Ananthamurthy was a prolific writer with a career spanning over forty years. A true modernist, he worked on both creative as well as critical writing. A true Navya writer, he knew the significance of the role of the writer as a critic. His body of work is extensive, a selection of which is included below.
On Ananthamurthy’s writing style:
Ananthamurthy often wrote in the autobiographical mode. He largely restricted himself to realism; for him, language and narrative became tools to understand the realities of the society around him. On the other hand, the artist in him transcended this restriction to realism. According to Nagaraj, “language is no longer a tool of the referential world but an excessive reality in itself” (Shobhi)
Novels
Though he has undertaken very many forms of writing, he is still known primarily for his novels. His debut novel, Samskara, has become a classic text of Kannada literature. His following novels also became largely successful and noted for their socially relevant topics. Listed below are his most prominent novels. Click on the links to learn more!
Ananthamurthy’s story Bara was published as a novella in 2016. Translated by Chandan Gowda from the Kannada, the story is centered on a bureaucrat, sympathetic to the plight of a district dealing with water scarcity. He tries to get the CM to declare the district drought-affected so that help may reach them. The story is incredibly important because of its perspective– a perspective which has not been used much before Ananthamurthy. Written during the Emergency, Bara shows the reader the realities of the Indian democracy and the political and moral dilemmas of the educated middle class.
Bara has been adapted into acclaimed films, Bara (1982) in Kannada, and Sookha (1983) in Hindi.
You can purchase it here.
Poetry
Apart from his prose, Ananthamurthy also wrote many poems. Unfortunately, only a few of them are available online. Listed below are some of those poems:
- It Is Raining Again (1956)
- The Wrinkles On Grandpa’s Shoulder (1989)
- Janus (1991)
- Kumar Gandharva (1989)
- The Dalai Lama and History
Essays
A critical writer as much as a creative one, Ananthamurthy has authored multiple essays on topics such as being a writer in India writing in a language apart from English, the difficulties of translations, Kannada literature, and political commentaries. Read a little about his essays here. A collection of 18 of his critical essays was compiled by Manu Chakraverty, called Rujuvathu: Selected Essays of U. R. Ananthamurthy. 
The very last work he wrote before passing away is a non-fiction critical piece called Hindutva or Hind Swaraj. A timely criticism of the rising Hindu nationalism in India, it pits the RSS’ idea of Hindutva with Gandhi’s idea of Hind Swaraj. Ananthamurthy remained highly skeptical of the right-wing Hindu nationalism, so it is fitting that this was his last work. You can get yourself a copy here.
Towards the end of his life, Ananthamurthy also authored an autobiography titled Suragi. A “reluctant memoirist” wrote it at the insistence of his wife, Esther Ananthamurthy. It was Ja Na Tejashri who painstaking noted everything an old and unwell Ananthamurthy dictated. It was translated into English by S.R. Ramakrishna, an editor at the Deccan Herald. Get yourself a copy here.
References
Shobhi, Prithvi Datta Chandra. “The Critical Insider.” The Indian Express, 30 Aug. 2014, indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/the-critical-insider/.
Image courtesy Tehelka (Dinesh Mangalayam).
U. R. Ananthamurthy 