Books about India

isabel

A good list of books about India can be found in

http://www.booksandlinks.com/india/india1.htm

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DianeN.

Wow! That is a fantastic list! I've bookmarked it and am already wondering how much it's gonna cost me in the long run !!

albaruni

Poems of A K Ramanujan : Interior landscapes : poems of love and war

Climbing Chamundi Hill : 1001 Steps with a Storyteller and a Reluctant Pilgrim, Ariel Glucklich

KA : Roberto calusso

Manimeckalai by sattan the merchant prince: a translation by allen danielou

All the pulp by shoba de.

...

one or two others...

SHIMLA

That's a great list !

Booklovers may also explore this link:

http://www.granth.com/

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Whoever said money can't buy happiness didn't know where to shop !

tstan

A brilliant list, Isabella - I am a bit of a list freak! - and, as always, Shimla,your information about Granth.com is essential for mail orders (perhaps that might save my back!).

In the environs of Indira Gandhi International Airport in very late January 2004, you can expect to see a heavily laden middle-aged couple of tourists with large backpacks full of Rajasthani and Gujarati textiles as well as purchases from the antiquarian bookshops of Mumbai!

Bryan

A Scottish writer but very very accomplished who spent over 10 years in Delhi

William Dalrymple ...His books are very very good

__________________
Then let us pray that come it may
(As come it will for a' that),
That Sense and Worth o'er a' the earth,
Shall bear the gree an a' that.
For a' that, an a' that,
It's coming yet for a' that,
That man to man, the world, o'er
Shall brithers be for a' that.
- Burns

SHIMLA

I agree. Just finished(an hour ago !) his "White Mughals", a fascinating book. The amount of research he seems to have put into this is tremendous! I also liked his "City of Djinns".
Look forward to read his "Age of Kali" and "In Xanadu"; but will have to wait till my next trip to India, as English books are a rarity here in Yangon.

tstan,
Granth.com is the website of a huge bookstore called "Granth" in the suburb of Goregaon, Mumbai. "Granth" means a huge volume(book).
I will hopefully check out this store too, on my next visit to Mumbai.
You may also check the website http://www.strandbookstall.com , the website of Strand Book Stall which is located at Dhannur building, off P.M. Road, Fort, Mumbai. Its my favourite book shop, but I'm not aware whether they have a provision for deliveries outside India.

Jeroen

On this trip I've been focussing on 'Indian reads' and have finished...

Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
Really fabulous book, better if you have already travelled here (Mumbai especially) and know a bit about the history of the place. Though I learnt much about the shocking bits of Indian history through this book. 'The Widow' aka Indira Ghandi had it banned of course, but it's available locally now.

Son of the Circus - John Irving
He's no India specialist, and it's more a novel set in Mumbai than about the place, but it's a good read nevertheless with lots of nice insights.

On a shoestring to Coorg - Dervla Murphy
Travel classic - woman with 5-year old daughters travels from Mumbai south in 1973, mostly staying in Coorg/Kodragu, south Karnataka. Great read, lots of information (though it should have been called 'On toddy to Coorg' as the Irishwoman drinks like and Irishman). This book is the reason I visited Coorg and her descriptions/observations are still spot on. She stayed in Munnar too, meeting Mr Joseph Iype, at whose guesthouse I am staying right now

Chasing the monsoon - Alexander Frater
Interesting and funny book about the arrival of the rains, which really influence everything in India.

No full stops in India - Mark Tully
Excellent set of essays on various aspects of India by the BBC correspondent. Revealing insights on rural life and politics, sati and the Kumbh Mela.

The god of small things - Arundhati Roy
Nice book, gives you a bit of background on Kerala. Surprisingly, an old man in Allepuzha told me that some commie revolutionaries fighting the Keralan maharadjas in 1947/8 used a special secret language consisting of Malayalam spoken backwards... just like the children in T.G.O.S.T. do!

City of Djinns - William Dalrymple
Not as well-written as Mark Tully, but good book on Delhi, travelling back in history.

Hope this helps, folks!

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DianeN.

I didn't like Holy Cow when I first started reading it either. But after I finished the book, I was glad I plodded all the way through it. I was put off by her pessimistic attitude in the beginning, but I think it was all a part of her reaction to her culture shock and then eventually she worked herself through it.

Apana

Everybody loves a good drought: stories from India's poorest districts by P. Sainath

River Dog: A journey down the Bhramaputra by Mark Shand

Sacred Waters: A pilgrimage to the many sources of the Ganga by Stephen Alter

The Land of Naked People: Encounters with Stone Age Islanders by Madhushree Mukerjee (about the Andamans).

For books on India I recommend Manohar Books

(use the 'more subjects' link at the bottom of the page if looking for books on a particular state/region, or subject).

Apana

beach

If you want to see the optimistic point of view about India read “India Unbound” by Gurucharan Das. A brilliant account of its past, present and future. Politics, economics and demography is explained in a down to earth style. Easy reading for an ordinary person.

If you want to see the pessimistic (?) views of India’s problems (esp. the communal), read “The End of India” by Kushwant singh. A very small book(a collection of articles).

Both are from Penguin.

albaruni

Rob_The_Pom

An excellent list!
I think Dalrymple's books are simply the finest travel books I've ever read.
The Age of Kali is an extraordinarily powerful piece of writing.

Five Past Midnight in Bhopal by Lapierre and Moreno is also an outstanding and tragic read.

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beach

Generally people who buy books and read are serious ones. Reading may not bias them that easily. We have the TV documentaries to bias people in mass. You need to sensationalise the TV programs to keep people glued to the screen. In case of the books, if people didn’t like it, it wont be recommended for another reader.

Basho

I also enjoyed 'Holy Cow'. I almost didn't buy it in an airport book store because at first glance It seemed to peddle stereotypes. Sheila Mc Donald does get under the skin of the experience of the spiritually curious westerner in India. I was surprised at how many of the same places she visited ten years after I had and how well she described them. Ultimately she is deeply sympathetic to India.