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The Age of Kali: Travels and Encounters in India
 
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The Age of Kali: Travels and Encounters in India (Paperback)

by William Dalrymple (Author)
4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
RRP: £8.99
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Product details

  • Paperback: 356 pages
  • Publisher: Flamingo; New edition edition (21 Jun 1999)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0006547753
  • ISBN-13: 978-0006547754
  • Product Dimensions: 19.7 x 12.9 x 2.7 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 27,083 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #33 in  Books > Travel & Holiday > Countries & Regions > Asia > India

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Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review
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 back-packer'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 to India where Dalrymple continues to return 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 travelling 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 slip into the cultural pessimism of books such as V.S. Naipaul's Beyond Belief. 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 non-fictional companion pieces to Salman Rushdie's bitterly satirical Shame. The Age of Kali is a dark, disturbing book which takes the pulse of a continent facing some tough questions. --Jerry Brotton

Review
'Dalrymple is probably the best travel writer of his generation' Daily Mail 'The future of travel writing lies in the hands of gifted authors like Dalrymple' Sara Wheeler, Independent

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Customer Reviews

14 Reviews
5 star:
 (9)
4 star:
 (4)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.6 out of 5 stars (14 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A highly lucid and intelligent series of essays on India., 13 Jan 2000
By A Customer
I adored this book. Instead of the usual bland statements of a by-stander on the look-out for material for a book, Dalrymple has very obviously written a book about what he has seen in the course of many years' dedicated observation and investigation. The writing is as consistently finely-tuned as his observations, and his depth of knowledge enables him to throw light with what appears to be great ease on complex cultural, historical and religious issues.

I was born in India, left at the age of two and have returned for numerous visits since. Such entertaining and informative writing helps to explain and endear a country about which, on some levels, I know a fair amount, and on other levels I have often felt at a great loss to even begin to comprehend. In particular, the chapter about Hyderabad, fascinated me. My mother has often told stories of the great wealth and beauty of the city when she was growing up there in an affluent Muslim neighbourhood, but having seen it only in the 1970s to 1990s, I found these stories slightly unbelievable. Reading Dalrymple's book will certainly make me look at the city in a new light next time I visit, as it has explained the context and history of it with an insight and an interest that I have not found elsewhere.

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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A spicy Bombay mix, 11 Jan 2000
By Gary Barnett (London, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This set of journalistic essays on the state of the Indian subcontinent (India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka) in the 1990s should be essential reading for every visitor to this remarkable part of the world. The topics are wide-ranging, shocking, disturbing, uplifting and always absorbing. From political corruption to the Bombay glitterati to religious fervour and the caste system, William Dalrymple provides insights into numerous aspects of contemporary India. A lesson in history, economics, politics, religion, not to mention bigotry, hatred and corruption. A clash between the new and the old and the present day problems caused by this in Indian society is the overwhelming theme. He has a most readable style and his own fascination comes across in his writing. It reminded me intensely of why I both loved and hated India when I travelled there - and also made me ashamed of knowing so little of the local way of life (a bit like the narrator of "Are you experienced?" when he meets the journalist!) I can't recommend this book highly enough.
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18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Superb - in-depth insights into the darker side of India, 20 Jun 2000
I was very impressed by this book. I have lived in India for a number of years, but I still found this book profoundly illuminating. The author has taken much time and effort to get first hand accounts from the people at the heart of the stories. I am going to go out and buy his other books as well.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Vivd yet complacent
The Age of Kali, to be honest, is a bit disappointing. First off because of the form - it is a collection of pieces written for different journals at different times in the 1990s,... Read more
Published 16 months ago by Nicholas Whyte

4.0 out of 5 stars Classic Dalrymple and of renewed relevance
This collection of previous, but quite modern, essays deals with the darker side of the subcontinent. Read more
Published 19 months ago by A business reader

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent and insightful
William Dalrymple is absurdly young to write so well and -- rarer still -- for his journalistic enterprise which seems to effortlessly reach the inner sanctums of the movers and... Read more
Published 20 months ago by Nick Louth

5.0 out of 5 stars Ace
This really blew my mind.It gave me so much more of an insight into India and its history than any Lonely Planet and really captured my imagination whilst travelling in India. Read more
Published 21 months ago by J. Leggett

5.0 out of 5 stars Snapshots of the subcontinent
William Dalrymple's 'The Age of Kali' carries the subtitle 'Indian Travels and Encounters' but actually includes writings on Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the Indian Ocean island of... Read more
Published on 2 Jul 2007 by Demob Happy

5.0 out of 5 stars The Age of Kali
Dalrymple is as bold and observant as he is masterfull in painting in words images of an India still coming to terms with the exit of the British and partition from... Read more
Published on 15 Feb 2007 by C. F. J. Bratchell-hunt

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential reading for all visitors to India
I read this on my first trip to India recently. It made more sense of this vast continent than all the newspapers, guidebooks and personal guides put together. Read more
Published on 22 Oct 2001

4.0 out of 5 stars a must for anybody who loves or hates India
The first time I visited India (1984)it was a great experience, but I felt it could well be the last time I'd been there. Read more
Published on 27 Oct 1999

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating, breathtaking and real
William Dalrymple's "Age of Kali" is one on the best books about the Indian way of life that I've read. Read more
Published on 31 Jul 1999

4.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful collection of articles and portraits of India
William Dalrymple described this work as "a labour of love" and his affection for the people, culture and eccentricities of India is on every page. Read more
Published on 29 Jul 1999

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