| Search | About | Preferences | Interact | Help | |
| 150 million books. 1 search engine. | ||
› Find signed collectible books: 'The Bhagavad Gita'
Prince Arjuna faced a dilemma that many face sooner or later--whether or not to take action that is necessary yet morally ambiguous. The difference is that Arjuna's action was to wage war against his own family. With the armies arrayed, Arjuna loses his nerve. Krishna, his charioteer and incarnation of divine consciousness, begins to teach him the nature of God and of himself, that Arjuna can attain liberation through union with God, and that there are several available paths. And so the most famous and revered of all Hindu scriptures goes on to teach the paths of knowledge, of devotion, of action, and of meditation, becoming the seed for all the Hindu systems of philosophy and religion that followed. For all of its profundity, Eknath Easwaran manages to translate the Gita in easy prose that neither panders nor obscures. Coupled with his thorough introduction, Easwaran's version comes off on all the levels it should: as a guide to action, as devotional scripture, as a philosophical text, and as inspirational reading. So what does Arjuna finally do? He follows his dharma, of course, as we all must. --Brian Bruya [via]
More editions of The Bhagavad Gita:
› Find signed collectible books: 'Bhagavad Gita As It Is'
The Bhagavad-Gita is the main source-book on yoga and a concise summary of India's Vedic wisdom. Yet remarkably, the setting for this best-known classic of spiritual literature is an ancient Indian battlefield.
At the last moment before entering battle, the great warrior Arjuna begins to wonder about the real meaning of his life. Why should he fight against his friends and relatives? Why does he exist? Where is he going after death? In the Bhagavad-Gita, Lord Krsna, Arjuna's friend and spiritual master, brings His disciple from perplexity to spiritual enlightenment. In the course of doing so, Krsna concisely but definitively explains transcendental knowledge; karma-yoga, jnana-yoga, dhyana-yoga, and bhakti-yoga; knowledge of the Absolute; devotional service; the three modes of material nature; the divine and demoniac natures; and much more.
Bhagavad-Gita As It Is is the largest-selling, most widely used edition of the Gita in the world. [via]
› Find signed collectible books: 'The Bhagavad Gita'
To most good Vishnuites, and to most Hindus, the Bhagavad Gita is what the New Testament is to good Christians. It is their chief devotional book, and has been for centuries the principal source of religious inspiretion for many millions of Indian. In this two-volume edition, Volume I contains on facing pages a transliteration of original Sanskirt and the autor's close translation. Volume II is Mr. Edgerton's interpretation in which he makes clear the historical setting of the poem and analyzes its influence on later literature and its place in Indian philosophy. Sir Edwin Arnold's beautiful translation, "The Song Celestial," is also includes in the second volume.
Mr. Edgerton is the author of many books and articles in the fields of Egyptology and Oriental languages and literature. He is an editor of the American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literature.
[via]› Find signed collectible books: 'The Bhagavad Gita'
The 18 chapters of "The Bhagavad-Gita" (c. 500 BC), encompass the whole spiritual struggle of a human soul, and the three central themes of this immortal poem - love, light and life - arise from the symphonic vision of God in all things and of all things in God. [via]
› Find signed collectible books: 'Bhagavad Gita: A New Translation'
On the list of the greatest spiritual books of all time, the Bhagavad Gita resides permanently in the top echelon. This poem of patently Indian genius sprouted an immense tree of devotional, artistic, and philosophical elaboration in the subcontinent. The scene is a battlefield with the prince Arjuna pitted against his own family, but no sooner does the poem begin than the action reverts inward. Krishna, Arjuna's avatar and spiritual guide, points the way to the supreme wisdom and perfect freedom that lie within everyone's reach. Worship and be faithful, meditate and know reality--these make up the secret of life and lead eventually to the realization that the self is the root of the world. In this titular translation, Stephen Mitchell's rhythms are faultless, making music of this ancient "Song of the Blessed One." Savor his rendition, but nibble around the edges of his introduction. In a bizarre mixture of praise and condescension, Mitchell disregards two millennia of Indian commentary, seeking illumination on the text from Daoism and Zen, with the Gita coming up just shy of full spiritual merit. Perhaps we should take it from Gandhi, who used the Gita as a handbook for life, that it nourishes on many levels. --Brian Bruya [via]
More editions of Bhagavad Gita: A New Translation:
› Find signed collectible books: 'The Bhagavad Gita'
`I have heard the supreme mystery, yoga, from Krishna, from the lord of yoga himself.' Thus ends the Bhagavard Gita , the most famous episode from the great Sanskrit epic, the Mahabharata . In its eighteen short chapters Krishna's teaching leads the warrior Arjuna from perplexity to understanding and correct action, in the process raising and developing many key themes from the history of Indian relgions. The Bhagavad Gita considers social and religious duty, the nature of sacrifice, the nature of action, the means to liberation, and the relationship of human beings to God. It culminates in an awe-inspiring vision of Krishna as God omnipotent, disposer and destroyer of the universe. The poem has inspired a wide variety of interpretations, both within India and beyond, and it is the best known and most widely read Hindu religious text in the Western world. This new translation is ideal for the non-specialist as well as for students of Indian religions, providing a full cultural and historical context in its introduction and notes. This book is intended for university students from 1st year up, studying Indian religions and culture, comparative religion, theology. Translated with introduction and notes by: Johnson, W. J. (Lecturer in Religious Studies, University of Wales, College of Cardiff); [via]
› Find signed collectible books: 'The Bhagavad Gita'
More editions of The Bhagavad Gita:
› Find signed collectible books: 'Bhagavad Gita'
The Bhagavad-Gita is the Gospel of Hinduism, and one of the great religious classics of the world. Its simple, vivid message is a daily inspiration in the lives of millions throughout the world and has been so for countless generations.
Here is a distinguished translation that can be read by every person, not as an archaic monument to an ancient culture, but as a living contemporary message that touches the most urgent personal and social problems.
More editions of Bhagavad Gita:

› Find signed collectible books: 'The Bhagavad Gita'
More editions of The Bhagavad Gita:
› Find signed collectible books: 'The Bhagavad Gita'
The Bhagavad Gita is the principal source of religious inspiration for many millions of Indians. This two-volume edition contains transliteration of the original Sanskrit and its close translation. Edgerton's interpretation analyzes its influence on later literature and its place in Indian philosophy.
To most Visnuites, and to most Hindus, the Bhagavad Gita is what the New Testament is to Christians. It is their chief devotional book, and has been for centuries the principal source of religious inspiration for many millions of Indians. In this two-volume edition (bound in one), Volume I contains on facing pages a transliteration of the original Sanskrit and the author`s close translation. Volume II is Edgerton`s interpretation in which he makes clear the historical setting of the poem and analyzes its influence on later literature and its place in Indian philosophy. [via]
More editions of The Bhagavad Gita:
› Find signed collectible books: 'Bhagavad Gita'
Uses the beauty of verse to express the highest truths of Vedanta. Includes an introduction to the Gita, and a study of non-violence versus the need to fight a just war. The critics have singled out this translation: The book is self-contained. A complete stranger to the Hindu Gospel can pick it up and in one or two evenings follow the poem from its terrific beginnings to its sublime end. -- New York Times [via]
More editions of Bhagavad Gita:
› Find signed collectible books: 'Bhagavad Gita'
Sanskrit text in English translation, with notes,commentary, and introductory essay by author. Helps those who seek to understand Hinduism. A classic. [via]
More editions of Bhagavad Gita:
› Find signed collectible books: 'Bhagavad Gita'
Now in a miniature edition--the famous epic of India embodying the timeless and universal ideal of spiritual warriorship. In this great classic, often called the Gospel of Hinduism, the god Krishna teaches the warrior Arjuna that freedom lies in disciplined action performed without attachment and with loving reliance on the Supreme Self of all. [via]
More editions of Bhagavad Gita:
› Find signed collectible books: 'Bhagavad Gita'
The Bhagavad Gita, an important Hindu scripture, is one of the outstanding religious classics in the world, and this translation by Swami Nikhilananda has been called "the first really readable, authoritative translation".
The Bhagavad Gita is unique among religious texts in its emphasis on the discharge of everyday duties, irrespective of their nature, as an effective discipline for the realization of God. The Gita teaches that if a man performs his duties, surrendering the fruit to God and discarding all selfish motives, he gains purity of heart and achieves ultimate liberation. It is knowledge of God that gives man the strength to face calmly and cheerfully the duties of life. The Gita shows the way to spiritualize life and illumine even its drab and gray phases with the radiance of the Spirit. It lays down practical spiritual disciplines which can be followed by all, irrespective of faith and creed.
Special features of this 404 page edition are an introduction to the philosophy of The Gita and a summary of The Mahabharata. Also, each numbered verse of the text is followed by an explanation of the significant words and a paragraph of commentary based on the interpretation of Sankaracharya, the great philosopher and mystic of eighth century India. [via]
More editions of Bhagavad Gita:
› Find signed collectible books: 'The Bhagavad Gita'
739 pages. [via]
More editions of The Bhagavad Gita:

› Find signed collectible books: 'Bhagavad Gita: An Interlinear Translation from the Sanskrit'
More editions of Bhagavad Gita: An Interlinear Translation from the Sanskrit:
› Find signed collectible books: 'The Bhagavad Gita As It Is'
The Bhagavad-gita is the main source-book on yoga and a concise summary of India's Vedic wisdom. Yet remarkably, the setting for this classic of spiritual literature is an ancient Indian battlefield. At the last moment, the great warrior Arjuna begins to wonder about the real meaning of his life. In the Bhagavadgita, Lord Krsna brings His disciple from perplexity to spiritual enlightenment. Bhagavad-gita As It Is is the largest-selling, most widely used edition of the Gita in the world. [via]
More editions of Bhagavad-Gita:
› Find signed collectible books: 'Bhagavad-Gita'
"The Bhagavad-Gita" has been an essential text of Hindu culture in India since the time of its composition in the first century A.D. One of the great classics of world literature, it has inspired such diverse thinkers as Henry David Thoreau, Mahatma Gandhi, and T.S. Eliot; most recently, it formed the core of Peter Brook's celebrated production of the "Mahabharata." [via]
› Find signed collectible books: 'Bhagavad-Gita'
The most widely read and probably the most important of the Hindu Sacred Books for the understanding of religious mysticism. [via]
More editions of Bhagavad-Gita:
› Find signed collectible books: 'Bhagavad-Gita As It Is: With the Original Sanskrit Text Roman Transliteration English Equivalence Translation and Elaborate Purports'
the is the main source-book on yoga and a concise summary of India's Vedic wisdom. yet remarkably the setting for this best-known classic of spiritual literature is an ancient Indian battlefield. At the last moment before entering battle the great warrior Arjuna begins to wonder about the real meaning of his life. Why should he fight against his friends and relatives? Why does he exist? Where is he going after death? In the knowledge of the Absolute; devotional service; the three modes of material nature; the divine and demoniac natures; and much more. in the world. [via]
More editions of Bhagavad-Gita As It Is: With the Original Sanskrit Text Roman Transliteration English Equivalence Translation and Elaborate Purports:
› Find signed collectible books: 'The Bhagavad-Gita: Krishna's Counsel in Time of War'
"The Bhagavad-Gita" has been an essential text of Hindu culture in India since the time of its composition in the first century A.D. One of the great classics of world literature, it has inspired such diverse thinkers as Henry David Thoreau, Mahatma Gandhi, and T.S. Eliot; most recently, it formed the core of Peter Brook's celebrated production of the "Mahabharata." [via]
More editions of The Bhagavad-Gita: Krishna's Counsel in Time of War:
› Find signed collectible books: 'Bhagavad-Gita: The Song of God'
Product Description Uses the beauty of verse to express the highest truths of Vedanta. Includes an introduction to the Gita, and a study of non-violence versus the need to fight a just war.
The critics have singled out this translation:"The book is self-contained. A complete stranger to the Hindu Gospel can pick it up and in one or two evenings follow the poem from its terrific beginnings to its sublime end. [via]
More editions of Bhagavad-Gita: The Song of God:

› Find signed collectible books: 'Bhagavad-Gita: The Song of God'
More editions of Bhagavad-Gita: The Song of God:
› Find signed collectible books: 'The Bhagavad-Gita (The Song of God): With Introduction, Original Sanskrit Text and Roman Transliteration, a Lucid English Rendition, Guide for the Beginners and Daily Reading'
The Bhagavad-Gita has the original Sanskrit text with Roman transliteration, and a lucid English rendition. Concise and to the point commentaries on two hundred twenty-seven selected key verses are provided. One hundred thirty three verses are printed in red to enable the first-time readers to study these verses before delving deep into the vast ocean of transcendental knowledge. The teachings of saints and sages of major religious denominations as well as world leaders and scholars have been included. Quotations from the Vedas, Puranas, Upanisads, Smrtis, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Bhakti-sutras, Brahma-sutra, Yoga-sutra, as well as other major scriptures of the world such as the Bible, Dhammapad and Koran have been incorporated to underline the basic unity of all religious thoughts and to promote the universal brotherhood of mankind. Epilogue, references, Sanskrit transliteration and pronunciation guide, glossary and index are provided. A guide to meditation, beautiful pictures and Gita Calisa are included for daily Sadhana. [via]
More editions of The Bhagavad-Gita (The Song of God): With Introduction, Original Sanskrit Text and Roman Transliteration, a Lucid English Rendition, Guide for the Beginners and Daily Reading:

› Find signed collectible books: 'The Bhagavad-Gita: With an Introductory Essay, Sanskrit Text, English Translation and Notes'
More editions of The Bhagavad-Gita: With an Introductory Essay, Sanskrit Text, English Translation and Notes:
› Find signed collectible books: 'Bhagavadgita'
Paperback Publisher: DOVER PUBLICATIONS INC. (1994) Language: English [via]
More editions of Bhagavadgita:
› Find signed collectible books: 'Bhagavadgita'
Translated by Professor Vrinda Nabar and Professor Shanta Tumkur Arguably India's greatest gift to the world, The Bhagavadgita ('The Song of the Blessed') forms an episode in the sixth book of the Hindu epic The Mahabharata and is the supreme work of that religion. The Gita consists of the dialogue between Prince Arjuna and his mentor and friend, Lord Krishna, on the eve of the climactic battle of Kuruksetra. This discourse contains an exposition of the Hindu philosophy of Karma Yoga (disciplined action performed in the right spirit) as Prince Arjuna struggles with his understandable 'existential' anguish at having to join battle against his gurus and kinsmen. The Gita, although almost 2,500 years old, contains profound truths of great relevance to contemporary society in India and the West. [via]
More editions of Bhagavadgita:
› Find signed collectible books: 'Bhagavadgita in the Mahabharata: A Bilingual Edition'
More editions of Bhagavadgita in the Mahabharata: A Bilingual Edition:
› Find signed collectible books: 'The Bhagavadgita: With an Introductory Essay, Sanskrit Text, English Translation, and Notes'
18th edn; Dimensions: 20x13x2.6 cm [via]
More editions of The Bhagavadgita: With an Introductory Essay, Sanskrit Text, English Translation, and Notes:
› Find signed collectible books: 'The Bhagaved Gita'
The Bhagavad Gita forms a small partseven hundred stanzasof the Mahabharata epic, two hundred thousand lines that are but a part of the Bhisma-Parvam. Contained in the Gita's pages are the secrets of life. The story takes an historical event, a war, and uses this as a setting to illustrate basic human conflictsunderstanding action and non-action, how to take part in society, how to understand your place in the universal scheme, as well as explaining the secrets of meditation. There are even complete instructions for understanding the dying process. It is a book to be read again and again, at various stages of life's path, for once you truly comprehend the material presented, you are well on your way to understanding the meaning of life! This edition contains a new Preface by the author that discusses the importance of the Gita for keeping our heart, mind, and soul open for continual nourishment and growth. [via]
› Find signed collectible books: 'The Complete Kama Sutra: The First Unabridged Modern Translation of the Classic Indian Text'
The galaxy of pleasures in Alain Daniélou's translation of the Kama Sutra takes you back to an India where sexuality was an integral part of life and an avenue to spiritual bliss. As Devadatta Shastri says in his commentary: "At the moment when the peak of bliss is attained, the internal and external world vanish. The man and woman cease to be separate entities and lose themselves in the beatitudes of being." Daniélou's elegant rendering includes not only the entire sutra, much of which is excluded in other versions, but two essential commentaries as well. More than just a pillow book, the Kama Sutra is a guide to the labyrinth of sexual etiquette, from how to bathe before meeting a lover to how lovers should entertain each other after making love. Admittedly, the text is dated and culture bound in places; it can be chauvinistic, bizarre, and even violent. The commentators are careful to point out, however, that the work is an overview of all sexual practices, some of which are not recommended. Take from this encyclopedia of amour what you will and let it keep you moving down the path of spiritual practice. --Brian Bruya [via]
More editions of The Complete Kama Sutra: The First Unabridged Modern Translation of the Classic Indian Text:
› Find signed collectible books: 'The Complete Kama Sutra: The 1st Modern Translation of the Classic Indian Text'
The galaxy of pleasures in Alain Daniélou's translation of the Kama Sutra takes you back to an India where sexuality was an integral part of life and an avenue to spiritual bliss. As Devadatta Shastri says in his commentary: "At the moment when the peak of bliss is attained, the internal and external world vanish. The man and woman cease to be separate entities and lose themselves in the beatitudes of being." Daniélou's elegant rendering includes not only the entire sutra, much of which is excluded in other versions, but two essential commentaries as well. More than just a pillow book, the Kama Sutra is a guide to the labyrinth of sexual etiquette, from how to bathe before meeting a lover to how lovers should entertain each other after making love. Admittedly, the text is dated and culture bound in places; it can be chauvinistic, bizarre, and even violent. The commentators are careful to point out, however, that the work is an overview of all sexual practices, some of which are not recommended. Take from this encyclopedia of amour what you will and let it keep you moving down the path of spiritual practice. --Brian Bruya [via]
More editions of The Complete Kama Sutra: The 1st Modern Translation of the Classic Indian Text:
› Find signed collectible books: 'Die Satanischen Verse'
More editions of Die Satanischen Verse:
› Find signed collectible books: 'Fine Balance'
A fiction work by Rohinto Mistry and published by McClelland & Stewart Ltd in Canada in 1995. In paperback format, it has 822 pages. [via]
More editions of Fine Balance:

More editions of Geeta:
› Find signed collectible books: 'God of Small Things'
In her first novel, award-winning Indian screenwriter Arundhati Roy conjures a whoosh of wordplay that rises from the pages like a brilliant jazz improvisation. The God of Small Things is nominally the story of young twins Rahel and Estha and the rest of their family, but the book feels like a million stories spinning out indefinitely; it is the product of a genius child-mind that takes everything in and transforms it in an alchemy of poetry. The God of Small Things is at once exotic and familiar to the Western reader, written in an English that's completely new and invigorated by the Asian Indian influences of culture and language. [via]
More editions of God of Small Things:
› Find signed collectible books: 'Haroun and the Sea of Stories'
Immediately forget any preconceptions you may have about Salman Rushdie and the controversy that has swirled around his million-dollar head. You should instead know that he is one of the best contemporary writers of fables and parables, from any culture. Haroun and the Sea of Stories is a delightful tale about a storyteller who loses his skill and a struggle against mysterious forces attempting to block the seas of inspiration from which all stories are derived. Here's a representative passage about the sources and power of inspiration:
So Iff the water genie told Haroun about the Ocean of the Stream of Stories, and even though he was full of a sense of hopelessness and failure the magic of the Ocean began to have an effect on Haroun. He looked into the water and saw that it was made up of a thousand thousand thousand and one different currents, each one a different colour, weaving in and out of one another like a liquid tapestry of breathtaking complexity; and Iff explained that these were the Streams of Story, that each coloured strand represented and contained a single tale. Different parts of the Ocean contained different sorts of stories, and as all the stories that had ever been told and many that were still in the process of being invented could be found here, the Ocean of the Streams of Story was in fact the biggest library in the universe. And because the stories were held here in fluid form, they retained the ability to change, to become new versions of themselves, to join up with other stories and so become yet other stories; so that unlike a library of books, the Ocean of the Streams of Story was much more than a storeroom of yarns. It was not dead, but alive.[via]"And if you are very, very careful, or very, very highly skilled, you can dip a cup into the Ocean," Iff told Haroun, "like so," and here he produced a little golden cup from another of his waistcoat pockets, "and you can fill it with water from a single, pure Stream of Story, like so," as he did precisely that.
› Find signed collectible books: 'Interpreter of Maladies: Library Edition'
Mr. Kapasi, the protagonist of Jhumpa Lahiri's title story, would certainly have his work cut out for him if he were forced to interpret the maladies of all the characters in this eloquent debut collection. Take, for example, Shoba and Shukumar, the young couple in "A Temporary Matter" whose marriage is crumbling in the wake of a stillborn child. Or Miranda in "Sexy," who is involved in a hopeless affair with a married man. But Mr. Kapasi has problems enough of his own; in addition to his regular job working as an interpreter for a doctor who does not speak his patients' language, he also drives tourists to local sites of interest. His fare on this particular day is Mr. and Mrs. Das--first-generation Americans of Indian descent--and their children. During the course of the afternoon, Mr. Kapasi becomes enamored of Mrs. Das and then becomes her unwilling confidant when she reads too much into his profession. "I told you because of your talents," she informs him after divulging a startling secret.
I'm tired of feeling so terrible all the time. Eight years, Mr. Kapasi, I've been in pain eight years. I was hoping you could help me feel better; say the right thing. Suggest some kind of remedy.Of course, Mr. Kapasi has no cure for what ails Mrs. Das--or himself. Lahiri's subtle, bittersweet ending is characteristic of the collection as a whole. Some of these nine tales are set in India, others in the United States, and most concern characters of Indian heritage. Yet the situations Lahiri's people face, from unhappy marriages to civil war, transcend ethnicity. As the narrator of the last story, "The Third and Final Continent," comments: "There are times I am bewildered by each mile I have traveled, each meal I have eaten, each person I have known, each room in which I have slept." In that single line Jhumpa Lahiri sums up a universal experience, one that applies to all who have grown up, left home, fallen in or out of love, and, above all, experienced what it means to be a foreigner, even within one's own family. --Alix Wilber [via]
More editions of Interpreter of Maladies: Library Edition:
› Find signed collectible books: 'The Jaguar Smile: A Nicaraguan Journey'
In this timeless, haunting portrait of the people and the politics of Nicaragua, Rushdie brings to life the palpable human facts of a country in the midst of a revolution. [via]
More editions of The Jaguar Smile: A Nicaraguan Journey:
› Find signed collectible books: 'Kama Sutra'

› Find signed collectible books: 'The Kama Sutra Of Vatsyana'
More editions of The Kama Sutra Of Vatsyana:
› Find signed collectible books: 'The Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana'
Written by Vatsyayana sometime between the 1st and 6th centuries A.D., "Kama Sutra" is literally translated as "Aphorisms on Love." Intended as a manual for not only love and intimacy but also a treatise on the politics and customs of relationships between men and women. The "Kama Sutra", while sought after for its instruction on sexual positions, is much more than just a guide for lovemaking. Presented here is the classic translation of Sir Richard Burton. [via]
More editions of The Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana:
› Find signed collectible books: 'Kama Sutra: The Arts of Love'
The Kama Sutra is the most famous book on the art and skills of sex and love ever written. [via]
More editions of Kama Sutra: The Arts of Love:
› Find signed collectible books: 'The Kama Sutra: The Hindu Art of Love'
This is the only truly authentic translation of Vatsyayana's Kama Sutra from the ancient Sanskrit. [via]
More editions of The Kama Sutra: The Hindu Art of Love:
› Find signed collectible books: 'Kama Sutra: The Rules of Love and Erotic Practice'
Including never-before-published art drawn from the classical Indian text on the rules of love and erotic practice, this Kama Sutra box contains an exotic talisman in the form of a statuette of two lovers from the tantric Khajuraho temple in India, a talisman that will enhance lovers' passion and effectiveness simply through touch and the observance of the rituals and sutras found in the beautifully illustrated book. Filled with teachings on the art of making love, the text spans the spectrum of erotic practice, from the foundation of love to the best matches between partners, techniques of kissing, different sexual positions, reversal of roles, and how to approach the eternal dilemma of infidelity. Illustrated with exquisite miniatures of Indian art, this box is a wonderful gift for lovers that reflects the ancient and elegant tradition of passionate sexuality. [via]
More editions of Kama Sutra: The Rules of Love and Erotic Practice:

› Find signed collectible books: 'Kamasutra'
More editions of Kamasutra:
› Find signed collectible books: 'Midnight's Children'
Anyone who has spent time in the developing world will know that one of Bombay's claims to fame is the enormous film industry that churns out hundreds of musical fantasies each year. The other, of course, is native son Salman Rushdie--less prolific, perhaps than Bollywood, but in his own way just as fantastical. Though Rushdie's novels lack the requisite six musical numbers that punctuate every Bombay talkie, they often share basic plot points with their cinematic counterparts. Take, for example, his 1980 Booker Prize-winning Midnight's Children: two children born at the stroke of midnight on August 15, 1947--the moment at which India became an independent nation--are switched in the hospital. The infant scion of a wealthy Muslim family is sent to be raised in a Hindu tenement, while the legitimate heir to such squalor ends up establishing squatters' rights to his unlucky hospital mate's luxurious bassinet. Switched babies are standard fare for a Hindi film, and one can't help but feel that Rushdie's world-view--and certainly his sense of the fantastical--has been shaped by the films of his childhood. But whereas the movies, while entertaining, are markedly mediocre, Midnight's Children is a masterpiece, brilliant written, wildly unpredictable, hilarious and heartbreaking in equal measure.
Rushdie's narrator, Saleem Sinai, is the Hindu child raised by wealthy Muslims. Near the beginning of the novel, he informs us that he is falling apart--literally:
I mean quite simply that I have begun to crack all over like an old jug--that my poor body, singular, unlovely, buffeted by too much history, subjected to drainage above and drainage below, mutilated by doors, brained by spittoons, has started coming apart at the seams. In short, I am literally disintegrating, slowly for the moment, although there are signs of an acceleration.In light of this unfortunate physical degeneration, Saleem has decided to write his life story, and, incidentally, that of India's, before he crumbles into "(approximately) six hundred and thirty million particles of anonymous, and necessarily oblivious, dust." It seems that within one hour of midnight on India's independence day, 1,001 children were born. All of those children were endowed with special powers: some can travel through time, for example; one can change gender. Saleem's gift is telepathy, and it is via this power that he discovers the truth of his birth: that he is, in fact, the product of the illicit coupling of an Indian mother and an English father, and has usurped another's place. His gift also reveals the identities of all the other children and the fact that it is in his power to gather them for a "midnight parliament" to save the nation. To do so, however, would lay him open to that other child, christened Shiva, who has grown up to be a brutish killer. Saleem's dilemma plays out against the backdrop of the first years of independence: the partition of India and Pakistan, the ascendancy of "The Widow" Indira Gandhi, war, and, eventually, the imposition of martial law.
We've seen this mix of magical thinking and political reality before in the works of Günter Grass and Gabriel García Márquez. What sets Rushdie apart is his mad prose pyrotechnics, the exuberant acrobatics of rhyme and alliteration, pun, wordplay, proper and "Babu" English chasing each other across the page in a dizzying, exhilarating cataract of words. Rushdie can be laugh-out-loud funny, but make no mistake--this is an angry book, and its author's outrage lends his language wings. Midnight's Children is Salman Rushdie's irate, affectionate love song to his native land--not so different from a Bombay talkie, after all. --Alix Wilber [via]
More editions of Midnight's Children:
› Find signed collectible books: 'Moor's Last Sigh'
In The Moor's Last Sigh Salman Rushdie revisits some of the same ground he covered in his greatest novel, Midnight's Children. This book is narrated by Moraes Zogoiby, aka Moor, who speaks to us from a gravestone in Spain. Like Moor, Rushdie knows about a life spent in banishment from normal society--Rushdie because of the death sentence that followed The Satanic Verses, Moor because he ages at twice the rate of normal humans. Yet Moor's story of travail is bigger than Rushdie's; it encompasses a grand struggle between good and evil while Moor himself stands as allegory for Rushdie's home country of India. Filled with wordplay and ripe with humor, it is an epic work, and Rushdie has the tools to pull it off. He earned a 1995 Whitbread Prize for his efforts. [via]
More editions of Moor's Last Sigh:
› Find signed collectible books: 'The Satanic Verses : A Novel'
No book in modern times has matched the uproar sparked by Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses, which earned its author a death sentence. Furor aside, it is a marvelously erudite study of good and evil, a feast of language served up by a writer at the height of his powers, and a rollicking comic fable. The book begins with two Indians, Gibreel Farishta ("for fifteen years the biggest star in the history of the Indian movies") and Saladin Chamcha, a Bombay expatriate returning from his first visit to his homeland in 15 years, plummeting from the sky after the explosion of their jetliner, and proceeds through a series of metamorphoses, dreams and revelations. Rushdie's powers of invention are astonishing in this Whitbread Prize winner. [via]
More editions of The Satanic Verses:

› Find signed collectible books: 'Shame'
The families of two men, one a famous warrior and the other an infamous playboy, engage in a passionate and heated rivalry that affects the political landscape of their country. By the author of The Satanic Verses. Reprint." [via]
› Find signed collectible books: 'Shri Bhagavad Gita'
More editions of Shri Bhagavad Gita:
› Find signed collectible books: 'Song Celestial'
More editions of Song Celestial:
› Find signed collectible books: 'Song Celestial : A Poetic Version of the Bhagavad Gita'
More editions of Song Celestial : A Poetic Version of the Bhagavad Gita:
› Find signed collectible books: 'Song Celestial or Bhagavad-Gita (1885)'
Being a Discourse Between Arjuna, Prince of India, and the Supreme Being under the Form of Krishna. [via]
More editions of Song Celestial or Bhagavad-Gita (1885):
› Find signed collectible books: 'The Song Celestial: The Bhagavad Gita'
More editions of The Song Celestial: The Bhagavad Gita:

› Find signed collectible books: 'The Song of God, Bhagavad-Gita'
More editions of The Song of God, Bhagavad-Gita:
› Find signed collectible books: 'The Song of God, Bhagavad-Gita'
Uses the beauty of verse to express the highest truths of Vedanta. Includes an introduction to the Gita, and a study of non-violence versus the need to fight a just war. The critics have singled out this translation:"The book is self-contained. A complete stranger to the Hindu Gospel can pick it up and in one or two evenings follow the poem from its terrific beginnings to its sublime end." -- New York Times [via]
More editions of The Song of God, Bhagavad-Gita:

› Find signed collectible books: 'The Thirteenth Chapter of Bhagavad-Gita as It Is'
More editions of The Thirteenth Chapter of Bhagavad-Gita as It Is:
› Find signed collectible books: 'Il Dio Delle Piccole Cose'
Ammu, figlia di un alto funzionario, lascia un marito violento e torna a casa con i suoi bambini, i gemelli Estha e Rahel, maschio e femmina. Ma nellIndia meridionale dei tardi anni Sessanta, una donna divorziata come lei si ritrova priva di una posizione sociale riconosciuta, soprattutto se commette lerrore di innamorarsi di un paria. I gemelli vogliono bene a Velutha, lintoccabile che la madre può amare solo in segreto, e attraverso il loro sguardo, capace di cogliere le piccole cose e i piccoli eventi, prende forma la storia di un grande amore, in cui si riflette il tema universale dei sentimenti in conflitto con le convenzioni. Nei loro pensieri e nelle loro parole risuona la critica più radicale a ogni legge che stabilisce chi si deve amare, e come, e quanto. [via]
More editions of Il Dio Delle Piccole Cose:

› Find signed collectible books: 'Interprete De Emociones / Interpreter of Maladies'
More editions of Interprete De Emociones / Interpreter of Maladies:
