Customer Reviews

Snake Charmer

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

At first I turned the pages to find the answers: the tricks to ridding guilt, the prayers to embrace fidelity, the trees to age with forgiveness & acceptance, etc. But "The Snake Charmer" reminded me that life is never a novel we get to read before or while it's happening to us. This book should penetrate your day with thoughts about the things we do or did. It might also make you want to drink your morning tea with an aging and affectionate cobra. . . or do you already?

I loved this book. Simply written with the simplest of plots, this book captivated me from the first page.

The story of a snake charmer who surprisingly finds fame but at the price of deep personal loss, this story had me reexamining priorities in light of the charmer's fates. Is fame more important than love? More important than being able to continue work you love? Success at what cost? Is it more important than family? And the charmer's less-than-stellar morality leads to questions of spousal and familial loyalty while exploring "true love." Following the charmer as he searches for his answers only adds to these questions.

It's been a long time since I've read such a good story with so many thought provoking issues. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure it's not intended to be such a profound book, but it certainly has caused me to take pause and reevaluate things.

I highly, highly recommend this book. Enjoy!

The primary charachter is a less than wholesome street performer who is thought to be "the best snake charmer in India." Up till the moment when he kills his snake this could be true. Now, he has to face the world of his wife, children, and eventually himself. It is a sad tale of humanity on the edge. The almost nihilistic ending gives one pause to think about their own meaning of life. It's not about India, snake charming, or many other thoughts from reading the title -- it's about one human life attempting to find meaning while cicling in on itself like the snake eating it's own tail.

The title character of "The Snake Charmer" is a middle-aged man named Sonalal who makes his living in the vicinity of a Delhi tourist attraction playing his "been" pipe while his cobra, Raju, dances to the heavenly music. Sonalal's personal life is sad: he is simple and uneducated, his marriage to his wife Sarita is loveless but tolerable, his two young sons hardly respect his profession, and he spends much of his free time drinking and visiting his favorite prostitute, Reena.

One day, Sonalal and Raju are performing in front of a large group of tourists, when Raju, who is fatigued from having danced all day, becomes irritable and bites Sonalal. In a fit of vengeful anger, Sonalal shocks the crowd by killing Raju in a most extraordinary way. This single act bestows Sonalal with a Warholian fifteen minutes of worldwide fame, earning him momentary respect, awe, and wealth.

Despite Sonalal's newfound fame, the act of killing Raju, whom he loved more than his own sons, plunges him into abysmal remorse. He also realizes, with anxiety and bitterness, that his fame arose not from his beautiful music but from his sensational behavior. His guilt causes him maladies, sexual impotence, and loss of desire and ability to play music. In order to regain all his functions, he consults various acquaintances for advice, including a fellow snake charmer, a street magician, a medical doctor, and a comical sex therapist. Sonalal's simplicity and ingenuousness make his inquiries all the more humorous, as his easily confused mind twists words and meanings. His self-imposed vacation from snake charming after Raju's murder forces him to contemplate the effect of his art and and his life.

Filled with themes of the artist's role in society, motifs of circular/cyclical patterns in nature, and treated with wit and wisdom, Dr. Nigam's first novel is a sign of great things to come.

A stunning book. The first 30 pages are some of the most gripping I've read in a while. This book is deceptively easy to read because of the great simplicity of language it uses. That simplicity in no ways lessens depth of the human soul which the book explores. With deep understanding and empathy, the author shows us the life of a man -- not a character but a man -- struggling to survive in India. The writing is clear and crisp and moving through out the book and the meanings slowly accrue, layer upon layer, until the images resonate deeply.

This is a terrific book. What is it about? It is about a snake charmer in India who has committed a horrendous mistake and his efforts to reclaim the love of the people around him and his own small stake of self-hood in the anonymous crowd.

I've never been to India, but this book gives me a fresh, vivid, image of a life and an entire world -- a world of magic and science and humanity and passion and great warmth and hu! ! mor.

A first glance at this book's cover can lead one to think of it as a rather simple story of a sterotypical snake charmer. However, the old adage of "never judge a book by its cover" is very true here. Instead of being a simple tale of a classic Indian archetype, "The Snake Charmer" presents many interesting questions and ideas to the reader. The book is set in modern-day, post-independence India. It takes place after "The Emergency" and after the death of Sanjay Gandhi. This is established throughout the book by references to his rule and life. The book also makes numerous references to the cultures, symbols, and ideals of Indian society. The basis for the whole book is that the main character Sonalal, a snake charmer, is bitten by his cobra, Raju, whom Sonalal loves more than his own sons. And then he bites back, killing the snake. Sonalal then became famous worldwide. Along with this sudden boost in his life there also came a severe onset of grief. The quilt manifested itself in severe physical symptom ranging from a bitter taste in his mouth to severe fever and seeming madness. With the onset of his quilt and everything that happened after the biting incident, Sonalal must way decisions about varying questions. What is the self? Where does art come from? What is manhood and where does it come from" He challenges these questions through his actions towards the other characters in the book. The author tries to deliver solutions to these questions through Sonalal's adventures. It has the feel of a basic middle-age crisis novel, especially from the male-point of view, with a nice Indian twist. It is not an extremely well written novel overall. It seems to come apart a little toward the end especially compared to the beginning.

Despite a lifelong aversion to snakes, I was captivated by the book jacket (good merchandising) and bought this book. I was enchanted by it from its first sentence to its concluding moments. Amazing how it creeps up on you--and how affecting all the characters are, including the defanged, mourned cobra himself. Utterly beautiful.

An absolutely fascinating, haunting, powerful autobiography. A great read. Easily rivaling Hooks' "Wounds of Passion" for its courage, honesty and disturbing, emotionally wrenching subject matter. A well-paced, balanced work. Great use of historical constructs as well. Highly recommended. Could not put this book down.

The Snake Charmer is a compassionate story of a poor and simple snake charmer, who suddenly rises to fame as a result of a most unexpected event. Through this most enjoyable tale, Nigam does an exceptional job of capuring and relaying the universally shared emotions and conditions of mankind. There are many philophical issues brought forth, such as fame as a result of crime, suffering in our lives, the desire to re-live a moment of glory, learning from experience, maintaining self-worth, etc. This is a MUST READ novel.

The Snake Charmer is an excellent story of a common man with uncommon talent who was rewarded with fame and fortune for his sin. The story chronicles snake charmer Sonalal's search for solace after his sinful act of killing his pet snake... the snake who in addition to being his partner in earning a living was loved by Sonalal like his own son. Dr. Nigam's descriptive language moves the story from the backroads of Delhi to the royal palace of Udaypur while unfolding the snake charmer's torturous journey for peace. Laced with a unique sense of humor, Dr. Nigam's "Snake Charmer" makes a lasting impression. In a long time, I read a novel that I didn't want to interrupt reading till I finished it!