Review of a 1839 book published in/about India
Hello Mohan:
I thought you will find it interesting, I did.
Some excerpts,
"Confessions of a Thug was an instant hit in 1839, when it found a fan in the young Queen Victoria. A graphic account of Indian customs and religious practices as well as a true-crime story, Confessions became one of the most influential novels about India published by an English writer prior to Rudyard Kipling's Kim. It was also a model for the 19th-century crime novel, and can be seen as a precursor to the "nonfiction" novels of more recent times, such as Truman Capote's In Cold Blood."
And,
"on the whole Taylor's account of India, unlike those of his peers, is nonjudgmental. Patrick Brantlinger points out in the Introduction, "Rather than condemning Hinduism and Islam for breeding Thuggism, Taylor seems to have understood that this would be like blaming Catholicism for the Mafia."
And the whole review,
readcat.nybooks.com
Regards,
Satish |
