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TOP FICTION AND LITERATURE
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GITA MEHTA
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Snakes and
Ladders
Gita Mehta brings
modern India to life in a series of essays about the economy, politics and
history. As parts of India reach toward the first world, Mehta describes
how the caste system is slowly disappearing, poor people are working their
way out of debt, and all the people are working toward a democracy. An
Oxford-educated writer and reporter, Mehta presents a well-rounded picture
of the multitude of cultures, civilizations and attitudes represented by
the various areas in India. SNAKES AND LADDERS engrosses the listener,
peeling away the veils of myth and presenting an in-depth, educated
picture of this important world culture.
I knew next to nothing
about modern India, so I learned a lot from these breezy essays. Sure they
wonder all over the place -- chapters jump from political topics to the
draught to Indian yuppies, but for the casual reader, the essays are very
entertaining and informatative. The effect is that of reading several
short travelogues about India all in a row. Mehta writes well and makes
some sharp observations about India's political development. I wanted to
see more description of the various parts of India (the desert like areas
versus the huge cities and vast fertile plains) because it is a land of
such great contrasts. Most of the essays left me wanting to know more. I
enjoyed the personal anecdotes from the author's childhood. Not a history
book, but a good and easy to read overview for the Indian
novice.
The thirty five essays that make up “Snakes and Ladders”
appear to have been written over a number of years and all show an insight
into her [and my adoptive] beloved land, she says in the introduction that
she wrote them to help her to make sense of her own land; in doing so she
has helped me and countless others do the same. She does not pull
punches and shows the seamier of political life here; thus some of the
essays are necessarily pessimistic and yet I do not feel that that is the
tone of the work as a whole. I think she is saying in the end that
despite all this India and Indians will survive and move forward and will
continue to gift to the world the unique perspective of the oldest extant
civilization on the planet. Let us hope that world is ready to
listen to that message and let us also hope that those in political life
here who need the same lessons will gain them,
too.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-form/002-9132164-6688818
A River Sutra
My teacher for AP
Literature suggested that I read this book, and I'm thrilled that I did.
The story takes place on the Narmada River, which is quite possibly
believed to be the holiest place on Earth. The main character encounters
various travelers who share their stories with him, and although every
story is beautiful, unique, and often surprising, they are bound together
through love, faith, and almost always music. Gita Mehta explores the
different forms of love, the connecting force of faith, and highlights
much of this with music. One of the questions I have to answerwhen
responding to this book for class is what type of reader is needed to
enjoy this book. This is the only book I've ever read where the only
answer I can give is "a pulse." This book combines eloquent writing with
fascinating stories, and there is nobody that I wouldn't encourage to read
it.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0679752471/qid=1013653988/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_1/002-9132164-6688818
Karma Cola
This book is a classic.
Her use of the language is extra-ordinary. She touches on the most
'Indian' of values with a great sense of humor and almost trivialises
them. She makes you really think about issues that matter and drove(still
drive) thousands of Westerners to India. She has also done a great job of
contrasting the Eastern and Western view of life, death and everything
spiritual.
Sometime in the 1960s, the West adopted India as its
newest spiritual resort. The next anyone knew, the Beatles were squatting
at the feet of the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Expatriate hippies were turning
on entire villages to the pleasures of group sex and I.V. drug use. And
Indians who were accustomed to earning enlightenment the old-fashioned way
were finding that the visitors wanted their Nirvana now -- and that plenty
of native gurus were willing to deliver it.
No one has observed the
West's invasion of India more astutely than Gita Mehta. In Karma Cola the
acclaimed novelist trains an unblinking journalistic eye on jaded sadhus
and beatific acid burnouts, the Bhagwan and Allen Ginsberg, guilt-tripping
English girls and a guru who teaches gullible tourists how to view their
previous incarnations. Brilliantly irreverent, hilarious, sobering, and
wise, Mehta's book is the definitive epitaph for the era of spiritual
tourism and all its casualties -- both Eastern and Western. "Evelyn Waugh
would have rejoiced."
-- The New York Times Book Review
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-form/002-9132164-6688818
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SALMAN RUSHDIE
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Midnight’s
Children
This is an amazing book - I had thought, when
I started, that it may have been a very heady, difficult to read book (as
so many Booker Prize winners are), but I found it very easy to read,
despite Rushdie's very interesting style. He has a very unpretentious
voice, almost young sounding, but Saleem is an ancient soul. He
communicates well to those less ancient then himself. It's absolutely
crammed with little things to recommend it. I honestly can't fit them into
a review. The amount of detail, the little stories all weaving themselves
into each other, the colourful characters and events, the meticulous
planning Rushdie has obviously done before writing - there is so much
foreshadowing, it keeps you turning pages furiously! - and the overall
impact of the book is amazing. I can't recommend this enough. Read
it!
…… But suffice to say, it is the story of Saleem Sinai, a midnight
child, born at the moment of India's Independance, and therefore,
absolutely and irrevocably tied to his nation's events. He will be your
guide. Follow him, if you are ready to take your imagination on an
uncontrolable roller coaster of sights, sounds, and ESPECIALLY
smells!
….I could go on for a long time about this book. I have read a
lot of books but this one is probaly the best post war book, and for sure
on of the best books ever written.
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