Continue on TOI App

Some beautiful quotes by Anita Desai

TIMESOFINDIA.COM | Last updated on - Jun 23, 2020, 18:28 IST

1/10

Some beautiful quotes by Anita Desai

Indian-English novelist Anita Desai, born Anita Mazumdar, has been called as "one of the preeminent contemporary Indian novelists". Her picturesque depictions of modern Indian life, juxtaposed with a graceful language that often becomes poetry, have secured her a place of honour among the luminaries of Indian literature.

(Image: British Council)

2/10

On travel

“Wherever you go becomes a part of you somehow.”

3/10

On journeys

Born to a German mother and Bengali father, Desai grew up speaking German, Hindi, and English. She received a B.A. in English from the University of Delhi in 1957.

4/10

On looks of love

The subjugation and oppression of Indian women were the subjects of her first novel, “Cry, the Peacock”, and a novel she wrote later, “Where Shall We Go This Summer?”.

5/10

On progression

Her popular novel “Fire on the Mountain” was criticized much for relying too heavily on imagery at the expense of plot and characterization, but it was also acclaimed for its poetic symbolism and use of sounds.

6/10

On the palpable nature

The novel “Clear Light of Day”, considered Desai’s magnum opus, is praised for its portrayal of two sisters caught in the vicissitudes of the Indian life. The characters are revealed not only through imagery but through gesture, dialogue, and reflection.

7/10

On India

The novel “Baumgartner’s Bombay” explores German and Jewish identity in the context of a chaotic contemporary India.

8/10

On the pursuit of truth

Anita Desai is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Girton College, Cambridge and Clare Hall, Cambridge.

9/10

On connections

Anita Desai lives in the United States, where she is the John E. Burchard Professor of Writing at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA. Her most recent book is The Artist of Disappearance (2011), a trio of linked novellas about the art world, each featuring a different kind of disappearance.

10/10

On the art of writing

Anita Desai is a two-time Booker Prize winner, and has won a lot of prestigious awards including the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, Winifred Holtby Memorial Prize, Alberto Moravia Prize for Literature, etc.

Start a Conversation

Post comment

Featured In lifestyle

Photostories

Explore more Stories

Up Next

Your Privacy is Important to us

Opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information

Follow Us On

Some beautiful quotes by Anita Desai