The Fictional World of Arun Joshi

Arun Joshi (1939-1993), who opened new panoramas of thought and imagination in Indian English fiction through the realistic portrayal of contemporary issues and the concomitant depiction of paradigm shift of values in the rapidly changing life and society, is a pragmatic novelist. He displays the hale and hearty universal lessons of social life, cultural phenomenon and spiritual heritage together with a number of traditional and modern values which might have been temporarily relegated to the background but are pertinent and appropriate despite the rapid growth of man, material and power in today’s world. The Fictional World of Arun Joshi: Paradigm Shift in Values explores his novels, namely: The Foreigner , The Strange Case of Billy Biswas , The Apprentice , The Last Labyrinth and The City and The River; and a collection of his short stories: The Survivor and Other Stories , along with two other short stories published in different magazines, which tender fresh and forceful interpretation of his contents through the Eastern and Western cases and go into great detail of their impact on mankind in general. Joshi’s understanding and perception of modern life and its predicament in the light of emerging paradigms of values coalesce to create sense of values among the readers so that they can realize and judge the worth and importance of healthy values in their lives for real success, happy living and enduring peace. The book will be helpful not only to the general readers but also to the scholars who will come across the relevant material for further ruminations and researches on the works of Arun Joshi.