India's Best Books


No. Book Author
1. A House For Mr. Biswas V.S. Naipaul
2. Aag Ka Dariya Qurratulain Hyder
3. Adha Gaon Rahi Masoom Reza
4. Adhe Adhure Mohan Rakesh
5. All About H. Hatterr GV Desani
6. Aranyer Din Ratri Sunil Gangopadhyay
7. Charandas Chor Habib Tanvir
8. Chidamabara Sumitranandan Pant
9. Coolie Mulk Raj Anand
10. Dipshikha Mahadevi Verma
11. English August Upamanyu Chatterjee
12. Family Matters Rohinton Mistry
13. Ghasiram Kotwal Vijay Tendulkar
14. God of Small Things Arundhati Roy
15. Golden Gate Vikram Seth
16. Hajar Churashir Ma Mahasweta Devi
17. Indulekha O. Chandu Menon
18. Interpreter of Maladies Jhumpa Lahiri
19. Kanthapura Raja Rao
20. Kayar Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai
21. Khasakinte Ithihaasam O.V. Vijayan
22. Kitne Pakistan Kamleshwar
23. Kitni Navon Men Kitni Bar Ajneya
24. Krishnakali Shivani
25. Kurukku Faustina Barna
26. Kutiyozhikkal Vailoppilli Sreedhara Menon
27. Madhushala Harivansh Rai Bachchan
28. Marali Mannige Kota Shivaram Karanth
29. Midnight's Children Salman Rushdie
30. Nilkanthi Broja Indira Goswami
31. Paraja Gopinath Molianty
32. Parimal Suryakant Tripathi 'Nirala'
33. Pather Panchali Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay
34. Pathummayude Aadu Vaikom Mohammed Basheer
35. Raag Darbari Shrilal Shukla
36. Randamuzham M. T. Vasudevan
37. Rasidi Ticket Amrita Pritam
38. Sabdar Akash Sitakant Mohapatra
39. Samskara U. R. Ananthamurthy
40. Shadow Lines Amitav Ghosh
41. Swami and Friends R. K. Narayan
42. Tamas Bhisham Sahni
43. Terhi Lakeer Ismat Chugtai
44. The Flight of Pigeons Ruskin Bond
45. Train To Pakistan Khushwant Singh
46. Tughlaq Girish Karnad
47. Zindaginama Krishna Sobti

Some Famous Characters in Literature
Famous Indian Authors


Adam : A character in the Bible, also in `Paradise Lost' by Milton.

Aladdin : A well-known character in the `Arabian Nights', in possession of the magic ring and lamp.

Alice : A little girl in `Alice in Wonderland' and `Through the Looking Glass' by Lewis Carrol.

Ariel : In `The Tempest' by William Shakespeare, an airy Spirit which is controlled by Prospero.

Anna Karenina : The heroine of the novel of the same name by Leo Tolstoy.

Ancient Mariner : A character in the poem of the same name by S. T. Coleridge, who describes his supernatural experiences to the wedding guests.

Antonio : A character in `The Merchant of Venice' by Shakespeare. Shylock the cruel money lender, is bent on taking one pound of flesh from his body.

Bassanio : A friend of Antonio in `The Merchant of Venice'.

Beatrix : Heroine in W. M. Thackeray's novel `Henry Esmond'.

Beatrice : Heroine of Shakespeare's `Much Ado About Nothing'. She plays a delightful role and is famous for her witty dialogues.

Brutus Mercus : The historic character in `Julius Caesar' of Shakespeare. He assassinates his friend Julius Caesar, the Emperor of Rome.

Christian : An allegorical character and hero of `The Pilgrim's Progress' of John Bunyan.

Clare : Hero of `Tess' by Thomas Hardy.

Cleopatra : The heroine of `Antony and Cleopatra' of Shakespeare. She was the beautiful queen of Egypt. G. B. Shaw also has dramatised her in his `Caesar and Cleopatra.'

Cordelia : The faithful and youngest daughter of Lear in Shakespeare's play `King Lear'.

Desdemona : Faithful wife of Othello in Shakespeare's drama `Othello'.

Don Quixote : A famous character in Cervente's novel of the same name. He is an eccentric figure striking at a windmill taking it for a giant.

Don Juan : A character in the poem of the same name by Lord Byron.

Dushyanta : Husband of Shakuntala and the hero of the play in Kalidasa's Abhigyan Shakuntlam'.