The Vintage Book of Indian Writing 1947-1997

by Salman Rushdie (Editor), Elizabeth West (Editor)

The indian subcontinent has produced some of the worlds greatest writers, and a body of literature unsurpassed in its sustained imagination, impassioned lyricism and sparkling tragi-comedy now salman rushdie and elizabeth west have collected together the finest indian writing of the last fifty years published to coincide with the anniversary of indias independence, it is an anthology of extraordinary range and vigour, as exciting and varied as the land that inspired it including works mulk raj anand gita mehta anjana appachana ved mehta vikram chandra rohinton mistry upamanyu chatterjee r k narayan amit chaudhuri jawaharlal nehru nirad c chaudhuri padma perera anita desai satyajit ray kiran desai arundhati roy g v desani salman rushdie amitav ghosh nayantara sahgal githa hariharan i allan sealy ruth prawer jhabvala vikram seth firdaus kanga bapsi sidhwa mukul kesavan sara suleri saadat hasan manto shashi tharoor kamala markandaya ardashir vakil

Genres: Fiction, India, Short Stories, Anthologies

606 pages, Paperback

First published June 19, 1997

About the author

Sir 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.

Reviews

[Riku Sayuj · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely worth reading -
1) With Pride and Prejudice by Nayantara Sehgal
2) All About H. Hatterr by G.V.Desani
3) Games at Twilight by Anita Desai
4) Big Bill by Satyajit Ray - Probably the best of the lot
5) Toba Tek Singh by Saadat Hasan Manto
6) Sharmaji by Anjana Appachana

Little diamonds each of these, in a treasure trove of a book.

[Dayanand Prabhu · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very elitist, biased collection of Indian writing. While some of the writings are absolute gems some are just way below the standard.

[HadiDee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed some stories more than others (and some I didn't like at all) but overall a great collection that introduced me to several writers new to me. The highlight for me was Toba Tek Singh by Saadat Hasan Manto.

[Rix · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's very little fat on the bone here, in this reviewers humble opinion, and the missing star is due entirely to how very much I wanted to continue with some of the stories that exist entirely in extracted form. I have a substantial reading list built us as a result of this book and I couldn't be happier about it

[A. B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read approx. 45% till 'The Trotter-Nama'. Will come back to it later. A collection of extracts and short stories from various Indian authors, giving a good sense of writing from that period. A great way to discover new authors.

Favourites so far:
Toba Tek Singh- Sadaat Hasan Manto
In the Mountains- Ruth Praver Jhabvala
The Collectors- Rohinton Mistry
and of course, Salman Rushdie himself.

[Phoenix1000 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book a very very very long time ago and I do remember loving it and wanting to read more by Indian writers. They have a very sing songy (maybe flowery) way of words (from memory).
I will definitely keep this one in my personal collection and read again.

[Riaz · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent collection!