Books about India and/or Indian Culture...any suggestions?

[Pendrench]

[babylonsister]

1. Do you like fiction at all? 'The Glass Palace' by Amitav Ghosh

is supposed to be great, "A Doctor Zhivago for the Far East", spread across Burma, Malaya and India, and across three generations.

[sui generis]

2. God of Small Things

Arundhati Roi, great reading pleasure.

Are you planning a trip? If so you will want to really delve specifically into the culture and history of the region of India you will be visiting; India is not all "the same" from coast to coast and north and south.

[Pendrench]

5. Not planning a trip...just curious.

Hello -

First of all thank you (and the others who have responded to my original post).

The reason I asked was because I recently read two biographies (one about Mahatma Gandhi, and the other about Ramanujan) and I was fascinated with the descriptions of Indian life, food, culture, etc.

Of course I realize that both these accounts are dated (and do not present a complete picture of the various aspects of Indian life)so I wanted to learn more.

So, again, thanks!

Tim

[ClayZ]

3. The God of Small Things: Arundhati Roy

[Monkey see Monkey Do]

4. A quasi-fictional autobiography by a foreigner - "Shantaram"

see the discussion here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=208x6683

The only other book about India I've read is another novel from the mid-19th century - "Confessions of a Thug" by Philip Meadows Taylor:
http://www.sfsite.com/05a/ct80.htm

[burythehatchet]

6. AN interesting perspective is that of Salman Rushdie

He is from the Indo/Pak culture but has lived in the West. His most famous book, Midnight's Children, is one of the most enjoyable books I have ever read. (Satanic Verses may be better known but not for its literary excellence).

[applegrove]

7. A Fine Balance was a great book.

[indie_voter]

8. The Mahabharata

From Wikpedia

The Mahabharata (Devanagari: महाभारत, phonetically Mahābhārata - see note), sometimes just called Bharata, is one of the two major ancient Sanskrit epics of India, the other being the Ramayana. Traditionally ascribed to Vyasa, it is the longest literary epic poem in the world. Besides being hailed as one of the greatest literary accomplishments of humanity, it is also of immense religious and philosophical importance in India. In particular, the Bhagavad Gita, which is one of its chapters (Bhishmaparva), is a central sacred text of Hinduism.

My parents immigrated from India in the late 50s. Both of them were (in my mother's case is, my dad died last year) nontheists, however they both wanted my siblings and me to understand and appreciate our heritage.

So we read all the myths and religious texts as well as basic history. The Mahabharata remains my favorite book to this day. I've started reading it to my son (he is young so a lot of it is lost, but it has kings and battles galore to keep his interest)

The story in a nutshell is the struggle for a kingdom between cousins, the Kauravas and the Pandavas. The Bagavad Gita is part of this story, Arjuna (a Pandava) doesn't want to take arms against his cousins (The Kauravas) but is convinced by Krishna it is his duty (Krishna reveals himself as god).

Other myths and stories are interwoven in to the story in the form of character narratives (one character telling another a story to make a point, etc.)

As a child I read the comic book versions, as I got older I read various translations. My favorite translation isn't available here, but you can find many others at Amazon (or elsewhere).

edited to add: This is fiction and I just realized this is the non-fiction area (D'OH!!), so it may not be what you're looking for!

[Richardo]

9. 'The Namesake' by Jhumpa Lahiri

Nice sketch about an Indian family with parents in India and children brought up in the US. Low key, but I liked it.

[Sabriel]

10. A more current one is Born Confused by Tanuja Desai Hidier

Here's the review from the CCBC site. (It's a quick, worthwhile read.)

http://www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/books/detailBook.asp?idBooks=651

[indie_voter]

11. I haven't read this one, but

I've read a few books with a similar theme and talked with younger kids. It fascinates me how different my experiences growing up in the USA are from 1st generation folks currently in their mid 20s (and younger).

I am in my 40s, my parents immigrated in the 50s. I was born and raised here.

When I was a child, I knew a handful of people who were first generation (like me). I think my parents had to assimilate in a way they might not have had to do otherwise because there wasn't a support community. I don't think this was a bad thing for us, it was probably a little harder for them. Yet they found ways to convey what was important to them to us.

Because we didn't have the community, we didn't have the pressures and expectations the following generation had (have). All my parents wanted was for us was a good education and to understand where they (hence us) came from. We weren't expected to be anything but responsible humans. My parents became citizens as soon as they were eligible, my dad was a staunch democrat and Red Sox fan until the day he died (he was so torn on his death bed, the Sox won the WS but Bush won a second term which upset him deeply)

One of my siblings and I married outside our race, they didn't blink. They welcomed our spouses and loved them as much as they did the siblings who married within the race.

Thank you for the link, I am going to forward it to some of my younger cousins who will be able to relate to this.

[oneighty]

12. Self delete

wrong forum again.

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