- Hardcover: 352 pages
- Publisher: HarperCollins; First Edition/second printing edition (2 Nov 1998)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0002555107
- ISBN-13: 978-0002555104
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 16.3 x 3.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 177,115 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
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
Product Description
The fourth book from the most acclaimed and gifted young travel writer of his generation, author of the best-selling In Xanadu, City of Djinns and From the Holy Mountain.
William Dalrymple, who wrote so magically about India in City of Djinns, returns to the country in a series of remarkable essays. Featured in the pages of Indian Ink are fifteen-year-old guerrilla girls and dowager Maharanis; flashy Bombay drinks parties and violent village blood feuds; a group of vegetarian terrorists intent on destroying India’s first Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet; and a palace where port and cigars are still carried to guests on a miniature silver steam train.
In the course of his travels Dalrymple meets such figures as Imran Khan, Ismail Merchant, Benazir Bhutto and Baba Sehgal, the Indian Gary Glitter; he witnesses the macabre nightly offering to the bloodthirsty goddess Parashakti – She Who is Seated on a Throne of Five Corpses; he experiences civil war in Kashmir and caste massacres in the badlands of Bihar, and dines with a drug baron on the North-West Frontier; he discovers such oddities as the terrorist apes of Jaipur (only brought to book when the municipality began impregnating their bananas with opium); and the shrine where Lord Krishna is said to make love every night to his 16,108 wives and 64,732 milkmaids.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Dalrymple's fourth book differs from his previous travel writings in that this is a collection of newspaper and magazine articles written while he was an 'India correspondant'. Each piece reflects a part of modern Indian or Pakistani life ranging in scope from Untouchables to Prime Ministers and from Tamil Tigers to India's new Upper Classes. While the book is not quite in the vein of Dalrymple's previous travel books it is an interesting snapshot of Indian life and each article rarely fails to captivate or entertain in some way. It is just a little unfortunate that some of the articles are just a bit short and don't go into their particular topic areas in enough detail - you get to the end of a chapter and are left with the feeling, 'is that it?'
'The Age of Kali' is not, in my opinion, as good as Dalrymple's earlier Indian work, 'City of Djinns', but for anyone interested in a learned, and humoured look at modern issues in the Indian subcontinent then 'The Age of Kali' (a reference to the Hindi age of chaos) is well worth a look.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
An excellent tour through India (and a short peek at Pakistan). The age of Kali is supposed to be at the end of time, when morals are discarded and chaos reigns... kind of like right now.
This is a bit out of date now, but unfortunately all the shocking parts are still relevant. Dalrymple has talent in talking with people and getting them to reveal their old memories; much better than reading some dry history book, this actually gets people's opinions of the horrors of Partition and the violence that followed as Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims tore each other apart.
It is shocking how awful conditions are. India is a fast growing country whose economy and nuclear power make it a dominant Asian country and, possibly soon, a world player. Yet there are still huge regions still suffering severe poverty, pollution and ethnic clashes. Corruption is rife, hatred is commonplace. Into all this comes Dalrymple. I particularly enjoyed his interviews in Pakistan, especially with Benazir Bhutto, managing to expose her for the fraud that she is.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Dalrymple really understands modern India. I lived there for 3 years and this is the first book that has got if right. No Raj hangover ideas, no druggie tripper ideas, just journalistic skills and historical and social context. A good introduction for newcomers to India, a great read for those of us who have lived there and loved it
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