Falling Walls

Chetan is a young man from Jalandhar who longs to be a writer and fails at nearly every turn. Falling Walls, Upendranath Ashk's novel from 1947, follows his struggles and setbacks in close detail.

The story moves through the back lanes of Lahore and Jalandhar and up to Scandal Point in Shimla. Along the way it builds an intimate picture of lower-middle-class life in the 1930s, and of the obstacles an aspiring writer must clear to reach his goal. The English translation is by Daisy Rockwell.