I want to read some kind of Indian literature but I am having difficult finding something that takes place in the 20th century or later and that isn't a love story/arranged marriage story.
Any recommendations? I really don't know exactly what I'm looking for, but I'd rather have something that's more prosaic than heavily dependent on plot.
Comments
Shashi Tharoor is also good. Riot: A Love Story and Show Business are the two fiction books of his that I've read. Show Business is really much, much better if you watch Hindi movies/know about the Hindi movie industry, though.
You could also try Anita Nair, who I think is really interesting because she writes mainly about South India, which I know very little about compared to what I know about North India. Ladies Coupé has some stuff about marriage and love, but it's not really what the story is about. Mistress: A Novel and The Better Man also don't really focus on marriage. I haven't read anything else by her, though.
E.M. Forster's "A Passage to India" is also very good. I don't know if you would, technically, consider it "Indian literature" as you requested, but it's an awesome book. One of my favorites.
jhumpa lahiri is always a good choice, as well, but she deals mostly with indian-american, and i don't know if that's what you want.
rushdie is godly. "the moor's last sigh" is a headspin.
Vikram Chandra - Red Earth, Pouring Rain. Set between 19thC Calcutta, and an Indian in 20thC USA.
Rohinton Mistry - A Fine Balance.
http://pastorbear.livejournal.com/124663.html
i would also recommend Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's ''Queen Of Dreams".