Contents: Preface. 1. Introduction: Raja Rao's philosophic concerns and technique. 2. Kanthapura. 3. The serpent and the rope. 4. The cat and Shakespeare. 5. Comrade Kirillov. 6. The Chessmaster and his moves. Appendix: Author's note on narrative technique. Select bibliography.

"A winner of Sahitya Akademi Award for his novel the serpent and the rope and Neustadt International Prize for Literature of University of Oklahoma U.S.A. for his novel the chessmaster and his moves, Raja Rao is unabatedly one of the most widely acclaimed Indian English novelists by virtue of his wide range of 'thought content' -- philosophical, intellectual, political and social -- and his command of the fictional form, language and narrative technique. He is incontestably one of the major novelists wiring in the English language today. Rao is concerned more with man's spiritual quest for liberty. He is so original that his artistic achievements cannot be ignored. His innovations as a novelist are highly significant. The structural framework of his fiction points to his new experiments in the presentation of his theme and philosophy in the novel. He has brought to the Indian English Novel, in the words of Prof. M.K. Naik, "an epic breadth of vision, metaphysical depth, a symbolical richness, a lyric fervour and essential Indianness of style." With lucidity and felicity of expression the author deals at length with the themes of Raja Rao and the technique used by him to present them effectively and successfully. It is hoped that this full length study of Raja Rao's all the five novels viz., Kanthapura, the Serpent and the Rope, The Cat and Shakespeare, Comrade Kirillov and the Chessmaster and his moves will help the students and scholars of Raj Rao in their proper understanding and appraisal of the organic character of Raja Rao's novels." (jacket)