WRITER

R. K. Narayan

1906 - 2001

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Rasipuram Krishnaswami Iyer Narayanaswami (10 October 1906 – 13 May 2001), better known as R. K. Narayan, was an Indian writer and novelist known for his work set in the fictional South Indian town of Malgudi. He was a leading author of early Indian literature in English along with Mulk Raj Anand and Raja Rao. Narayan's mentor and friend Graham Greene was instrumental in getting publishers for Narayan's first four books including the semi-autobiographical trilogy of Swami and Friends, The Bachelor of Arts and The English Teacher. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of R. K. Narayan has received more than 4,887,944 page views. His biography is available in 45 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 43 in 2019). R. K. Narayan is the 3,259th most popular writer (down from 3,218th in 2019), the 413th most popular biography from India (down from 378th in 2019) and the 60th most popular Indian Writer.

Memorability Metrics

  • 4.9M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 52.20

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 45

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 1.83

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 5.84

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Notable Works

The Guide
Fiction, Indian Fiction, Comedy. Hinduism
1958
The man-eater of Malgudi
Fiction, India, Malgudi (India : Imaginary place)
1961
The Ramayana
Adaptations, Epic literature, Sanskrit, Epic literature, Tamil
1972
Waiting for the Mahatma
Fiction, Statesmen, Malgudi (India : Imaginary place)
1955
The financial expert
Fiction
1952
Swami and Friends
Social life and customs, Students, Fiction
Narayan’s debut novel, this is also the first to be set in the fictional town of Malgudi and the first of a semi-autobiographical trilogy, along with ‘The Bachelor of Arts’ and ‘The English Teacher’. It relates, in a gently humorous fashion, the life and adventures of a young boy and his friends as they grow up in a small provincial town. It has been highly praised by a number of critics and writers, including Graham Greene.
1935

Page views of R. K. Narayans by language

Over the past year R. K. Narayan has had the most page views in the with 620,509 views, followed by Hindi (25,666), and Bengali (6,521). In terms of yearly growth of page views the top 3 wikpedia editions are Malayalam (184.90%), Assamese (162.45%), and Simple English (103.63%)

Among WRITERS

Among writers, R. K. Narayan ranks 3,259 out of 7,302. Before him are Kosta Khetagurov, Kan Kikuchi, Gregory Benford, Jacques Delille, Oles Honchar, and Emile Habibi. After him are Arnošt Muka, Ennio Flaiano, William of Jumièges, Erich Weinert, Bekir Çoban-zade, and Maurice de Guérin.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1906, R. K. Narayan ranks 182. Before him are Paul Sacher, Mohammad Kazem Shariatmadari, Ulanhu, Nils Axelsson, Jerzy Giedroyc, and Jan Werich. After him are Agniya Barto, Andrey Nikolayevich Tikhonov, John D. Rockefeller III, Friz Freleng, Alex Thépot, and Igor Moiseyev. Among people deceased in 2001, R. K. Narayan ranks 135. Before him are Luiz Bonfá, Ilie Verdeț, Dorothy McGuire, Adhemar da Silva, David Kipiani, and Chuck Schuldiner. After him are Hilde Holger, Beatrice Straight, Burt Kennedy, J. J. Johnson, Victor Wong, and Viktor Astafyev.

Others Born in 1906

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Others Deceased in 2001

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In India

Among people born in India, R. K. Narayan ranks 413 out of 1,861. Before him are Anil Kapoor (1956), Kiran Bedi (1949), Madhubala (1933), Debendranath Tagore (1817), Jeetendra (1942), and Vichitravirya (null). After him are Idries Shah (1924), Man Singh I (1550), Ashapurna Devi (1909), Prince Vijaya (-543), Jagat Gosain (1573), and Sam Manekshaw (1914).

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Among WRITERS In India

Among writers born in India, R. K. Narayan ranks 60. Before him are Sachchidananda Vatsyayan (1911), K. Shivaram Karanth (1902), Maithili Sharan Gupt (1886), Sumitranandan Pant (1900), Shibli Nomani (1857), and Suryakant Tripathi (1899). After him are Idries Shah (1924), Ashapurna Devi (1909), Ibn Warraq (1946), Vaikom Muhammad Basheer (1908), Tarasankar Bandyopadhyay (1898), and Bharatendu Harishchandra (1850).

Indian born Writers

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