Navigate
At a glance:
- Author: Raja Rao
- First Published: 1960
- Type of Work: Philosophical romance
- Time of Work: The early 1950’s, ending about one year after the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II
- Setting: Aix-en-Provence, Paris, India, and London
- Characters: Rama, Madeleine, Savithrl
- Genres: Long fiction, Philosophical realism, Novel
- Subjects: 1950's, Culture, Self-discovery, Perception, France or French people, Love or romance, Race, Marriage, 1940's, Paris, Truth, India or East Indian people, London, Mysticism, Hindus or Hinduism, Transcendentalism
- Locales: France, Europe, Asia, Paris, France, London, England, India, Aix-en-Provence, France, United Kingdom
The Novel
Every incident or conversation that Rama describes in this semi-autobiographical story is presented as it furthers or hampers his search for “Truth” and self-knowledge—a quest which is the very heart of the book. “I was born a Brahmin,” says Rama, “that is, devoted to Truth and all that.” Rama is a gentle young student, somewhat frail because of tubercular lungs, who has been living in France for some years. Married to a Frenchwoman, Madeleine, Rama plans, after finishing his thesis on the Albigensian heresy, to accept a teaching post in India and then...
(The entire page is 1849 words.)
Want to read the whole thing?
Subscribe now to read the rest of this article. Plus, get access to:
- 30,000+ literature study guides
- Critical essays on more than 30,000 works of literature from Salem on Literature (exclusive to eNotes)
- An unparalleled literary criticism section. 40,000 full-length or excerpted essays.
- Content from leading academic publishers, all easily citable with our "Cite this page" button.
- 100% satisfaction guarantee READ MORE
