编辑推荐
Trinidadian journalist-novelist Naipaul stresses that much has
changed since his 1962 trip to India, which yielded his darkly
pessimistic book India: A Wounded Civilization. In this
kaleidoscopic, layered travelogue, he portrays "a country of a
million little mutinies," reeling with "rage and revolt," as
percolating ideas of freedom shake loose the old moral ethos rooted
in caste and class. Despite what he terms regional, religious and
sectarian excesses, Naipaul sees possibilities for regeneration in
the new freedoms, yet this skewed essay is fraught with
bewilderment and sorrow as he reels off a familiar litany of
problems--terrible poverty, shoddy manufactured goods, ugly
neo-modern architecture, etc.--and comes to terms with his own
past: his ancestors were indentured servants of Indian descent.
Most interesting here are the dozens of first-person stories by
Indians themselves, ranging from a wealthy young stockbroker to
anti-religionists to a publisher of women's magazines. 50,000 first
printing; $50,000 ad/promo; author tour.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --Ce texte fait
référence à une édition épuisée ou non disponible de ce
titre.
内容简介
This book by the Trinidad-born Indian author of A Turn in the
South ( LJ 3/1/89) elicits pity, anger, disgust, and a sense of
betrayal at India's development since Independence. It tells of an
India gone wrong, filled with economic and political corruption.
Violence between conflicting religions and a greedy society
obsessed with self-interest has smashed the idealism and hope of
Nehru's developing secular India. Unfortunately, Naipaul
concentrates on urban life, interviewing business, religious, and
mob leaders in Bombay, Madras, Calcutta, and Delhi while ignoring
the rural villages where the majority of India's people live. The
result is an unfocused work of social-political commentary that is
fine for public libraries but adds nothing new to more specialized
collections. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 9/15/90-- John F.
Riddick, Central Michigan Univ. Lib., Mt. Pleasant
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --Ce texte fait
référence à une édition épuisée ou non disponible de ce
titre.