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Amazon.co.uk Review
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
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.
Whereas 'City of Djinns' and his later work 'White Mughals' were heavy on historical narratives and anecdotes, 'The Age of Kali' finds the author a more visible presence. Like in his stunning debut 'In Xanadu', the book leaves you impressed by his bravery in pursuit of his subject. From accessing the base camps of the Tamil Tigers to travelling the lawless mountain routes of Northern Pakistan, Dalrymple builds a vivid and remarkable picture of the region seldom exposed by journalists of any nationality, and often with considerable personal risk. Although the book has no unifying objective, the articles included build an informative overview without any prescriptive remit. If you enjoy this - which you should - you should read the aforementioned titles in the author's back catalogue. If you want to complement it with some fiction, try Rohinton Mistry's 'A Fine Balance' or 'Family Matters'.
At first I was very enthusiastic. However Dalrymple makes occasional comparisons with Europe and I realised that, while he... Read more
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