The Book Is A Pioneering Study Of Its Kind, Chronologically Examining The Novels Of Anita Desai Mostly From A Female Point Of View. The Book Excels In Formally Analysing The Character And Situation Relationship In The Overall Context Of The Feminine Phyche Which It Thoroughly Examines. The Value Of The Book Is Immensely Enhanced By A Consideration Of Anita Desai S Fictional Technique. Dr. Gopal S Formal Method Is Not A Closed Universe But Cross Refers To The Social Structure Within Which The Situations Manipulate Characters And Their Destinies.

Anita Desai S Work Represents A Unique Blending Of The Indian And The Western. Her Novels Catch The Bewilderment Of The Individual Psyche Confronted With The Overbearing Socio-Cultural Environment And The Ever-Beckoning Modern Promise Of Self-Gratification And Self-Fulfilment. In The Face Of This Dual Onslaught, Her Protagonists, Male Or Female Maya, Sita, Monisha And Amla; Sarah, Nanda And Raka; Bim And Tara; Devan, Baumgartner Are Seen Poised Rentalizingly At Different Junctures Of The Philosophic Spectrum.Applying Sociological, Psychoanalytic, Structural And Other Approaches Of Formal Textual Analysis, The Essays In The Present Anthology Take A Fresh Look At Established Works, Revealing Aspects Of Study Hitherto Unexplored, Offer Critically Insightful Probes Into Individual Novels And Explore The Deployment Of Images, Symbols And Other Poetic Devices, Besides Diverse Narrative Strategies.An Indispensable Source-Book For Students, Researchers And Teachers Of Indian English And Commonwealth Literature In General And Fiction And Anita Desai In Particular.An Insightful Companion For Research In Sociology And Women-Studies.

Anita Desai And Her Novels Have Been An Enigma For Decades. Scholars, Critics, Researchers And Students Have Never Stopped Marvelling About Supremacy Of Idea Over Matter In The Works Of This Gifted Novelist. The Philosophical Mood, The Realization Of A Grand Design, The Presence Of Unsaid, Unarticulated Realities All These Have Forever Teased The Mind Of The Discerning Reader. In The Present Volume, Anita Desai Has Been Extensively And Intensely Probed. As The Reader Will See, The Thrust Has Been More On Psychological And Intellectual Facets Of Her Fiction, Rather Than Social, Cultural Or Physical Areas. This Is The Trend Of Criticism These Days And It Is Rightly So. The Fine Subtleties, The Small But Significant Turn Of Events, The Role Of Place In The Formation Of Mental Scene, The Vitality Of Characters, The Force Of Their Personalities, The Intricate Web Of Relationships All These Have Been Examined And Expressed In Words That Are At Once Easy To Understand As Well As Graceful To Aesthetic Sense.

Study on the psychological concern of female characters in the novels of Anita Desai, b. 1937, Indo-English novelist.

Anita Desai, A Recipient Of Many Literary Awards In India And Abroad, And A Creative Writing Teacher At Massachusetts Institute Of Technology Since 1993, In Addition To Being A Fellow Of The Royal Society Of Literature In London And Honorary Fellow Of The University Of Cambridge, Has Proved Herself To Be A Major Indian Novelist Of The Post-Seventies India, Whose Novels Epitomize The Emerging Women S Search For Self-Hood In The Indian Context.Fire On The Mountain (1977), Winner Of The 1978 National Academy Of Letters Award, And Generally Considered Desai S Masterpiece, Is A Beautiful Novel, Focused On Two Elderly Ladies And One Small Girl. Nanda Kaul Retires To A Hill Station House In Her Old Age, And Leads An Isolated Life There, When Her Great-Granddaughter Comes To Stay. With The Arrival Of Raka The Story Takes A New Turn, Gathers Momentum, And Unfurls Quickly To A Symbolic End When The Mountain Has Been Set On Fire.The Atlantic Critical Study Of Fire On The Mountain, Which Is Primarily Meant For The Students Of English Literature Of Indian Universities, Is A Comprehensive, Self-Sufficient And In-Depth Study Of The Text. The Author, A Distinguished Scholar In The Area, Has Taken Special Care To Combine Lucidity And Profundity In Her Treatment Of The Text. In Its Eight Chapters The Present Study Examines The Text From Various Angles Such As The Title, Themes, Characters, Images And Symbols, Narrative Technique, And Feminist Discourse, In Addition To Providing An Introduction , A Brief Story-Outline , And A Detailed Critical Summary Of The Entire Text In Its Three Parts, Along With A Select Bibliography And Sample Questions. The Book Will Be Immensely Useful For Students, Scholars And Teachers In The Area.