LET'S GO TO INDIA

by David C. Cooke ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 31, 1969

While India is one of the oldest countries in the world, with a history of civilization going back thousands of years, today it is a poor land with too many People and too many problems."" That's the end of the civilization but only the beginning of the problems in this slight, warped and altogether ineffective book. While the text identifies Pakistan as India's neighbor, the map does not locate either the east or west portion; while the map patterns Kashmir to distinguist it from India (but does not identify the patterned area), the text treats is as just another state. Also curious is the form Banares instead of the more common Benares or the official Indian Varanasi (in a small book small matters loom large.) But the most significant failing is the inability to see anything but poverty and deprivation in the countryside, poverty and congestion in the cities. Also indicative is the praise for the beauty of that imperial enclave, NeW Delhi, in contrast to the disrepair of Old Delhi. And we reach and leave India via Columbus' misapprehesnion about America, which comes close to being the epitome of ethnocentricity.

Pub Date: July 31, 1969

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Putham

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1969

Categories: NONFICTION