Author: Ed Viswanathan
Trade Paperback
Publisher: Halo Books
Publication date: August 1992
ISBN: 1879904063
Price & More Info: Click Here
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I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, I find it difficult
to read except as a reference book; on the other hand, at that, it is
excellent. Were it written in a different style, I have no doubt I would
have read it cover to cover, most likely in one sitting. It's written in a
question-and-answer format between father and son, though, with the
questions informal and the answers like encyclopedia entries...a clash I
find extremely irritating. Had the book consisted of headings and the
replies alone, I would recommend it without reservation.
As it is, I recommend it very strongly, because if you can treat the
questions as headings, the answers are extremely helpful. The book,
whatever its stylistic failings (and they may not bother others the way they
do me), is indeed what the subtitle, "The Hinduism Primer", claims. The one
non-stylistic problem I have with it is the lack of an index, though the
table of contents is full enough to almost make up for that. A
bibliography would also have been nice, but the text references the Hindu
holy books, and a web search should be able to find English versions or
sources for anyone who wants to go beyond the primer stage.
Overall, I would rate this 5 stars, or 9 on a 1-10 scale. Well worth the
money.
Reviewed by Ann
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