What may make for engaging film with stunning scenery stalls as a written account.
Two adventurous brothers describe their 54-day motorcycle trip around India.
Not long after completing their motorcycle ride through China, Colin and Ryan Pyle (The Middle Kingdom Ride, 2013) decided to take on a different country: India. Ryan, a photographer, chose India based on its diversity of landscapes, sense of rapid change, and population density. His younger brother, Colin, assumed that after China, this ride would be “a breeze.” The brothers, a cameraman, and a film assistant planned to start in Delhi and ride along India’s periphery. From Day 1, the population density that had once sounded thrilling quickly proved to be the biggest, most arduous hurdle of their ride—and it never relented. Traffic was a constant; lawless, poorly constructed motorways made for chaotic and dangerous traveling. The brothers rarely found any of the remote tranquility they experienced in China. Commercial areas offered them their only respite: Nashik vineyards, the Mahindra factory, and the Taj Mahal stood in contrast to the rampant poverty they came to expect. During an excursion to Karni Mata Temple at Deshnoke, also known as the Rat Temple, both brothers were repulsed by the unsanitary conditions and the more than 20,000 diseased rat inhabitants—believed by many to be ancient ancestors. A common religious refrain—God’s will determines fate—quickly grated on them as they believed it led to a lack of self-determination within the country. Both became aggravated with what they viewed as India’s failure to fix obvious issues: infrastructure, sanitation, and poverty. Though clearly excited to be on another adventure, the authors’ perspectives tend to dwell on the surface. Their straightforward accounts of the most basic elements of each day (time and distance traveled, state of the hotel, level of exhaustion, and upcoming stops) drain the momentum of their motoring through the country. Both brothers take time for introspection, but they repeat themselves; they’re tired and accept they will never understand any country from riding through it eight hours a day. And yet, their honesty is refreshing; it’s rare to find a travelogue that never resorts to high drama. Instead, they let their experiences speak for themselves.
What may make for engaging film with stunning scenery stalls as a written account.Pub Date: Nov. 15, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-9575762-4-7
Page Count: 280
Publisher: G219 Productions Limited
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An enjoyable slice of 20th-century music journalism almost certain to provide something for most readers, no matter one’s...
Music journalist and musician Wald (Talking 'Bout Your Mama: The Dozens, Snaps, and the Deep Roots of Rap, 2014, etc.) focuses on one evening in music history to explain the evolution of contemporary music, especially folk, blues, and rock.
The date of that evening is July 25, 1965, at the Newport Folk Festival, where there was an unbelievably unexpected occurrence: singer/songwriter Bob Dylan, already a living legend in his early 20s, overriding the acoustic music that made him famous in favor of electronically based music, causing reactions ranging from adoration to intense resentment among other musicians, DJs, and record buyers. Dylan has told his own stories (those stories vary because that’s Dylan’s character), and plenty of other music journalists have explored the Dylan phenomenon. What sets Wald's book apart is his laser focus on that one date. The detailed recounting of what did and did not occur on stage and in the audience that night contains contradictory evidence sorted skillfully by the author. He offers a wealth of context; in fact, his account of Dylan's stage appearance does not arrive until 250 pages in. The author cites dozens of sources, well-known and otherwise, but the key storylines, other than Dylan, involve acoustic folk music guru Pete Seeger and the rich history of the Newport festival, a history that had created expectations smashed by Dylan. Furthermore, the appearances on the pages by other musicians—e.g., Joan Baez, the Weaver, Peter, Paul, and Mary, Dave Van Ronk, and Gordon Lightfoot—give the book enough of an expansive feel. Wald's personal knowledge seems encyclopedic, and his endnotes show how he ranged far beyond personal knowledge to produce the book.
An enjoyable slice of 20th-century music journalism almost certain to provide something for most readers, no matter one’s personal feelings about Dylan's music or persona.Pub Date: July 25, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-06-236668-9
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Dey Street/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
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