The title of this book says it all. It almost sounds a little cartoonish, like bugs bunny and friends or something like that, but "Swami and Friends" perfectly sums up this novel. Its all about our young protagonist and all of the friends that he grows up with. I think that we all have a little Swami in us. That need to please the people around us, especially our friends, can be a very strong motivator. It hurt me a little bit that Swami could not stay friends with all of the children that we see in his posse at the beginning of the novel, but I suppose that is just a natural part of growing up, no matter where you live or the circumstances of your life.

Swami is ten years old, and life for him consists mainly of the adventures that he has with his friends, avoiding monotonous homework, something we can all relate to, and coping as best as he can with the teachers and other authority figures he may encounter. His greatest passion is the M.C.C - the Malgudi Cricket Club - which he founds together with his friends. His crowning achievement is the day when his tests are over and he gets off school. Then its time to party. Narayan uses delicate details to make us sympathetic to the boys and their adeventures and he establishes perfectly a childhood world that is far more realistic than some of the other novels that we've read before.

Of course, Swami’s innocent and impulsive nature winds him up getting him in trouble as the civil unrest of 1930s India carries him and friends into uncharted territory. The quite, normally subdued b oy somehow manages to get himself expelled from two schools and he even runs away from home.
Despite Swami’s little adventures this novel is far more than a simple narrative of friends playing cricket, as interesting as that is.