Review "The very best book about Hindu mythology that anyone has ever written...A magnificent reading of Hindu texts. Its power arises in part through strong, vivid writing and in part through stunning, unexpected metaphors." --Wendy Doniger, The New Republic"Magnificent...A moving, exhillarating, extraordinary book...An astonishing synthesis of myths and legends, philosophical inquiry, and speculative narrative"--Shashi Tharoor, Washington Post Book World"A scintillatingly challenging book...Its opening sentences are as startling as any in all of literature." --Thomas McGonigle, Los Angeles Times"All is spectacle and delight, and -tiny mirrors reflecting human foibles are set into the weave, turning this retelling into the stuff of literature...Calasso's erudition and his capacity for invention appear to be limitless."        --The New Yorker"To read Ka is to experience a giddy invasion of stories--brilliant, enigmatic, troubling, outrageous, erotic, beautiful."--Sunil Khilnani, New York Times Book Review"A buoyant, expansive narrative that captures, with earthy vigor, scrupulous scholarship, and epic breadth, the Indian cultural ethos."-- Kirkus Reviews"This riveting performance (rendered beautifully into English by Tim Parks) is the fruit of a unionbetween serious scholarship and a mercurial imagination."--Donna Seaman, Booklist"Calasso has certainly managed to open a new road through the old landscape of literature."--John Banville, New York Review of Books From the Inside Flap y invasion of stories--brilliant, enigmatic, troubling, outrageous, erotic, beautiful." --The New York Times Book Review"So brilliant that you can't look at it anymore--and you can't look at anything else. . . . No one will read it without reward." --The Boston GlobeWith the same narrative fecundity and imaginative sympathy he brought to his acclaimed retelling of the Greek myths, Roberto Calasso plunges Western readers into the mind of ancient India. He begins with a mystery: Why is the most important god in the Rg Veda, the oldest of India's sacred texts, known by a secret name--"Ka," or Who?     What ensues is not an explanation, but an unveiling. Here are the stories of the creation of mind and matter; of the origin of Death, of the first sexual union and the first parricide. We learn why Siva must carry his father's skull, why snakes have forked tongues, and why, as part of a certain s About the Author Roberto Calasso lives in Milan, Italy.
P**1
One of the truly great studies of Hindu mythology
I have read "Ka" twice and still not come close to absorbing the wisdom in this very fine book. It is a study and retelling of some of the great Vedic Hindu myths; and the myths come alive in full depth in Roberto Calasso's writing. Shiva and Daksha and Usha and Rohini and Prajapati have never been so subtly understood and explained to the modern reader..A truly great work.
C**S
One of the best writers working today.
One of the best critics, essayists, philosophers alive today. This is part of a series on religion unlike anything else available. This one is about Hinduism. He's also written on Greece, Baudelaire, art history, Tiepolo, and numerous critical essays on a variety of topics. Superb writer. (This portion of review repeats for other books.) This is a companion volume to Ardor (q.v.), also Hinduism but more in his usual narrative fashion.
S**K
Great book for those interested in diving into the mythologies ...
Great book for those interested in diving into the mythologies of India. For yoga teachers, yoga students, or anyone interested in mythologies. Calasso's style of writing is engaging and never felt I was trudging through a text book. By the end I wanted to go back and reread from the start. It's set up as individual chapters that are self-contained stories (as opposed to a full novel narrative), and yet the entire book is connected via references of common figures/characters in the mythos.
V**A
Brilliant
Makes mythology really come alive. As it should. The stories are gems. His commentary thought provoking. It did take me a while to read it all but well worth it.
C**R
JGD
The best
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