On 2009-10-08 Dick Johnson, Oklahoma USA wrote: What a wonderful/horrible book. This is a part family history, part South India travel book, and part social commentary about the people of that part of the world.
First - what I really liked about it:
Hyland took us to places not normally seen and introduced us to people normally kept hidden. His descriptions were very detailed (sometimes overly so).
There was a ´coziness´ to much of the book and a very human treatment of his encounters. The examination of the common life of the area was handled well.
Second - what I really didn´t like about it:
The need for a glossary is huge. I read a lot by Indian authors and about India and I own several dictionaries of Indian languages - and I still couldn´t figure out many of the words. The inclusion of so much local vocabulary without definition seriously detracted from the enjoyment of the book!!
Far too often, the author didn´t want to let us know where we were, where we were going or what we were doing there. The interspersing of family history and jumps ahead in the story with the main ´trip´ of the book was confusing and unnecessary.
Third - the reason for four stars:
The good about this book far outweighed the bad. The idea and the overall scope are very well done. With some better editing and appendices this would easily be worth five stars.
If you have any interest in this part of the world, ignore the flaws and get a copy of this.
. And summed up by saying Exasperatingly Great. Currently Indian Balm: Travels in the Southern Subcontinent (Charnwood Library) has an overall rating of 8 over 10.
Indian Balm: Travels in the Southern Subcontinent (Charnwood Library) can also be found in the following searches:
Ulverscroft Large Print claimed This is an evocation of life in south-east India, where, behind the seemingly serene facade of customs and lifestyles unchanged for centuries, the world is in a state of turmoil, as is all India, as strict, conflicting religious philosophies approach the 21st century. In search of his roots, Paul Hyland traces the exploits of his missionary family from the early-19th century and meets the solitary remaining descendant, the fifth and last generation, who still carries on their work there, living on the final earnings of the mysterious and medicinal Indian Balm. Witnessing every detail of the minutiae of Indian life - from the quips and banter in the jostling market places to the performance of the Sankranti rites at a festival in Narsapur, from the earnest bathing in the sacred Godivari river to the mixture of militant asceticism and frenzy at religious festivals and mandalas - Paul Hyland gives an insight into modern India and its various degrees of divergence from the country his ancestors knew. The author also wrote ´The Black Heart: a Voyage into Central Africa´.
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