This is a love story, a translation of an Indian sex manual, an erotic farce, and a murder mystery. The hero of this protean comedy, Leopold Roth, complains, "I am a tenured full professor of Indian studies and a Sanskrit scholar, and yet never, never in my life, have I made love to an Indian woman." Imagining that such an intimacy would provide a deeper and truer understanding of what he has spent his academic life mastering, a happily married Roth becomes obsessed with Lalita Gupta, nubile student and avatar of his fantasies of a sexually idyllic ancient realm. Although this California-born Indian girl has no interest in India, the past, or him, Roth sets out to seduce her and, at the same time, to teach her who she is in terms of the history of Indian culture. To that end he begins to translate the "Kamasutr" for her, interspersing that translation with a confessional commentary. By inventing a bogus summer study abroad program, the professor is able to abduct Lalita to the land of her ancestors.
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First Sentence
During this painful period in his life, a time in which he felt threatened by what he called his "Oriental distractions," Lee, drinking even more gin than usual, was trying to use writing as a method of dealing with the failure of his erotic impulses, as a way of understanding, if not overcoming, his inability to forge a strong and rational, peaceful and permanent love relationship. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
During this painful period in his life, a time in which he felt threatened by what he called his "Oriental distractions," Lee, drinking even more gin than usual, was trying to use writing as a method of dealing with the failure of his erotic impulses, as a way of understanding, if not overcoming, his inability to forge a strong and rational, peaceful and permanent love relationship. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Hardcover
I bought this book because NYT included it in its list. What a disappointment. I read 10 pages, lost interest. When I flipped through the book, I found pages printed upside down, drawings, printout of computer pages. A really good writer doesn't need these gimmicks. Give me a break, Professor Siegel.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Hardcover
People who like this book have to be the author's friends. This so called novel is all about the stream of consciousness, sub-consciousness, unconsciousness of a very boring man. Knowing something about the author, this professor of Indian studies has to be his alter-ego. You are always inside his head, there are no real characters, no dialogue, and no atmosphere. The ideas are half-baked, the narrative is repetitious. No wonder it's published by an academic press.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Hardcover
So those of us who wants to read a good story should NOT buy his book.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Hardcover
Read the review of this book published in Kirkus Review (2-15-99) which was deleted from this site and you will know why I don't recommend this book. I have also read, or more appropriately, tried to read Siegel's other novel CITY OF DREADFUL NIGHT. I managed only 3 pages, just couldn't hold the interest.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Hardcover
Lee Siegel can't tell a story
Format:Hardcover
There have been enough summaries of this text in other reviews so I won't venture my summary here. Perhaps it's enough just for me to say I experienced the book as a journey, an interloping & interlooping series of stories that may (or may not) involve the author with the narrator(s) & the narrators appearing to come to life & enter into the (presumed) real life of the author, Lee Siegel. Just who is who in this moebius strip of self revelation? The chief narrator, Roth, is a creation of the author, Siegel, but Roth is translating the KamaSutra & in doing so has so fallen for the narrative that he is possessed by the desire to act it out, regardless of reality, his (fictional) position & truly wonderful wife. He loses touch with his (fictional) reality to create his text within a text reality of India & romantico-erotic love with his alluring but bland student. Not only is nothing real in their relationship, it soon becomes clear that Roth (who is fictional) is imposing his vision of ancient, classical & wondrous India upon the current run-down state of the Indian cities & temples.
All this writing seems to wear out our author (Siegel) who seems himself to feel the text of the KamaSutra & Roth's infidelities wearing on him so he must enter the (fictional) text in person to intervene. The whole thing is a wonderful phantasmagoria, with stories within stories within stories. Is it comedy? Sure, if you like. Is it tragedy? Undoubtedly, if you read it as such. Is it love story? Well, I found it to be one, partially, sometimes. Is it erotic literature about erotic literature within erotic literature? Absolutely, whatever that means.
I agree with others who say the book is not for everyone, as some very disgruntled reviews show. But that makes it all the more special.
... Read more ›
By A Customer
Format:Hardcover
Siegel's book can be navigated, if you're a member of his family or a grad student influenced by Northrup Frye's "Anatomy of Fiction". The anatomies Frye lists in his wonderful book descend from Gargantua and Pantagruel, Tristram Shandy, Joyce's Ulysses and others . An anatomy such as the 18th c. Thristram Shandy usually sports a non-linear narrative with many clever graphics, charts, marbelized pages and completely black pages, as in Shandy's "Alas poor yorick, I knew him wee.." (not too shabby gor 1715, eh?. So if we see pages printed upside down in Language In A Dead Voice,or lists of items in sanscrit etc. we may assume this work could be considered an "anatomy" rather than a Romance (also delinrated by Frye. It's too bad that this work is not particulalrly entertaining. TRistram Shandy, on the contrary, is a wonderfully funny anatomy even though it containds no mention of Amazon. com or Alta Vista.Eat your heart out deconstructionists! See above Kirkus review which in my opinion is right on.
By A Customer
Format:Hardcover
This book is a party to which Nabakov has been invited; he, Siegel and the reader have a terrifically good time. The hero of sorts, Leopold Roth, meets his downfall in the person of Lalita Gupta; his alleged translation of the Kama Sutra is actually his chronicle of his love affair with her and its aftermath -- including his death under ridiculous circumstances at the hands of the only character truly capable of doing it. Try this book; I don't think you'll regret it.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Dazzling!
Clever and profound; intellectual fun for adults. As I don't know how to take the Kama Sutra in this day and age, this pseudo-scholarly treatment enlivened by fiction/fantasy was... Read more
Published on 28 Aug 1999
1.0 out of 5 stars
DEFINITELY NOT FOR SOMEONE WHO WANTS A GOOD STORY
Since this book's publisher (University of Chicago Press)calls this "A Romance," I had started the book with the expectations that it would be a good story. No. Read more
Published on 9 Aug 1999
4.0 out of 5 stars
Fun, but not for everyone
I came to this book knowing something, but not a lot, about literary theory; and something, but not a lot, about India. Read more
Published on 7 Aug 1999
5.0 out of 5 stars
Unfu-kin' Unbelievable Says Lalita!!
I just finished Love in a Dead Language and pulled up the reviews to see the superlatives used to describe it. I was blown away at the poor reviews! Read more
Published on 6 Aug 1999
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic.
Witty, erudite and great fun though clearly not for everyone. Helps to have some familiarity with India, Nabokov and the rest of Siegel's loves - if you miss the context you... Read more
Published on 17 Jun 1999
3.0 out of 5 stars
Kama Sutra Sanscrit translator stalks female Indian student
A professor of Indian studies desires to make love to an Indian woman to complete his understanding of India and the Kama Sutra. Read more
Published on 16 Jun 1999
5.0 out of 5 stars
Obviously a book to love or hate
I loved it and would like applaud: 'Author, author,' but where IS the author in the text? In fact, this is one of Siegel's chief questions in this tale of erotic love and... Read more
Published on 28 April 1999
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