Dave's Book Blog: "The Painter of Signs" by R K Narayan

Sunday 11 June 2023

"The Painter of Signs" by R K Narayan

Set in an Indian city, probably in the 1960s. Raman, the sign painter, leads a pleasant bachelor existence, looked after at home by a very devout aunt, enjoying male companionship at a coffee-shop, reading book after book on philosophy and religion. He has no intention of getting married. Until he meets Daisy.

Daisy works for a government family-planning campaign. She wants him to make her a sign. From their very first meeting, he can't stop thinking about her. They they go into the countryside, from village to village, so she can plan her campaign, and he can work out where to place family-planning propaganda signs. Over these three weeks together, Raman falls in love.

But, with a key turning point almost exactly half way through the book, the course of true love never runs smoothly.

It is beautifully written. The story is told from the point of view of the narrator and we are privy to all the details of his life, his small obsessions, his habits, his ideas; his is a character which is explored in all its complexity. The other two main characters are only seen through his eyes and so, although they are convincing as real people, there are many things that we do not understand about them. There is a colourful supporting cast. The way of life of the people in the city is described with detail and affection, adding verisimilitude and making the setting into another, very real, character.

The story of Shantanu is referenced in the book. For those unfamiliar with Hindu epics (I had to look this up), he was a King who met a beautiful woman but she would only marry him providing he never asked her any questions about her actions. They had seven sons; she drowned them one by one. When she was about to drown the eighth son, he broke his promise and asked her what was going on. After explaining something about demons, she (and the boy) vanished.

Selected quotes:

"He was aware that he had of late got into the habit of communicating on two planes - audibly and inaudibly at the same time." (Part One)
"Through the open roof of the courtyard, smoke from the holy fire was escaping with the unholy fire from the kitchen." (Part One)
"He realized that he was perhaps picking his own loot in the general scramble of a money-mad world! He wished he could do without it, but realized too that it was like a desire for a dry spot while drifting along neck deep in a cesspool." (Part One): Do I recognise this as an image from Dante's Inferno?
"On three occasions you need not speak the truth. To save a life, to save an honour ... and the third I can't remember." (Part One)
"The bookseller ... had absolutely no customers coming into his shop, and what sustained him was his acceptance of failure." (Part One)
"If you write my life, you will be producing a masterpiece, which people will read and enjoy." (Part One)
"He had a muddled desire not to offend her in any manner, and he had thought 'madam' would be a prophylactic against it." (Part Three)
"I don't believe in the romanticism created by the literary man. It has conditioned people's thinking and idiom and made people prattle like imbeciles in real life too." (Part Three)