Aubrey Menen
Author
1912 – 1989
Who was Aubrey Menen?
Aubrey Menen was an English writer of Irish and Indian parentage who was primarily a satirist. He was also a drama critic, theater director, advertising agency executive, and an alumnus of University College London. His essays and novels explore the nature of nationalism and the cultural contrast between his own Irish-Indian ancestry and his traditional British upbringing. The first sentence of "Dead Man in the Silver Market" offers an example of his good-humored approach to this contentious topic: "Men of all races have always sought for a convincing explanation of their own astonishing excellence and they have frequently found what they were looking for."
Menen's retelling of the classic Hindu epic the Ramayana is meant as a funny and readable version of the work, but devout Hindus were horrified by the liberties Menen took with a sacred text and it was banned in India for some years. Menen's humor did not undercut his love for India, however, as can be seen in his book on Hindu mystics and his text to Rolof Beny's great book of photographs of India.
A quote: "There are three things which are real: God, human folly, and laughter. Since the first two pass our comprehension, we must do what we can with the third."
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