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Age of Kali by: William Dalrymple List Price: CDN$ 19.95 City Travel Guides Price: CDN$ 14.56 You Save: CDN$5.39 (27%)Prices subject to change. |
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Binding: Paperback Dewey Decimal Number: 910 EAN: 9780006547754 ISBN: 0006547753 Label: HarperCollins Canada / Trade Manufacturer: HarperCollins Canada / Trade Number Of Pages: 356 Publication Date: July 15, 1999 Publisher: HarperCollins Canada / Trade Studio: HarperCollins Canada / Trade Sales Rank: 133422 Related Items: Related Items:   see moreBrowse for similar items by category:
Editorial Review: From Amazon.com: William Dalrymple has proved himself to be one of the most perceptive and enjoyable travel writers of the 1990s. His first book, In Xanadu, became an instant backpacker's classic, winning a stream of literary prizes. City of Djinns and From the Holy Mountain soon followed, to universal critical praise. Yet it is India that Dalrymple continues to return to in his travels, and his fourth book, The Age of Kali, is his most reflective book to date. The result of 10 year's living and traveling throughout the Indian subcontinent, The Age of Kali emerges from Dalrymple's uneasy sense that the region is slipping into the most fearsome of all epochs in ancient Hindu cosmology: "the Kali Yug, the Age of Kali, the lowest possible throw, an epoch of strife, corruption, darkness, and disintegration." The brilliance of this book lies in its refusal to reflect any cultural pessimism. Dalrymple's love for the subcontinent, and his feel for its diverse cultural identity, comes across in every page, which makes its chronicles of political corruption, ethnic violence, and social disintegration all the more poignant. The scope of the book is particularly impressive, from the vivid opening chapters portraying the lawless caste violence of Bihar, to interviews with the drug barons on the North-West Frontier, and Dalrymple's extraordinary encounter with the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka. Some of the most fascinating sections of the book are Dalrymple's interviews with Imran Khan and Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan, which read like nonfiction companion pieces to Salman Rushdie's bitterly satirical Shame. The Age of Kali is a dark, disturbing book that takes the pulse of a continent facing some tough questions. --Jerry Brotton, Amazon.co.uk Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
 Rating:  - the Age of EverythingDalrymple covers a lot ground including Bahir, Rajasthan, Bombay, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Goa, Sri Lanka, Reunion Island, & even Pakistan: Islamabad, Peshawar. Everywhere he goes Dalrymple(with the assistance of expertly chosen guides) gives you a sense of the historical scope of each city or region from its moment of grandeur to its moment of decline, with an equal amount of scrutiny being given to recent happenings and current political trends. In India facts must be dug for amid the many fictions in circulation and Dalrymple never one to take anyones word for anything does some admirable journalistic investigation of a murder at an elite boarding school, gathers together all the conflicting eyewitness accounts a modern day sati, and he ... Read More: Rating: - Fascinating & ForebodingAs human society careens into a new century amidst an onslaught of technological breakthroughs, consumer (re)values and mixed-message morality, all sorts of fire-breathers and reactionaries have come out of the woodwork, ancient texts in tow, to proclaim that the "End of Days" is nigh. Of course, such finger-wagging foreboding has been spouted by prophets/preachers for hundreds of years, but considering the rate of massive change occurring at the moment, and the massive change inevitable to come, these apocalyptic ruminations begin to have a seductive ring. Interestingly, most of the world's religions/belief systems contain some sort of Armageddon-theory, in which the wicked and faithless will be scathed & slain and their countless victims ... Read More: Rating: - Must read book on IndiaDalrymple has written an incisive book on contemporary India. He also shows how the country is changing. Most westerners, particulalry Americans either don't know or don't care about India. Client states of the US are the preocupation of the government and ordinary people alike while deep seated prejudices are exhibited in everyday life. I hope that those who will have a chance to read Dalrymple will be better informed and will not be as prejudiced against the country and people from this country. Rating:  - william dalrymple shinesDalrymple offers an enjoyable and well-written travel narrative that, in a sense, takes one back to india. His knowledge of india's people and places is transferred to the reader through engaging, sophisticated, and poetic language. i didn't think i'd like it when i first cracked the spine, but it turned out to be a real page turner. another great work from william dalrymple Rating: - An important book, a "must-read"Dalrymple's work is a real surprise. To be honest, I hadn't even heard of the author until I read (on this site) a rather poisonous reader's review of Jason Elliot's excellent book about Afghanistan (An Unexpected Light) that included a statement like, "He's no Dalrymple..." Dalrymple's travels in India are masterfully recorded. He manages to meet and talk with major figures in India's fast-changing society, including a variety of notorious and violent characters. Dalrymple investigates the slow erosion of the caste system, the increased awareness of women's rights (and the fissure that the issue has opened between urban and rural populations), the corruption and the squalor, and India's newly emerged wealth and power in a way ... Read More: |
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