R. K. Narayan is one of India's premier English-language novelists. Since the author's place of birth was at one time under British rule, the English language of The Guide is slightly different than U.S. English. Thus, the reader will notice some variation in the spelling of such words as "nought" (for "naught"). Narayan's use of the language is nimble and deceptively simple. Upon close examination, however, one can recognize that many of the inflections employed in this narrative are decidedly British-influenced.