Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.35 AVERAGE
3.35 AVERAGE
Starting this book, I didn't know how far I would get because MacDonald just had a bad attitude. It felt like it was just complaint after complaint. I felt it did get better, and although MacDonald's writing can be very cliche, I did enjoy her stories of traveling to different parts of India. I think it gave a good perspective of India overall.
I really enjoyed this book. Her initial culture shock (and horror) to her gradual love of India was an incredible journey and I'm glad she brought me along.
great travel read. Gives an honest opinion from a non-native about experiencing India.
3/31/2008
I will begin this book tonight, hopefully.
***UPDATE***
4/1/08
I began reading Holy Cow last night. I'm in a peeve over this book. So far it succeeds at ruining my idealistic, romantic Raj view of India. Okay, maybe it is an insult for me to call Raj the ideal. Certainly post-partition is best and this book takes place some 40-50 years after partition, but MY India, in my head, has a bit of Raj mystique. I can't help it. Maybe it's the colonialist in me. Ha! So, tonight I'm hoping the story mentions something else other than the smell and smog.
***UPDATE***
4/5/08
Now that the book is getting into comparing Indian and American social systems, I am becoming a bit more interested. The author's endless negative, get-me-the-hell-out-of-here criticism (whining) was beginning to rub my nerves raw. I understand that the book will eventually convey the author's spiritual growth and blossoming love for the country, and getting the message across and highlighting the severe change may be easier with this life-couldn't-be-worse beginning. But damn, get me the hell out of this book. I'm continuing to give it a chance. I see some hope for it. I think Harry Potter is next on my list. I need something to suck me in. I love that feeling. Much better than the internet.
***UPDATE***
4/11/08
Two nights passed without this book leaving my nightstand. Last night, I finally picked it up again. I was interested in her description of Vipassana meditation and her experience at the 10-days-of-focused-breathing-in-silence-and-cramped-muscles camp. However, the end result of her adventure left me a little bored. Yawn. Anticlimactic. I will try again in a few days. My mom is visiting.
***UPDATE***
4/22/08
I'm a little more than 50% through this book, and now that Sarah is taking some trips outside of stinky Delhi, the story interests me a bit more. I think she is a bit too generous in her views of the Western sikhs. I do enjoy her descriptions of sadhus and the public's tolerance of them. It's amazing what Indians think of a bit of personal sacrifice. You may already be starving, but if you take that extra step of holding your arm in the air for years, you're holy, sacred. I can appreciate the history of Hinduism, but I can't say it's helped promote the advancement of society in India. And to know there are Hindu fundamentalists (seems like an oxymoron) is unsettling. The last thing India needs is to perpetuate a caste system. It's amazing that democracy pushes on.
***UPDATE***
Between caring for a two-year-old daughter and an eleven-month-old son, working full-time, and planning a relocation, I managed to find time to finish this book. By the last page, I had turned my previous critique inside out. Yes, the book starts out as negative ranting, and yes, I still think the beginning is over done, but the transformation in the author's perspective of India, her acceptance and understanding, is a beautiful journey. I think some of the sappy writing is forced, but maybe I just need to read a bit more by this Aussie. I'm glad this one is on my shelf, read.
I will begin this book tonight, hopefully.
***UPDATE***
4/1/08
I began reading Holy Cow last night. I'm in a peeve over this book. So far it succeeds at ruining my idealistic, romantic Raj view of India. Okay, maybe it is an insult for me to call Raj the ideal. Certainly post-partition is best and this book takes place some 40-50 years after partition, but MY India, in my head, has a bit of Raj mystique. I can't help it. Maybe it's the colonialist in me. Ha! So, tonight I'm hoping the story mentions something else other than the smell and smog.
***UPDATE***
4/5/08
Now that the book is getting into comparing Indian and American social systems, I am becoming a bit more interested. The author's endless negative, get-me-the-hell-out-of-here criticism (whining) was beginning to rub my nerves raw. I understand that the book will eventually convey the author's spiritual growth and blossoming love for the country, and getting the message across and highlighting the severe change may be easier with this life-couldn't-be-worse beginning. But damn, get me the hell out of this book. I'm continuing to give it a chance. I see some hope for it. I think Harry Potter is next on my list. I need something to suck me in. I love that feeling. Much better than the internet.
***UPDATE***
4/11/08
Two nights passed without this book leaving my nightstand. Last night, I finally picked it up again. I was interested in her description of Vipassana meditation and her experience at the 10-days-of-focused-breathing-in-silence-and-cramped-muscles camp. However, the end result of her adventure left me a little bored. Yawn. Anticlimactic. I will try again in a few days. My mom is visiting.
***UPDATE***
4/22/08
I'm a little more than 50% through this book, and now that Sarah is taking some trips outside of stinky Delhi, the story interests me a bit more. I think she is a bit too generous in her views of the Western sikhs. I do enjoy her descriptions of sadhus and the public's tolerance of them. It's amazing what Indians think of a bit of personal sacrifice. You may already be starving, but if you take that extra step of holding your arm in the air for years, you're holy, sacred. I can appreciate the history of Hinduism, but I can't say it's helped promote the advancement of society in India. And to know there are Hindu fundamentalists (seems like an oxymoron) is unsettling. The last thing India needs is to perpetuate a caste system. It's amazing that democracy pushes on.
***UPDATE***
Between caring for a two-year-old daughter and an eleven-month-old son, working full-time, and planning a relocation, I managed to find time to finish this book. By the last page, I had turned my previous critique inside out. Yes, the book starts out as negative ranting, and yes, I still think the beginning is over done, but the transformation in the author's perspective of India, her acceptance and understanding, is a beautiful journey. I think some of the sappy writing is forced, but maybe I just need to read a bit more by this Aussie. I'm glad this one is on my shelf, read.
I picked up this book because I've always wanted to travel to India and I like a good travelogue. I understand that Macdonald is being humorous, but humorous to the point of being mean was too much for me. She writes from a lofty pedestal of privilege and does nothing but complain, whine, belittle and write condescendingly of India and it's people. She made fun of the Hindu religion throughout the entire book. She looked on poverty with disgust...she ran screaming in revulsion at a woman with a burned face, begging on the street. In the opening pages of the book she says, "Everyone seems to drive with one finger on the horn and another shoved high up a nostril." It didn't get better from there. She went on to diss Buddhists and even jumped the Dalai Lama's ass. She was the typical Westerner looking with disdain at any non-Western culture. Be warned that the humor in this book comes at the expense of others. Not cool.
the author called me an exotic currymuncher and asked me to drink cow-piss???
I really enjoyed reading about her journey through India as well as her journey within.
A spiritual pursuit. In some ways I'm not a fan of the way she 'tries' a lot of religions, but on the flipside, I'm a big fan of how she takes a lesson or a learns something relevant from each one she tries.