Chasing The Monsoon [Hardcover]

Alexander Frater (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 30, 1991

On 20th May the Indian summer monsoon will begin to envelop the country in two great wet arms, one coming from the east, the other from the west. They are untied over central India around 10th July, a date that can be calculated within seven or eight days. Frater aims to follow the monsoon, staying sometimes behind it, sometimes in front of it, and everywhere watching the impact of this extraordinary phenomenon. During the anxious period of waiting, the weather forecaster is king, consulted by pie-crested cockatoos, and a joyful period ensues: there is a period of promiscuity, and scandals proliferate. Frater's journey will take him to Bangkok and the cowboy town on the Thai- Malaysian border to Rangoon and Akyab in Burma (where the front funnels up between the mountains and the sea).

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

The monsoon in India is an exalting, inspiring event which heralds the rebirth of greenery. Yet, in chasing the summer monsoon along the coast, journalist Frater ( Stopping-Train in Britain: A Railway Odyssey , LJ 5/1/84) quickly discovers it can turn sinister. The monsoon overpowers technology, bearing disease and floods to an overpopulated land where runoff-preventing asphalt has replaced forests. In his engaging, witty travelog replete with anecdotes and asides, Frater comes to terms with his parents' deaths and learns to accept the Indians' attitude of submission to more powerful forces which, for them, makes the inevitable more bearable. The pleasure of reading this lively book can be enhanced by pairing it with Steve McCurry's spectacular photographic essay Monsoon (Thames & Hudson, dist. by Norton, 1988), which covers other monsoon areas as well as India. For general travel collections. BOMC and Quality Paperback alternates.
- Louise Leonard, Univ. of Florida Libs., Gainesville
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 273 pages
• Publisher: Knopf; First Edition. states edition (April 30, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0394583108
• ISBN-13: 978-0394583105
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,640,459 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Theme India, October 27, 2001

By 

Kathleen Attwood (Minnesota, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chasing The Monsoon (Hardcover)

I never liked India. Too much confusion, too much humanity. I read this book and now I have an unending desire to visit India; top to bottom. Not during Monsoon, not during the dry season, but sometime in between. Mr. Frater delivers an unblinking look at the beauty and inspiration which lies beneath the clutter and dreck. Damn the weather, look at what's there. I envy you the experience of the first read.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the few books I re-read, April 4, 2004

By 

Darrell L. Weaver (United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Chasing the Monsoon (Paperback)

I stumbled across this book at the 75% off sale at my university's bookstore; being an Indiophile I purchased it. This book has been hiking, camping & airborne with me. Frater's style is inviting and enveloping. While reading I slip beyond the words to that magical point in which my eyes no longer 'read' and I am there with Frater traveling up the coast of India to meet the rushing Monsoon at its next arrival.
If you are a lover of travelogues I highly recommend this book to you.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An eye-opener about monsoons in India, November 4, 2005

By 

"KB" Kamla Srinivasan (SF Bay Area and India) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chasing the Monsoon (Paperback)

I have been meaning to write a review of this particular book for a few years now. This book was recommended by a friend. At first I was first skeptical if I would like the book. You see the monsoons bring mixed feelings for me. Growing up in India, you either like the monsoons, or you learn to live with it. I belonged to the second category, and was never fond of the monsoons, because it meant wading through water logged streets, and the general disruption that accompanied the monsoon season. But, what I liked about the monsoons was an opportunity to sit at home and drink endless cups of tea, and eat hot samosas and pakoras.
So, it was with some misgivings that I started reading the book, and I was hooked within the first few pages. Alexander Frater does an excellent job of explaining all about the monsoons, and the methodical way in which the weather department in India follows the path of the monsoon. Some of them sound almost loving when the track the progress of the monsoon that starts from the South and travels up North, hits the Himalayas, and retreats back via the South, and showers the Southern state of Tamil Nadu. Chirapunjee in North Eastern India is supposed to receive the heaviest rainfall in the world, a fact that many school children in India will recite dutifully when questioned. But, due to the changing weather and climate conditions the rains have not been heavy of late in this area.

Frater tracks the journey of the monsoon faithfully, and tries to race ahead of the monsoon's next port of calling. Frater literally chases the monsoon, and presents an absorbing, and interesting account of his mission. He spends a couple of months doing this, and travels all over in India, including Chirapunjee. Frater has an amazing eye for detail, and is able to capture the naunces of interacting with the Indian bureaucrats, and others that he interacted while chasing the monsoon.

This is one of the best written books about an imporatant and integral part of India, the monsoons, upon which so many people depend. A good monsoon season spells bountfiful harvest, and a bad monsoon spells disaster. The monsoons still control the fortunes of Indian economy, and it is amazing that no one before Frater thought about writing a book on this subject.