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maitrey_d's review
4.0
The book is part history, part travelogue and part memoir. Oh, and also a love letter to India.
The author, Sam Miller was the BBC regional South Asia head, and this is his second book. His first was a similarly written book on the city of Delhi.
A Strange Kind of Paradise is a rambling account of what foreigners (although who these people are in context to India is not very clear in the first place) thought right from Greek visitors to the Chinese Buddhist pilgrims and Arab visitors to the most recent influx of Westerners from Brits, to Germans to Americans.
Miller interweaves history with his travels across usual suspects like Mumbai and Delhi to the off-beat places such as in Central India where a certain Heliodorus the Bactrian Greek set up a victory pillar to Vishnu. Also, there are regular intermissions where Miller discusses his personal life where he married a Parsi woman from Mumbai and his subsequent move to India from Britain.
Overall, Paradise was very light reading and was downright funny on many occasions. Miller takes great pleasure in finding connections between places, events and characters spread across something like 3 millennia of Indian history. His footnotes were easily the most interesting bits to read about.
If you aren't into esoteric connections though, this book is not something that I'd recommend to people to actually learn anything about Indian history or culture.
The author, Sam Miller was the BBC regional South Asia head, and this is his second book. His first was a similarly written book on the city of Delhi.
A Strange Kind of Paradise is a rambling account of what foreigners (although who these people are in context to India is not very clear in the first place) thought right from Greek visitors to the Chinese Buddhist pilgrims and Arab visitors to the most recent influx of Westerners from Brits, to Germans to Americans.
Miller interweaves history with his travels across usual suspects like Mumbai and Delhi to the off-beat places such as in Central India where a certain Heliodorus the Bactrian Greek set up a victory pillar to Vishnu. Also, there are regular intermissions where Miller discusses his personal life where he married a Parsi woman from Mumbai and his subsequent move to India from Britain.
Overall, Paradise was very light reading and was downright funny on many occasions. Miller takes great pleasure in finding connections between places, events and characters spread across something like 3 millennia of Indian history. His footnotes were easily the most interesting bits to read about.
If you aren't into esoteric connections though, this book is not something that I'd recommend to people to actually learn anything about Indian history or culture.
gautamsing's review
5.0
Fascinating topic - what do foreigners think of your country? After marrying the sister of his Indian brother-in-law, the author moves to what is then Bombay. His love story with India, having started with his wife, starts extending to what he calls "A Strange Kind of Paradise", that is 'India through Foreign Eyes".
It begins with his own views, and then he starts researching what other foreigners thought about it. The Portuguese, Ibn Battuta, Marco Polo, the Chinese, the French, and of course what the British thought of India figure prominently.
A wonderful book.
It begins with his own views, and then he starts researching what other foreigners thought about it. The Portuguese, Ibn Battuta, Marco Polo, the Chinese, the French, and of course what the British thought of India figure prominently.
A wonderful book.
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