In India

My third Dalrymple book and again has not let this reader down. His travel writing stands out in that he can write his own descriptions of his observations or he can let just let the conversation with whom he is talking to speak for itself within the narrative. What a superb writer. Subcontinent his Leggi tutto

I must say I had to reset my expectations while reading this book. I started reading what I thought would be an unprejudiced holistic third-person view of India, unaffected by patriotic sentiments, yet aided by a depth of understanding of the subcontinent and its culture. For William Dalrymple is el Leggi tutto

Dalrymple is a good writer. I’ve read some of his other books and thought they were better. Because this book was written in 1988 it is bound to be out of date in some ways. The author is an English journalist who has lived in India and we assume likes it because he keeps going back to the subject. Leggi tutto

What struck me about this book was that there was not a single positive remark on India or any of the other countries discussed. Even many of the personalities mentioned in the book were discussed from a cynical point of view. I understand that the book deals with the age of Kali which is a rather n Leggi tutto

Detailed review coming up. Edit: Full review India is a country of such great culture and over centuries of invasions and fights for freedom, we as a country, have emerged as a powerful plethora of multitude of wonders. The Age of Kali is one such view of this country through Dalrymple's lens, as well Leggi tutto

http://nhw.livejournal.com/861712.html [return][return]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, and there is occasional repetition from one piece to the next, wit Leggi tutto

3.5/5 This was my second book by Dalrymple and I was quite impressed by his ability to find stories and narrate them interestingly with great perception and empathy in "Nine Lives". While the narration and perception are still good, some of the stories r a bit common-place. Still, a good read especi Leggi tutto

A historian - with countless awards and multiple honorary doctorates - writes *a* chapter with *100* mistakes. A Chapter about Jaffna: Fun facts. Central Bank attack was in 1996. NOT in 1997. Mullaithivu attack was in 1996. NOT in 1997. *Giving benefit of the doubt -- typo cos author may have "fat fin Leggi tutto

Two very bad chapters in this book has compelled me to give this a 1 star 1. In the chapter about Awadh Dalrymple goes on a nostalgia overdose and portrays Awadh as the best kingdom in the entire history of India. The fact is that Awadh was a disaster the rulers were opium addicts and made a mess of Leggi tutto