Customer Reviews

Travelers' Tales India: True Stories (Travelers' Tales Guides)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm giving this book five stars not because the individual travel stories comprising this are five star stories (though many of them are), but because the breadth of subject matter and perspectives this book offers are remarkable. From the frosty passes of the Himalayas to the bustling streets of Calcutta, from the Ganges to shores of Goa, from the rarely-visited tribal interior to the even more desolate Rann of Kutch, this book portrays a country with a topography perhaps as diverse as Europe's. From the barriers of caste to the oppression of women, this book portrays a social evolution still in progress but with roots in ancient times.

Highlights for me included Rory Nugent's eccentric search for the supposedly extinct pink-headed duck, and David Yeadon's brilliant portrayal of character interactions (including an Indian interrupting his narrative digression in real time "Sir, are you hearing me, sir?"). For every traveler that timidly scratched the surface of India without real discovery (such as a particularly uptight and sheltered Oxford Fellow's first trip) there was one so recklessly bold that you're glad you could relive the experience from the safety of your own home (including one author's visit to a tribal island where past visitors had been killed). Somewhere in the middle there's bound to be powerful inspiration for a trip of one's own.

Reading this book was not only satisfying, but served as a launching point for future reading of the complete works from which these tales were excerpted (David Yeadon's Back of the Beyond and Jonah Blank's Arrow of the Blue Skinned God seemed particularly interesting to me).

I read this book after reading the DK guide to India and Leila Hadley?s A Journey with Elsa Cloud (the latter is about a tour of parts of India in the 70s). This excellent collection of true stories really made all the places come alive and gave me a much richer and fuller sense of India than I could get from just Hadley?s book. The poverty, sexism, and daily encounters with excrement that are a part of life in India are compellingly conveyed at the same time as we come to feel the vast heavy weight of so many centuries of history, so much spiritual questing, so much diminished glory. Since I finished the book, I have found myself repeating stories to friends from the excerpts from Rory Nugent?s The Search for the Pink-Headed Duck and from Mark Shand?s Travels on My Elephant, which were particularly vivid and fascinating to me. There are a suprising number of tales featuring cyclists--evidently India is a popular place to tour by bike.

This is a delightful, easy read by many authors on India and their travel experiences. I found it interesting to hear these tales and dive into their wild mix of stories. India is a multi layered, historical and moving place to travel. Most of my books on India are by Indian authors so the insight from foreign travelers was a different 'read' and of value. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in or wants to travel to India.

I have recommended this book to almost anyone who will listen to me, whether they are interested in India or not! It is sad, funny, informative and a bit scary. It doesn't leave you when you've finished it. You think about the Truck Road, the people who won't allow touching, the absolute poverty and all the goodness given to make you feel welcome...depending on 'where' you are at the particular junction of the book.

I have never been to India. I've learned to understand Hindi, although, I would never be so presumptuous to speak it. I have studied the country and it's history for the last few years. This book gave me more insight, in the three days it took to read, then all the books I've read in the past. Take the time to read it. Savor it and enjoy!

I agree with the above reviews. There is such a variety of subject matter and types of writing collected in this book and I found myself saving so many pages with great information about places in India that I had not yet heard about but wanted to make sure I visited now when I plan my own trip!

Some American friends who spend a great deal of time in India, most often Goa, had made me aware of this book, among others, as a way to learn about India. This book puts some meat on the bones you get with the guide books such as Lonely Planet. To carry the analogy a bit further, the guide books give you an essential skeletal structure while Traveller's Tales brings it all the life. After reading this book,it should give you some good ideas of where to go, what you will find, and an opportunity to adapt your travel plans to the realities on the ground. I will in the future seek out further books in this series that relate to my travel destinations.

This is a very nice book of travel fiction from india and quite fun to read.I will say my money is well spent on this book