THE ENGLISH TEACHER by R.K. Narayan is a book that actually affected my mood (in a good way).
My wife is a practitoner of THE SECRET and all the postive thinking bull sh*t. Actually, it's only partially bullsh*t. There's nothing supernatural about envisioning good outcomes and allowing that to keep you in a focused and stable mood.
This deceptively simple (really not simple at all) story of a hgh school teacher in a fictional town in India starts off conventionally enough. He decides to send for his wife and baby daughter after working in a separate city from them but even at the beginning there are signs of something below the surface as the narrator reolves to get up earlier in the morning and swim in a nearby river. The book opens with a break from routine; one of many that will occur.
There's a tragedy that occurs in the middle of the book and then....Well then the book goes in an unusual and unexpected direction as our narrator consults a psychic who helps him get in touch with a loved one from beynd the grave and then meets a man who runs a very special school (like the one in DEATH ON THE INSTALLMENT PLAN by Celine but the fate of the institution and the man are much happier).
The end where the hero has basically given up everything but is completely happy because he no longer exists solely in this plane of reality is one of the most unique I've ever read.
This is a wonderful book-I wouldn't call it heartwarming but I came away with it a sense of having been exposed to something greater than myself. It was and is a good feeling.
This is a writer I definitely want to read more of.
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