The Ascetic of Desire: A Novel of the Kama Sutra [Paperback]

Sudhir Kakar (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 28, 2002

The Kama Sutra is the most widely read treatise on sex ever written, though the man who chronicled all there was to experience between men and women remains, for the most part, a mystery. In The Ascetic of Desire, called "a literary achievement of the highest order," by The Times (India), acclaimed author Sudhir Kakar tells the story of the man who is believed to be the author of the Kama Sutra, Vatsyayana, and the time in which he lived-the fourth century A.D., considered the golden age of Indian history.

In The Ascetic of Desire, the elusive sage Vatsyayana recounts his youth to a young pupil. The young man, planning to write Vatsyayana's biography, listens dutifully as Vatsyayana shares stories of a childhood spent largely in the brothel where his favorite aunt worked. As Vatsyayana's story unfolds, the pupil finds, to his consternation, that his own life has begun to reflect and parallel the ascetic's narrative. At the point where their stories intersect, the unexpected happens.

Like Arthur Golden's Memoirs of a Geisha, Sudhir Kakar's novel is a startling combination of psychological insight and historical detail. With rights sold in eleven countries, this is a story of universal appeal imbued with a distant world's charm and exotic allure.

"The best novel on sex and sensuality I have ever read." (Khushwant Singh, author of Train to Pakistan)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This lushly sensual and thoughtful debut novel by New Delhi psychoanalyst Kakar was inspired by the mysterious Vatsayana who wrote the Kama Sutra sex manual between the first and sixth centuries of the present era. Vatsayana's story, his interpretations of the ancient rules and more iconoclastic views of eroticism, are dispersed to a young fictional student, a Brahman scholar. The student, pursuing the traditional studies of dharma (Holy Writ) and atha (prosperity), comes under the influence of Vatsayana when he begins to dabble in the study of kama (sensual enjoyment), to the dismay of his conservative teachers and parents. Vatsayana's lectures at the Seven Leaf hermitage include the essence of the Kama Sutra and Hindu mythology that guide the student's mind into the wondrous realm of sensual learning, connecting sexuality to food, money, love, spirituality and transcendence. Much of Vatsayana's life and ideas are formed by his aunt Chandrika, a renowned courtesan whose sensual explorations end when she is rejected by a young architect. This humiliation propels her to renounce her erotic life and become a Buddhist nun. It is Chandrika who ultimately puts the erotic theories, myths and speculations into perspective by balancing sex with the tranquillity that comes when desire is finally transcended. Chandrika's transformation, and Vatsayana's eventual betrayal by his wife and his student, provide touching, psychologically complex insights into the notions of both "ascetic" and "desire." Throughout the book, Kakar offers a tantalizing view of how sex is constructed, dreamed, subdued and performed in culturally specific contexts and through history, rich folklore and marvelous parables. It's an impassioned and unusual tale dense with scintillating details and sexual philosophy. (Feb.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

A lushly sensual and thoughtful debut...an impassioned and unusual tale dense with scintillating details and sexual philosophy. -- Publishers Weekly

A sensual work that is alive with historical detail and provocative ideas about the world's most fascinating subject. -- The New York Times Book Review

The best novel on sex and sensuality I have ever read. -- Khushwant Singth, author of Train to Pakistan

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Overlook TP (May 28, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1585672807
• ISBN-13: 978-1585672806
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #125,501 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great read, June 5, 2000

By 

Sahilalexa Legre - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ascetic of Desire (Hardcover)

What I liked the most about this book is that it works at several levels. At one level it is an absorbing story of a man who compiled all that was known about sex. At another level it is a psychological thriller-study and at yet another level it is a commentary on the sexuality and culture. I usually read thrillers/bestsellers or Dick Francis interspersed with Anita Booker and Margaret Atwood etc and this book was paced bang in the middle. Not too fast, not too slow. I enjoyed it enough to put Kakar on my list of regularly read authors.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars stimulating but a bit workmanlike, September 22, 2002

By 

"henningrights" (New Haven, CT United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ascetic of Desire (Hardcover)

Kakar takes the reader deep into sexual ideas and lore, in the classical Indian way, that will certainly enlighten and even titillate some readers. His imaginative depiction of who the author of the Kama Sutra might have been is also worth the price of admission. His prose - this is his first novel, I think - often falls short of page-turning, but I happily stayed with it to the end nevertheless, and so will you if you're interested in a lively and stimulating depiction of the geography of desire.