the ‘indignation and irritation’ with which the anthology was met in India, and added some of his own:
‘The provocation lies not in the individual pieces that have been gathered together as representative of Indian writing but rather in Rushdie’s introduction. This is without a doubt a heroically self-serving performance, which makes the anthology less a balance sheet of contemporary Indian writing and more a 50th birthday present bestowed by Rushdie upon himself, midnight’s perpetual child. Its implicit function, in the Rushdiean scheme of things, is to produce a pop “literary history” of “Indian writing” since 1947, which reveals that it was all leading up to the arrival on the scene of Rushdie himself. Rushdie uses his selections to arrange a preceding sequence of paternity as well as to show off what he now claims as his progeny.’
This is a fight best not joined by someone who reads only one of the languages of India, i.e., English, and me, but fortunately for a reader who would like an alternate and equally-substantial selection of modern Indian literature more inclusive of work translated from the ‘vernacular’ there is Amit Chaudhuri’s Picador Book of Modern Indian Literature , aka Vintage Book of Modern Indian Literature, which Chaudhuri insists in his introduction is ‘not a riposte to any other anthology’, but, well, it is.
But for me the value of the book came from filling in gaps and finding extraordinary work by writers whose names have fallen out of the book chats. Excerpts from G. V. Desani’s All About H. Hatterr and N. C. Chaudhuri’s Autobiography of an Unknown Indian alone are worth the price of admission. Nearly all readers will find amongst the thirty-four works gems not discovered before.
Mirrorwork was controversial amongst Indian writers and intellectuals when it appeared, and Rushdie was spoiling for the fight:
‘[T]his large and various survey turns out to be making, fundamentally, just one—perhaps rather surprising—point’, he writes in the introduction, and, ‘This is it:
‘the prose writing—both fiction and non-fiction—created in this period by Indian writers working in English is proving to be a stronger and more important body of work than most of what has been produced in the 16 “official languages” of India, the so-called “vernacular languages”, during the same time; and, indeed, this new, and still burgeoning, “Indo-Anglian” literature represents perhaps the most valuable contribution India has yet made to the world of books.’
The book includes only one work not originally written in English, a translation of S. H. Manto’s Urdu ‘Toba Tek Singh’.
This seems not to have bothered readers not South Asian, but it didn’t set well at home. Sunil Khilnani, for example, in review noted the ‘indignation and irritation’ with which the anthology was met in India, and added some of his own:
‘The provocation lies not in the individual pieces that have been gathered together as representative of Indian writing but rather in Rushdie’s introduction. This is without a doubt a heroically self-serving performance, which makes the anthology less a balance sheet of contemporary Indian writing and more a 50th birthday present bestowed by Rushdie upon himself, midnight’s perpetual child. Its implicit function, in the Rushdiean scheme of things, is to produce a pop “literary history” of “Indian writing” since 1947, which reveals that it was all leading up to the arrival on the scene of Rushdie himself. Rushdie uses his selections to arrange a preceding sequence of paternity as well as to show off what he now claims as his progeny.’
This is a fight best not joined by someone who reads only one of the languages of India, i.e., English, and me, but fortunately for a reader who would like an alternate and equally-substantial selection of modern Indian literature more inclusive of work translated from the ‘vernacular’ there is Amit Chaudhuri’s Picador Book of Modern Indian Literature , aka Vintage Book of Modern Indian Literature, which Chaudhuri insists in his introduction is ‘not a riposte to any other anthology’, but, well, it is.
August 19, 2010
This book is by far the best compilation of the collected works of Indian writers.
I found the likes of Mulk Raj Anand, Khushwant Singh and a whole lot others whom i had heard of, but did not venture to read their works. This anthology provides a good look into some of the best novice authors work as well.
I find it quite a handsome collection and it gives a fairly good idea about the changes and the growth of English literature in India. Definitely a Good read!
I found the likes of Mulk Raj Anand, Khushwant Singh and a whole lot others whom i had heard of, but did not venture to read their works. This anthology provides a good look into some of the best novice authors work as well.
I find it quite a handsome collection and it gives a fairly good idea about the changes and the growth of English literature in India. Definitely a Good read!
December 4, 2007
This is a real mixed bag. There's some great writing in this anthology, but there's also plenty that isn't so great. Nonetheless, it provides a fairly comprehensive overview of Indian writers in English and it's a good way to find out which of those authors you might like to read more of and which you'd rather avoid.
Read
April 7, 20223.5
May 13, 2020
This is a rich collection of works from prominent Indian authors. I found some to be very good and some not so good. One thing I did not like is that some of the works include chapters/portions picked up from a novel of the concerned author. I would have like standalone stories written by each chosen author. Extract from a book somehow robs the purpose of the collection. Some authors I find unreadable - why write in such complicated language - which at least I find overwhelming and going beyond. Some writings are very fluently written and actually read like a story to be red and appreciated by a layman [like me].
Good Effort.
Good Effort.
April 20, 2022
A rather under the radar anthology of avant-garde Indian Writings compiled by Rushdie. The stories are of course really fun and can be a good gateway to discover some stalwart Indian authors but even if none of that appeals to you, still pick up this book for the introduction written by Rushdie which is gold.
September 11, 2022
我太太的印度同學送他的書，結果被我搶來看了。
- Sara Suleri的自說自話式散文是我很喜歡的那種(cf. Kate Zambreno, Maria Stepanova)，這本選的Meatless Days我之後應該會去想辦法搞來讀。話說雞佛我也不敢吃...
- Arudhati Roy寫的微物之神，每次去圖書館挑書的時候都會看到，但我就是一直都沒挑起來看的那個... 他選的這篇還蠻好看的
- Amit Chauduri寫的故事蠻夢幻的，像是閃閃發亮的夢一樣
- Rohinton Mistry寫的是關於集郵跟寂寞的故事
結論就是印度人都蠻會寫有點難過的故事，然後有的時候會用很難的英文單字... 整本看很久但蠻好看的，推推。
- Sara Suleri的自說自話式散文是我很喜歡的那種(cf. Kate Zambreno, Maria Stepanova)，這本選的Meatless Days我之後應該會去想辦法搞來讀。話說雞佛我也不敢吃...
- Arudhati Roy寫的微物之神，每次去圖書館挑書的時候都會看到，但我就是一直都沒挑起來看的那個... 他選的這篇還蠻好看的
- Amit Chauduri寫的故事蠻夢幻的，像是閃閃發亮的夢一樣
- Rohinton Mistry寫的是關於集郵跟寂寞的故事
結論就是印度人都蠻會寫有點難過的故事，然後有的時候會用很難的英文單字... 整本看很久但蠻好看的，推推。
July 11, 2016
I purchased this book on a whim hoping that it would be either educational or entertaining, and I was not disappointed. I have read several compilations of American short stories, but never before had I come across a story that compelled me to find more written works by one of the authors because I found a story to be so to my liking.
"Dr. Salaam" by Padma Perera was one of the most touching things I have ever read. I always enjoy (or am a sucker for) stories written from the perspective of a child, and maybe that is what drew me in. It might also be that the story told of a newly arrived man in a foreign culture, and I have been in that setting myself. But most of all I think it is because of the way the story speaks of love in a family, love across cultures, and love across generations. You saw such unspoken love demonstrated through little acts of sacrifice and acceptance. If only such love as that existed all across South Asia, then we could have been spared all the wars and friction in those communities. And by the way, many stories in the book told of those conflicts in all their brutality and horror.
"Sharma" by Anjana Appachana is in many ways a polar opposite of "Dr. Salaam." It tells the story of a shiftless employee working the company system to get all he can out of it without geting himself fired. It was one of the funniest things I've ever read. You can't help but both hate and love the character at the same time.
In any group of stories, some will be disappointing or not to one's taste, but the two jewels I found made slogging through some of the others worth the effort. My next step is to look for more works by Perea and Appachana. I feel a bit further along in understanding Indian and Pakistani culture after reading all the stories, and I hope that the insight into how to love my neighbour as myself through the story of "Dr. Salaam" will long stay with me.
"Dr. Salaam" by Padma Perera was one of the most touching things I have ever read. I always enjoy (or am a sucker for) stories written from the perspective of a child, and maybe that is what drew me in. It might also be that the story told of a newly arrived man in a foreign culture, and I have been in that setting myself. But most of all I think it is because of the way the story speaks of love in a family, love across cultures, and love across generations. You saw such unspoken love demonstrated through little acts of sacrifice and acceptance. If only such love as that existed all across South Asia, then we could have been spared all the wars and friction in those communities. And by the way, many stories in the book told of those conflicts in all their brutality and horror.
"Sharma" by Anjana Appachana is in many ways a polar opposite of "Dr. Salaam." It tells the story of a shiftless employee working the company system to get all he can out of it without geting himself fired. It was one of the funniest things I've ever read. You can't help but both hate and love the character at the same time.
In any group of stories, some will be disappointing or not to one's taste, but the two jewels I found made slogging through some of the others worth the effort. My next step is to look for more works by Perea and Appachana. I feel a bit further along in understanding Indian and Pakistani culture after reading all the stories, and I hope that the insight into how to love my neighbour as myself through the story of "Dr. Salaam" will long stay with me.
February 8, 2017
Amazing!
February 2, 2013
A good survey of Anglo-Indian writing since Indian independence and partition. For such a collection, I might prefer a few more stories or essays instead of so many novel excerpts. I do like the mixture of fiction and non-fiction. One thing that would help many Western readers get more out of the book is a glossary containing definitions of some the non-translated Indian words and major events that recur in many of the selections. For one example, the title of one of the stories "Shakti" makes a lot of sense and conveys a lot of information when you know what it means.
January 8, 2008
uneven like all comps but good overall
May 3, 2008
Incredible collection of writing from India. Absolute must have.
September 21, 2008
I loved this collection of fiction by Indian authors. Its scope is ambitious, but well-worth the reader's effort. A wonderful introduction to India's literary landscape.
December 13, 2014
Short fiction and excerpts from novels, some excellent and some not to my taste. Especially enjoyed stories by Amitav Ghosh and Vikram Chandra, authors I already knew I liked.
Want to read
April 3, 2011might be interesting to read
February 5, 2013
Some excellent works, some pedestrian, and some actually unreadable. But I loved a couple, notably Amit Chaudry's story. I've ordered a couple of novels by that author.
January 19, 2015
loved it!
August 1, 2014
3.8. A good mix of short stories and excerpts from novels. I hate excerpts though, so I have to knock off some value. Very good stories.
Currently reading
June 3, 2016Interesting but very esoteric writing. You definitely need to very alert while reading.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews