Completed:
11. Tales from Firozsha Baag by Rohinton Mistry (collection of Short Stories)
12. Chicken Soup for the Writer's Soul by Mark Victor Hansen/Bud Gardner (non-fiction: collection of motivating essays on writer's lives)
13. The Age of Kali by William Dalrymple (Collection of travel essays on the Indian subcontinent)
Currently reading:
1. The Bar on the Seine
14 June 2011
13 June 2011
The Age of Kali - William Dalrymple
Although I had heard quite a lot about William Dalrymple - his travelogues, his love for India etc, I didn't have a chance earlier to read his books.
I had borrowed 'The Age of Kali' from the library little suspecting that I would be hooked on to this book for the next three weeks. Apparently this is his fourth book - a collection of essays on his travels in and around the subcontinent.
He touches a wide array of social issues such as caste system in India, regilion, politics, education and the changing lifestyles in India . He also covers Pakistan (Interviews with Imran Khan and Benazir Bhutto), Srilanka (coverage on LTTE), Afghanistan (on ghandara culture, Pathans and their heritage) and the remote St.Denis Reunion island in the Indian ocean (a French colony). The essays are well researched, to the point and the writing style is just right - neither too verbose nor too dry. Although all these essays are slightly dated (between 1990 - 1999), they are worth every minute that one spends on them.
Extremely entertaining, his talent shines through the articles.
I am not a fan of non-fiction but I just could not put it down. I remember reading in a book that reading good books spoils your appetite for bad ones. Luckily, I have many thousands more to go so I may never have to face a disappointment.
I had borrowed 'The Age of Kali' from the library little suspecting that I would be hooked on to this book for the next three weeks. Apparently this is his fourth book - a collection of essays on his travels in and around the subcontinent.
He touches a wide array of social issues such as caste system in India, regilion, politics, education and the changing lifestyles in India . He also covers Pakistan (Interviews with Imran Khan and Benazir Bhutto), Srilanka (coverage on LTTE), Afghanistan (on ghandara culture, Pathans and their heritage) and the remote St.Denis Reunion island in the Indian ocean (a French colony). The essays are well researched, to the point and the writing style is just right - neither too verbose nor too dry. Although all these essays are slightly dated (between 1990 - 1999), they are worth every minute that one spends on them.
Extremely entertaining, his talent shines through the articles.
I am not a fan of non-fiction but I just could not put it down. I remember reading in a book that reading good books spoils your appetite for bad ones. Luckily, I have many thousands more to go so I may never have to face a disappointment.
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