Asia Books

This book is incredible. First, the photography is excellent, beautifully portraying most of the recipes. The book begins with a complete listing of all of the ingredients used. It is about 6 pages of pertinent information, including pictures for some of the most obscure ingredients. The recipes cover a thorough range of the basic recipes that you may be looking for. I am Indian and am thrilled with the list. Just about every recipe is critical, they appear back-to-back and have several pictures. I will probably cook every recipe in the Indian section. That section alone makes it worth the purchase. However, it covers seven other asian cuisines in a very similar manner. It also offers enticing "melting pot" menus, mixing the cuisines. You will get the recipes you want, that you can make, with a little commentary and exquisite pictures. This is one of the best cook books I have ever seen.

All recipes are well described and illustrated. Everything is clear and easy to understand.

It is soo good !! I tried the eggs curry from Indonesia it is so yummy !! Also the have menu suggestions so that was real helpfull since I do a lot of parties !!!

Picture of Singapore's famous food example spicy satay,laksa,chicken rice...

Starting with Mary (Kiddie) Ruggieri's departure from Camp Stoneman in Pittsburg, California she takes the reader on a journey across the ocean to Japan shortly after World War II and back home again. She wrote about her onboard quarters and activities on her ocean voyage as well as the family she left behind.

As a member of the 8000th WAC Detachment that arrived in Japan in October 1946, Mary saw a whole new world open to her eyes. Having a penchant for photography she certainly used her hobby to intertwine her storyline in this book. She wrote of her first sight of the Japanese people and the land that would be her home for the following months. She provided descriptions of the women's quarters compared to where the men were living and to where other WACs were living within the country itself.

From a non-travelers point of view this was a very interesting book. It included more than 485 photos and facts that accompanied each segment of the author's journals, letters and memories. Mary brought her photos to life with her entries. She wrote about the soldier she met and fell in love with along with the things they did for fun. But I was still amazed at how much sight-seeing time she seemed to have while in Japan. I was also surprised to read about and see photos of Nagasaki since Mary was there just a couple of years after the USA had dropped an atomic bomb on it.

Throughout this book Mary takes the reader to places most of us have only read about or never heard of before this. She introduces the reader to the sights, sounds and smells of Japan following the war. When her time was finally up Mary returned to the USA aboard another ship. Again she wrote of the activities aboard the ship. She was a very happy woman once she stepped foot on US soil in May 1948.

This book is well worth reading.

Reviewed by Kam Aures for Rebeccas Reads (3/08)

"From Japan With Love" is a wonderful memoir illustrating what life was like in Post-War Japan through the eyes of Mary Ruggieri, a member of the Women's Army Corps (WAC). The story of the era is told through a composition of journal entries, personal letters to friends and family, and photographs. Throughout the book there are also boxes explaining some of the historical figures, places and events of the time period.

Tech sergeant Ruggieri's journey began in October of 1946 when she boarded the Army Transport Admiral Sims headed for Yokohama, Japan. The luxury of the trip with "maid service and swell meals" was a far cry from what was to await her and her shipmates when they arrived in the distant land. When they pulled into the harbor they saw the destruction and devastation that the country had suffered at the hands of war in the form of sunken ships and the impoverished manner in which the native people were dressed. Their living quarters for their occupation in Japan were Quonset huts which were void of any luxuries. Each woman had `8'9' of space into which to place a cot, a foot locker, and a wall locker." While the accommodations were less than welcoming, the American GIs that were stationed there made up for it by treating the women like royalty with barrages of parties and assistance. One of these GI's the author became especially fond of and started dating.

Ruggieri's time spent in Japan was definitely not all work. On the weekends she had the opportunity to take some incredible trips and see some amazing sights. While the travel to and from these destinations was not always the most pleasant journey, the experiences that she had more than made up for any hardships along the way. The book contains over 400 photographs which definitely enhance the story that she tells. There are pictures of the Quonset huts, Japanese people, the hotels they stayed at on their trips, Mount Fuji, and plenty of the author herself and other members of the WAC. Even though Ruggieri is very skilled at writing descriptive passages, the multitudes of pictures really provide you with a complete picture of everything that happened.

To have saved all of these letters, journals and pictures from over sixty-years ago and to be able to compile them to create a book as complete as "From Japan With Love" is incredible. The memoir is well-written, thought-provoking, and insightful. Her writing is so descriptive that you truly feel like you are there with her and her humor and straightforwardness will definitely keep you entertained. "From Japan With Love" is an excellent book and I highly recommend it!

Offering a fascinating, informative, personal, and unique perspective of live in post-war Japan through excerpts from the letters, journals and photographs of Mary A. Ruggieri, an American college girl stationed in Japan from 1946 to 1948 as a member of Women's Army Corps as part of the American military post-war occupation , "From Japan With Love" takes the reader from an army hut encampment to some of Japan's most memorable shrines and august temples. Ruggieri writes eloquently of the Japanese people and culture, her falling in love with Japan, as well as meeting the American soldier who would become her husband. Remarkable for her articulate eyewitness account which is peppered throughout with her black-and-white photography, "From Japan With Love" is as engaging as it is informed, making it very highly recommended reading for anyone with an interest in the post-war Japan reformation, mid-twentieth century Japanese culture, and the transition of Japan from a defeated nation to its nescient emergence as a western style democracy..

This is a warm, rich, charming, evocative, and often humorous memoir of life and love in post-war Japan, with many rare photos of the era (certainly including the photo of the bridge from Takeishima Island, page 118), which makes this tapestry of reminiscence such a uniquely delightful and easy read.

The "Rules Of The Road" posted in the Central Tokyo Police Station, in 1947, are hilarious.

The letters written by the author are sometimes poignant ("Never do I forget how wondrously fortunate I am to have you. . ."), sometimes funny ("My interview consisted of a major asking me how much clerical work I had done, and my telling him that I did very little and didn't like it, so of course I got a clerical job..."), but always fun and insightful.

It is a wonderful book.

Now in a newly revised edition, From Plassey To Pakistan: The Family History Of Iskander Mirza The First President Of Pakistan tells the complex saga that intertwines one family's story with the inception and development of an Islamic nation. Humayun Mirza is Iskander Mirza's only surviving son and brings a special and personal expertise to the violence-tainted partition of Indian by the colonial British Empire that resulted in the creation Pakistan. A superb contribution to International Studies reference collections, From Plassey To Pakistan is a vividly informative and very human account which deftly combines extensive research with personal remembrance.

As a descendant of the author's great-grandfather, I had grown up hearing many contradictory accounts of this family's history. This carefully researched book was very helpful to me in trying to sort out the tangled roots from which my side of the family grew. The author confesses his view is partisan, but nevertheless he does not try to hide the existence of his ancestor's various affairs in England, his marriage to an English chambermaid (his fourth wife and my great-grandmother), and treats those aspects of the story both objectively and sympathetically. Very readable!

Most of what we in the West read and hear about the Indian subcontinent comes from the British perspective. Humayun Mirza, son of Pakistan's first president and descendant of the royal Nawab Nazims of Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa, brings a thoroughly researched, enlightened, and deeply honest perspective to his family's story, and by extension the history of India and Pakistan from the 1700s to the present time. Because of his unique insider's perspective, Mirza makes his historical figures come alive.

Although he is talking about his own family--even his own father--Mirza shows a principled unwillingness to tamper with the truth, even when the truth is not flattering to people he clearly admires. The rich human complexity of these powerful personalities, warts and all, is one of the things that make this book so exciting.

If you're interested in the history and politics of the region, this is a must read. If you just like to learn interesting history, it's also a treat. I'm waiting for the update covering the current situation in the region!

From Plassey to Pakistan chronicles the lineage of Humuyan Mirza, the author and only son of the first President of Pakistan. The book provides personal and well-researched historical insight into the ruling class of India, of which the author is a direct descendant.

The author's father, and principal subject of the latter part of the book, is Iskander Mirza, a highly educated and respected citizen of India worked for the British Government of India. Upon the end of British rule in 1947, the country of Pakistan was formed and Iskander Mirza emerged to become a leading public figure ("the strong man") and eventually the first President of Pakistan.

The author offers excellent insight into his father's rise to the presidency and the subsequent challenge to bring order and democracy to the newly formed country, one fraught with political corruption at the governmental and military level combined with a high level of illiteracy within the population. Despite Iskander Mirza's well intentioned efforts, instituting the type of democratic government he envisioned would prove too difficult in this environment. His presidency was usurped by a military coup in 1958. Military control has presided over Pakistan for many of the subsequent years and remains in power today.

The author goes on to revisit his own life as a descendant of India's ruling and princely class as the son of the first president of Pakistan. Like his father Isakander, the author was educated at prestigious schools while growing up, ultimately attending the Harvard School of Business and subsequently working in various capacities for the World Bank. The author currently lives in the United States.

Toward the end of the book, the author offers thoughtful suggestions that address Pakistan's current political and economic situation. Above all, the author believes a very strong leader of Pakistan is crucial to help unite the country and its divisive factions. He truly desires prosperity for Pakistan.

The book is insightful and well written. I highly recommend the book for histroy readers and those interested in current events. Given the recent tumultuous events taking place in and around Pakistan, this book is even more relevant.

This is an excellent edition of Hind Swaraj. It includes several important letters between Gandhi and such important political figures as Nehru. It also includes Gandhi's very own reading list recommendation (for example, he suggests that his readers consult Thoreau and Tolstoy amongst other things).

Swaraj, for Gandhi, does not merely entail Indian sovereignty but rulership over one's own self. This inner svaraj is the condition for the possibility of external national independence. Therefore, to achieve national independence one must first achieve personal independence. For Gandhi, this meant that - given the fallenness of Britain - even the colonists were not free. In this respect Gandhi thought that the British must be pitied and not hated. These are some of the central arguments in Hind Svaraj.
Much of the book is taken up with a description of the fallen state of 'modern civilization' which Gandhi views as being like a disease in need of curing. The cure is through improved religiosity. The symptoms of modern civilization involve the development of railways, industrial infrastructure and the intervention of doctors and lawyers. On the face of things, Gandhi seems to be rabidly anti-technological and anti-modern. This is not entirely accurate however: Gandhi is not against technology but is against the "fetish" (or "craze" as he also calls it) of technology. This fetishization is symptomatic of the degeneration of modernity for him. Likewise, he is critical of doctors and lawyers not because doctors and lawyers are inherently bad, but because of the cynical industry that they are grounded in.

A great book, and much misunderstood.

This book is simply awesome. I call this one of the best books I've ever read. It presents Gandhi's views lucidly and you understand the clarity of thought and spirituality of a person who lead India to freedom.
To all Indians who are unaware of their own civilization, this book also contains portions where Gandhi gives reasons for why he regards Indian civilization to be the best. (I accept that I'm being chauvinistic).
However, this book is not meant for Indians alone, it is for people who wish to be open-minded, who dare to think outside the box, who wish to understand the world, mainly who wish to search for the all-pervading truth.

Satyameva Jayathe (Truth always wins)

This excellent new edition of Hind Swaraj fulfills the needs of all readers, either for private and academic purposes. Extraordinary is especially the introduction which covers all major subjects which should be taken into account for understanding "Hind Swaraj", e.g. wesetern and eastern influences on Gandhis thoughts, the London & South African years etc. The text itself is issued with a lot of explaining footnotes which also refer on the original (written in Gujarati). It's so far the first edition I know which compares between the english and gujatati text ! The only, minor manko might be the fact that the South African years are treated rather short, but the bibliography and advices for further reading lead the ambitious reader to new sources.

Gandhi explains in Hind Swaraj some of his fundamental ideas on how to obtain Home Rule in India. One aspect of Indian society Gandhi criticizes is the relationship between Muslims and Hindus. Gandhi tries to convey the idea that religious identity does not constitute for nationality. He feels that in order to obtain swaraj, India's people must unify themselves as a nation. By disbanding disagreements between the two religions, with acceptance and without imposition, Gandhi implies that what is important- Mother India- can be saved. Both Hindus and Muslims should stop seeking concessions from the British, begin the swadeshi movement (Indian-made goods), and that a universal language (Hindi) would also help the cause. Another factor which will lead to swaraj is passive resistance. (Gandhi launched the Civil Disobedience Movement 1931-34). Unlike Nehru, Gandhi opposed modernization/industrialization. These views, as well as views about education and economic reform are also included.

Rarely can a book change the world. Maybe not the whole world, but everyone who reads Craig Barber's text and looks at his magnificent photographs will never look on Vietnam the same way again.

With gentle intensity, great compassion, a brilliant eye, and great skill and talent to realize his vision, Barber returned to Vietnam 28 years after having served as a US Marine at the age of 18 and photographed what he saw.

Thank you Craig Barber for letting us in on your very personal journey. Each photograph is like a little movie that grows and becomes richer and deeper every time I turn the page and return again.

Barber's photographs are masterpieces.

This book is exquisitely printed and put together, bravo to the publisher, Umbrage.

A must have and the perfect gift for lovers of travel, history, or just beautiful photography.

Craig Barber reminds us of the magic and importance of documentary photography. After all, it is real! What a gift.

This is an incredible book! The photographs are not only sensual and beautiful, but they are incredibly powerful, coming from a place of depth... I highly recommend this book.

I came of age during the Vietnam war and so have had many preconceptions about Vietnam and how it might be depicted. Craig Barber's images and words, and Alison Nordstrom's essay replaced any old memeories and preconceptions with evocative elegaic landscapes that one lingers over and remembers. A beautifully wrought landscape of the mind. A stunning book in every way. Thank you, Craig and Alison.

Mr. Barber has spent many years developing his artistic vision with the two-lens, large format pinhole camera. In reviewing his first book, "Ghosts In The Landscape", I am moved by the personal depth of his aesthetic investment in creating a contemporary view of Viet Nam that borders on the mystical. I believe that if this view had been available in the 1960's, we, as a country, may have been unwilling to cause so much death and destruction. This is one of the most important post-Viet Nam era accounts I have encountered. I strongly recommend this book of deeply felt photographs.

I have returned to Vietnam many times...I speak the language and have known about the atrocities that occured after April 30, 1975. I have read and re-read this work and I compare it to another great book...Decent Interval by Frank Snepp. The stories are unique yet the same, reeking of betrayal and abandonment by a "friend".
The author reveals arduous research and the ability to place these anecdotes onto paper without losing emotion and perhaps color. As a previous reviewer has stated...better late than never. My congradulations and thanks to the author.
I would give this book more stars if possible.
I am the author of ...Eye of the Tiger and Thoughts Etched in Jade.

In this book, Dr. McKelvey wrote a detailed and intimate account of the South Vietnamese military officers' fates after the end of the Vietnam War.

The message is troublesome but not surprising: the military personnel were rounded into re-education camps and suffered untold tragedies from humiliation, torture, mental degradation to physical impoverishment within a communist prison system. The majority of the officers were jailed from ten to fifteen years; one officer was detained for a total of 22 years.

While 70,000 former political inmates and their families were allowed to immigrate to the U.S. through the ODP (Orderly Departure Program), many more are still living on the fringes of the Vietnamese communist society. A former major drives a pedicab for a living. In this McKelvey's book, we heard the voices of a doctor, a tailor, a politician, an engineer, a spy, a pilot, and a teacher. They all endured "grueling and unforgiving ordeals that only the strongest would have survived." Family members were ostracized for being related to the political prisoners; their wives suffered uncounted financial, emotional, physical hardships, their children barred from a decent education.

The book is one of the few that deal with the long-term psychological effects of the incarceration on the inmates and the sufferings of their relatives.

The author concludes that: 1) War does not end when peace treaties are signed because the negative rippling effects of war and destruction affect many generations to come. 2) The U.S. should be very careful about intervening militarily in any part of the World. 3) The U.S., if it does go to war, cannot simply abandon friends and allies to the mercies of common enemies.

McKelvey, a Marine veteran of Vietnam, penned a marvelous oral history of former reeducation camp survivors. The Introduction is personal and touching. The book contains four major sections dealing with interviews with former prisoners: a doctor, an engineer, a tailor, a pilot and a spy. Families of prisoners give their stories of carrying on while their loved ones were in captivity.

The author probes deeply into the postwar lives of these former public servants and officers of South Vietnam. From the initial reporting date in June 1975 until their release, the interviewees recall the brutal details of the camps, their captors and the communist indoctrination--basically hard labor and starvation. "Reeducation" is a misnomer.

Nixon and Kissinger's "Peace with Honor" never materialized. Ford took care of the refugees in the U.S. but didn't/couldn't intervene. Carter, well...he was busy with pardoning draft dodgers and Iran. The U.N. and Amnesty International finally took notice in 1979 when it was too late for the majority of those who had perished.

I give this book four stars only because it reeks of academia, its format of Q&A rather than an arcing narrative. It should be included in every Vietnam class, especially those professors and students who care to learn about America's defeated and abandoned allies.

I am a student from Vietnam and now studying in the U.S. I chanced to read this book in our university library. Thanks the AUTHOR for an insightful book.

In fact, my family background was 'clean' in the eyes of our government because my parents were not involved in any military service for the former government. But I have friends whose family situations were exactly the same as those portrayed in the book. I must say those are incredible human sufferings, and not only for one generation. I am glad some of those stories are now heard, perhaps a bit late but still, better than never.

Here's a life-time lesson for me (and perhaps some others): no matter how and what communists tell you, don't hastily believe them. Just look at what and how they do, and you'll see it for yourself. For many of them, human dignity and lives are trivial and cheap.

Very well written. Enjoyable journey into the history and culture of ginseng. Wide ranging. Not a medical reference, but a pleasant chronicle of everything ginseng.

This book is amazing. The writer takes a complex subject and makes it understandable and enjoyable. I found the links between cultures and tradtions to be fascinating--especially the geographic and plant connections between China and Appalachia. I can't wait for David's next book.

Great book, full of colorful characters and interesting stories and facts. The author obviously enjoyed talking with all these people (diggers and traders, herbalists and doctors, smugglers and park rangers and many more) and I really enjoyed reading about them and about ginseng. Fascinating book and plant. I need to go plant me some!

Let's see, what do I know about ginseng? It's a supposed herbal panacea, from China (or was that Korea?). It began invading New Age consciousness and health food stores around the time of Woodstock. It has quite a nasty, bitter taste. Oh, and didn't some clever American farmers recently start growing ginseng and selling it back to the Chinese? Clearly what I knew was not a lot, and after reading Ginseng, the Divine Root, I realized half of that was completely wrong. Two facts underpin David A. Taylor's fascinating book: ginseng has been growing in North America for 70 million years; and North Americans have been selling ginseng to the Chinese for almost 300 years.

Treasured by Chinese as a tonic for thousands of years, ginseng had been pushed towards extinction in China when half way around the globe a Jesuit missionary made a fortuitous discovery. In Quebec Joseph-François Lafitau was ministering to Mohawk converts, but in that great theology/science duality so characteristic of his order, he was also intently studying the Iroquois. While there he happened on an article by a fellow French missionary who had travelled extensively in China. Lafitau was intrigued. The article described ginseng, its use and value in Chinese medicine. He then, rather remarkably, set out to see if he could find the plant locally. In 1716 after only three months of searching, Lafitau with the help of the Mohawk, had identified Panax quinquefolium, American ginseng, virtually identical to Asian ginseng. The root had long been used medicinally by the Mohawk and other Native Americans but never with the same passion as the Chinese.

So began a rush for 'forest gold' as thousands in Canada combed the woodlands for wild roots, all destined for a lucrative market on the far edges of the Pacific Ocean. As ginseng fever spread, even Daniel Boone was later involved in the trade down in West Virginia. Ginseng, writes the author, became the United States' first major export to China.

Taylor weaves together the many threads of the ginseng story, a tale that straddles two continents with vastly contrasting cultures. This is reflected, in the differing ways ginseng is valued and used in each. "In Chinese medicine," writes the author, "it's an all-purpose tonic, often blended with more toxic herbs to mellow their effects. In Western medicine it's gaining converts for relieving severe fatigue."

The book reads like an adventure as Taylor follows the American ginseng trail throughout one season, meeting farmers, traders, and various experts, even joining a ranger on a night stakeout in a national park trying to nab poachers of wild ginseng. The story is perhaps most interesting when Taylor joins diggers in the 'hunt' for the root in Appalachia. Wild ginseng is such an idiosyncratic plant that the search for it is considered more akin to hunting - it can, for instance remain dormant underground for several years, waiting for the right conditions before sending up a new shoot. Some diggers claim the plant can camouflage itself or even move! What is more certain is that its relative scarcity these days only adds to the challenge of finding it, and no doubt, to its market value.

It was not until the Seventies, more than 250 years after Lafitau identified the plant that ginseng started to become widely known in the United States. Now Americans spend more than $100 million annually on products listing it as an ingredient.

There are three types of ginseng (in descending order of value): wild, wild simulated, and cultivated. Such is the value of ginseng that 'ginsengers' protect their plants like gold prospectors defend a claim. Even cultivated ginseng, the most common form, is difficult to work with and requires six to eight years to reach the size desired by Asian markets. Wisconsin-grown ginseng is now considered the world's best, and fetches a correspondingly high price. Wisconsin is also the leading exporter.

As quickly as the newer markets for ginseng are growing, China will likely remain the primary market, and not just because of China's huge population and expanding economy. In the West, for every ginseng buff there is a cynic, and five others who couldn't care less. In China by contrast, so strong is the underlying traditional belief in the restorative powers of ginseng. that just about everyone is at least an occasional user.

The book is aimed at the general reader, but industry types might also learn a thing or two given the secretive nature of the business Taylor describes. Readers who are not utter ginseng devotees might find the middle section of Ginseng a little slow, but most of us will be swept through anyway by Taylor's enthusiasm. One chapter though, Served by the Finest Chefs, focusing on ginseng and food, somewhat misses its mark because the central figure, celebrity chef Ming Tsai unlike the other major characters in the book, is not strongly connected to ginseng, at least professionally. He does not cook with the root in his own restaurant, and is surprisingly, unaware of American ginseng.

Taylor winds up this highly engrossing trawl through the history and business of ginseng in Hong Kong and China, meeting with ginseng merchants and visiting specialist markets. We learn, somewhat fittingly for the times, that in China both Asian and American ginseng is now cultivated using modern American methods. That is good news for consumers, but the lasting allure of 'forest gold' has placed the wild root under threat in America, as well as China.

My need is review this book because I am writing my tesis of grade for the University.

A good introduction to the topic. The book is accessible to a general reader as well as of interest to a more specialist audience. It is one of the first books on this subject. A major asset is that it is very well ilustrated with colour images - it also has a useful annotated bibliography. A very useful and interesting book to be recommended to anyone interested in the subject.

My need is review this book because I am writing my tesis of grade for the University.

This is a brave, colorful, probing collection of the transnational and localbinds we are in, worked out in wonderful contexts from the tradition-based Taiwan to the wacky cyborg turf of Robocop explored by Jonathan Beller, A vade mecum for the postmodern condition as it goes global,

I would not recommend this work if you haven't had vast exposure to the Ramayana and the Mahabharata (from any translators). If you have a good acquaintance with the major players of these epics, then this book will help clarify many things, as it provides back story that isn't covered in either epic, that explains many otherwise odd aspects of some of the characters' actions and beliefs. No collection of Indian epics is complete without it. Wonderfully written, and a joy to read overall.

R.K Narayan is perhaps one of the best known Indo Anglican writers. He is known capture the Indianness of his subject despite of writing in english. In this wonderful little book he tries to narrate some excerpts from Indian mythology. These are chosen from portions of great epics to folk lore tales. Most of these tales are usually naratted by a priest or some story teller in a villlage side temple. Having listened to some of those story telling concerts I would say Narayan's book gives you the same exhiliration and joy you would experience as you listen to a live story teller in a village.

Fantastic book from truly one of the greatest english writing authors of the 20th Century. Once you read Narayan, any other author is only second best.

This is a very nice book in which R.K. Narayan retells various stories and legends from India. The stories range from those of Devi to the demon king Ravana and pretty much everything in between. What makes this particularly nice is Narayan's mastery of the English language. He manages to make these stories understandable and approachable for a western audience, and in doing so has created a wonderful book. Even if you are not familar with the many epics of ancient India, I strongly recommend that you approach this book. It makes it very easy for westerners to understand and appreciate the cultural works of South Asia. Check it out.

This book is sometimes referred to as Tagore's response to Kipling's Kim, but it's much more; in fact, there's only a single British official in the novel, and he only appears for several pages. This novel takes place in Kolkata in the mid 1880s (?), and focuses on the generation coming of age a few decades after the Sepoy Rebellion, especially on the Brahman revivalist Gora and his close friend Binoy, who is drawn to a less restrictive code. They form close personal, and gradually romantic connections, with the strong-willed girls in a family involved in the equally restrictive Hindu Samaj movement. Though the characters struggle to reconcile themselves with Bengali etiquette, they also embody the modernizing impulses of the nascent nationalist movement that is informed by English education and social values.

The above may sound dry, but the novel is quite gripping, and it provides a nuanced and loving recreation of a generation struggling to come to terms with India's extreme cultural & religious diversity and the outside influences that place additional strain on it. And, from our post-Partition perspective, we see perhaps the last, best chance to create one, comprehensive Bharatvarsha.

Although it has a very helpful introduction and notes, I've given the work 4 stars because of the occasional misspellings and syntactic trainwrecks that occur every 30 or 40 pages (there aren't many, but when they occur, it's quite messy).

This was one of the first book i had read. i was a teenager then. and although gora being a very bullheaded guy had become my hero. he was a believer. he was a proud Hindu or at least he thought he was a hindu. he was a leader and believed that if he did anything not permitted in hindu society then everyone else wud do it too. he made it his responsibility awaken religious beliefs in society. and in the process he met a family consisting of all women of another cast. he tried to stay away from them but couldn't and fell in love with one of them. but being a responsible hindu he stopped himselves from taking any steps to come closer to her.
the best part was the end of the novel when he comes to know that his all beleifs were baseless. he was not what he had believes himselves to be and that just changed his outlook in life. and it suddenly opened up his heart to each and every human being. he had become a believer of humanism instead of any religion.
women characters were all too good and Lalita was my favorite. all the arguments in the novels teached me a lot about indian society and religion. i had read this book several times since then. This Is a true classic novel.... WE are proud of u Rabindra Nath Tagore.

To truly appreciate this book one needs to have some fair idea of the social, religious and political situation of India during the late nineteenth-early twentieth century. This book revolutionised the thinking and beliefs of the then contemporary modern thinkers and intellectuals, laying the foundation of the idea of a secular Indian society. The underlying theme is the essence of being a human, and very few in the history of mankind could find words that brings this out so beautifully (more so in the original Bengali, much of it is lost in the English translation). The reader undergoes the journey of self discovery along with the main protagonist, Gora. The beauty of Tagore's writing is that the unpredicatability and the vulnerability of the characters make them so natural and real, bringing out the inherent self-contradictions of human beings until they discover their true self and then all the cunfusions and the contradictions in one's own faith vanish. One finds one's place in this cosmos, realises the implication of being a human, experiences the beauty of life. And this makes the appeal of the book timeless.

Gora is inteligent, energetic and a strong believer. He believes in believing and acting for those beliefs. He is strong he is aggressive. He thinks that the strong belief can bring in all the good. Strong belief in God, Culture, country, ... will automatically make them self confident and will lead to progress. Which will eliminate the problems for the society. He subscribes to the beliefs, that he thinks are birth right to him. He is strong Hindu, He is strong Indian, Strong __, ... At the end he comes to know that his all the beliefs are baseless. He is devastated! The meaning of his existence was closely bound to his beliefs, but there is nothing to believe. What can he survive on? He gains new insights and so do we.

All the women characters are simply great!! Which is very characteristic of Tagore and Sharad Chandra.

This book changed me!