Song of Kali (Gateway Essentials)

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We're going," I said. "The reservations have been made. We've had our shots. The only question now is whether you want to see Das's stuff if it is Das and if I can secure publication rights. What do you say, Abe?" He's filling in as temporary assistant editor at Harper's," I said. "He wants the Calcutta article in by the October issue." Luczak’s search for M. Das leads him to an ancient, brutal cult of Kali worshippers who practice a whole host of depravities including human sacrifice of children. As Bobby delves deeper and deeper into the history and customs of the cult, he discovers a bizarre connection between the cult and the re-emergence of Das whose new verse is a celebration of the goddess of death. This book goes to my favorites list for the simple fact that after a long while, I was completely drawn into the ambiance of a tales setting. I think there was enough foreshadowing to give one an idea that something bad was going to happen, but you kept hoping that what you think might happen, wouldn't happen--it develops into one of those thriller-type scenarios, where you keep thinking 'Oh, watch out! be careful, don't do that!'

Chet Morrow called me," I said. "He said that he had been impressed with the piece." I neglected to tell Abe that Morrow had forgotten Tagore's name. Abe's sweaty brow furrowed as he read. "Sweet Christ, Bobby, is this what I'm holding the spring issue for? This is about some dame scewing doggie-style while drinking the blood of a headless man. Or did I miss something?" We begin following the protagonist, Robert Luczak's, journey to Calcutta in India to obtain a manuscript and get to the bottom of a mystery concerning Bengali Poet M. Das. Rumoured to be dead for just over a decade, he has recently resurfaced with a new body of work. And the magazine that Luczak works for is just dying to get the inside scoop. What could possibly go wrong?Dan received his Masters in Education from Washington University in St. Louis in 1971. He then worked in elementary education for 18 years—2 years in Missouri, 2 years in Buffalo, New York—one year as a specially trained BOCES "resource teacher" and another as a sixth-grade teacher—and 14 years in Colorado. This book, just, no! Whoever thinks they're getting a cultural lesson about India, please, stop. Whoever thinks this is a good horror book, either I'm not so easily scared or... I don't even know how to finish that sentence. If you're scared by third world countries, brown people, or clumsily vague supernatural conspiracy theories then this is your kind of horror. Abe had a point. Not many people had heard of Robert C. Luczak in 1977, despite the fact that Winter Spirits had received half a column of review in the Times. Still, I hoped that what people—especially the few hundred people who counted— had heard was promising. " Harper's thought of me because of that piece I did in Voices last year," I said. "You know, the one on Bengali poetry. You said I spent too much time on Rabindranath Tagore." My last sight of Abe was of him standing there with his arm and hand extended, either in a half-wave or some mute gesture of tired resignation.

Abe was in his cluttered office, alone, working on the autumn issue of Voices. The windows were open, but the air in the room was as stale and moist as the dead cigar that Abe was chewing on. "Don't go to Calcutta, Bobby," Abe said again. "Let someone else do it." We're, my expectations high going in? After bloody winning such a prestigious award with your debut book? Just who do you think you are Mr Simmons, that's outrageous. The answer was yes! Song of Kali took me by surprise. And it shouldn't as I know how talented an author Dan Simmons is. This is old school horror written by an author with real literary talent. What a debut! This is a masterpiece that might be read as a companion piece to Ligotti - http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24... - and King's The Stand - http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14... . It does offer some small hope in a way that Ligotti does not (I cannot say more without spoiling the tale) and it is much better than The Stand (written around the same period as Simmons' book), if only because it is more 'real', but all three are explorations of the dark side of the condition of humanity from a uniquely American perspective.La novela narra la historia de Robert qué es contratado para ir a la ciudad de Calcuta en busca de un famoso poeta indio, viaje que realiza junto a su esposa y recién nacida hija, y en el que también descubrirá una serie de macabros sucesos en torno al culto a la diosa kali que cambiarán su vida y la de su familia para siempre. What an exceptional book within the horror genre - a true masterpiece and extremely hard to put down. La novela narra la historia de Robert qué es contratado para I wasn't talking about the weather," said Abe. "Although it's the hottest, most humid, most miserable goddamn hellhole I've ever been in. Worse than Burma in '43. Worse than Singapore in typhoon weather. Jesus, it's worse than Washington in August. No, Bobby, I'm talking about the place, goddammit. There was something…something miasmal about that city. I've never been in a place that seemed as mean or shitty, and I've spent time in some of the great sewer cities of the world. Calcutta scared me, Bobby."

Simmons is an author among authors, and if you have never read him this is a good place to start. Song of Kali may not dazzle, but it will pique your interest and get you ready for his more daunting books (of which there are many). I found the claustrophobic, filthy and sinister atmosphere of Calcutta, well described. I could almost smell the city while reading. I felt the city’s humidity and the frenzy of all the unfortunate and fortunate people living there.Sloppy seconds," grumbled Abe and chewed on his cigar. This was the kind of enthusiastic gratitude I'd grown used to during my years with Bronstein. I said nothing, and eventually he spoke again. "So where the hell's Das been for eight years, Bobby?" After a couple of days of dead-end leads, an Indian couple is caught at the airport trying to take someone resembling Victoria out of the country. Robert and Amrita go to identify their child, but find that she is already dead. Ya para el final la novela pareciera que volverá a remontar con una oscura búsqueda de venganza que podría aclarar las dudas y cabos sueltos que hasta ese punto nos han hecho seguir leyendo... pero no, el autor decide finalmente que su protagonista regrese a casa dejándonos con toda la interrogante de qué era lo que se ocultaba tras todo el asunto en torno a Kali.