Anita Desai and Her Fictional World

Book excerpt: Today Anita Desai Is Recognised For Her Originality, Versatility And The Indigenous Flavour Of Her Character-Portrayal That She Brings To Her Work. Her Women Characters Are Real Flesh And Blood Protagonists Who Make You Look At Them With Awe And With Their Relationships To Their Surroundings, Their Society, Their Men, Their Children, Their Families, Their Mental And Psychological Make-Ups And Themselves. The Present Book Purports To Be A Pioneering Attempt To Evaluate Desai S Fiction And Fictional Art From Various Points Of View And Assesses Her Contribution To The Indian-English Fiction. What Is Unique About This Book Is The Attempt To Include Desai S Complete Fictional Oeuvre From Her Maiden Attempt Cry, The Peacock (1963) Till Her Latest Published Work The Zigzag Way (2004). Her Novels Of Four Decades Have Been Divided Into Different Sections For A Focused Study.The Present Critical Anthology Of Dr. Neeru Tandon On Anita Desai Is An Admirable Effort On The Presentation Of A Coherent And Comprehensive Assessment Of Anita Desai As A Powerful Indian English Fiction Writer. In Her Collection She Has Included Certain Burning Topics Of The Day Such As Male-Female Dichotomy, Existentialist Vision, Religion And Culture, Concept Of Marriage And Narrative Technique In The Fiction Of Anita Desai. The Uncomplicated Language And The Natural Flow Of Words Make For Easy Reading. Since Dasai Is Prescribed In The Syllabus In Most Of The Universities Of India, Both The Teachers And The Students Will Find This Book Extremely Useful, And The Research Scholars Will Also Find It Very Interesting And Purposeful.