poliphilo

Narayan's novels are short. I can get through a whole one in a day- and because they're so moreish I find I want to. The narrator of The Man-Eater of Malgudi is a lazy, good-natured small-town businessman whose life is invaded by a bullying psychopath. The bad man interprets sweet-natured acquiescence as cowardice (and isn't far wrong) and the more he is allowed to take the more he grabs. Fortunately, as the narrator's annoyingly detached assistant points out, it is a law of the universe that even the most seemingly invincible rakshasa (demon) harbours a fatal flaw and will eventually implode.

An unsettling book, for all its humour.