Temptations of the West: How to be Modern in India, Pakistan and Beyond

Temptations of the West: How to be Modern in India, Pakistan and Beyond

by PankajMishra (Author)

Synopsis

Old, new; rich, poor; rural, urban; Brahmin, Dalit; Hindi, Muslim. India is a country of contrasts, and Temptations of the West explores this diversity in all its forms. From the empty corridors of a grand but guestless western-style hotel to improvised shacks clustered along muddy roadsides; from the polite efficiency of stewards on board one of India's private airlines to overpopulated tenements and one-roomed school buildings where no teachers ever set foot; from sites of religious worship to those of mass burial; from road blocks to voting booths -- as Mishra's travels take him from one part of India to another, and then beyond, to Pakistan and Afghanistan, he paints a clear and often alarming picture of disarray and disorder. All too often, superficial changes seem simply to paper over the cracks, and beneath modern facades, the old tensions still exist.

A travel book unlike any other, Temptations of the West also offers a detailed and thought-provoking exploration of the histories, politics, religions and philosophies of India - and her neighbours.

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More Information

Format: Hardcover
Pages: 247
Edition: First Edition
Publisher: Picador
Published: 16 Jun 2006

ISBN 10: 0330434675
ISBN 13: 9780330434676

Media Reviews
Fascinating . . . Pankaj Mishra's travels are interwoven with pungent commentary on modern politics in South Asia. . . . This is not a gentle book, but it is a brave one. -- The New York Times Book Review A set of probing essays about strife and sorrow in volatile South Asia . . . Unusually insightful and eloquent, Mishra deftly deciphers forces political, religious, and economic. -- Booklist An insightful new book that blends journalism, travel writing, memoir, and sharp political commentary. -- The Miami Herald
Author Bio
Pankaj Mishra was born in North India, in 1969. He is the author of Butter Chicken in Ludhiana: Travels in Small Town India, An End to Suffering: The Buddha in the World, and a novel, The Romantics , which won the LA Times Art Seidenbaum award for first fiction. He writes for several publications, including the New York Review of Books, the New Statesman, Granta, the Times Literary Supplement and the Guardian. He lives in London.