SOURCE: "Malgudi Minor: The Short Stories of R. K. Narayan," in The Laurel Bough, edited by G. Nageswara Rao, Blackie & Son Publishers Private Limited, 1982, pp. 195-202.

In this essay, Naik criticizes the lack of tragic irony and imagination in Narayan's short stories, but finds that his tight form and structure result in a well-constructed story.

The short stories of Narayan are remarkable more for their workmanlikeness and finish than for the quality of the reading of life they offer; and one of the chief reasons for this is the limited role played by irony in them, though a persistent ironic note is by and large, their distinguishing feature. Narayan's short stories number more than four score, and are included in the following collections: Malgudi Days (1941); Dodu and Other Stories (1943), Cyclone and Other Stories (1944); The Astrologer's Day and Other Stories (1947); Lawley Road (1956) and A Horse and Two Goats (1970). A...