Song of Kali by Dan Simmons Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Song of Kali
Book Review: An original work of horror
Summary: 4 Stars
First off, be warned, Simmons can be extremely graphic. This is not a book for the faint of heart. He spares no expense in depicting some truly vile and horrific images. Some of the passages are extremely vivid and disturbing. I think, at times, Simmons is overly explicit in some of his descriptions, which is the only complaint I have with this book.
That being said, this is, overall an excellent book. I was hooked within the first few pages. His writing is straightforward, and strongly evocative. I have never been to Calcutta, or any place like it, yet I had no problem envisioning it Simmons has a talent for making the reader feel for and fear for his characters, something that is lacking in most books of this genre.
This is one of the most original horror books you will ever read. I recommend this book, and as I have read the entire Hyperion series, anything else written by Simmons.
Book Review: At Times Brilliant. At Times Boring.
Summary: 3 Stars
The Song of Kali was at times brilliant, and at times boring. The story is about a writer for Harper's who heads to Calcutta to research a story on a poet by the name of M. Das. Once there, chaos insues.
The first 100 pages were brilliant. I loved the story and couldn't put the book down. Somewhere thereafter, the author lost his focus. The story meanders through near endless line after line about the city of Calcutta, making the story trudge along line a bloated corpse. I could barely finish the last 100 pages. The book had become so filled with tedious description that I found I had little desire left to finish. (Not did I care what happened)
This story is not horror. It is "Literature", if you catch my drift.
Book Review: Atmospheric and nightmarish.
Summary: 4 Stars
As many others have noted, this book is quite depressing, but very good. Author Dan Simmons pulls no punches as he describes the dark atmosphere of Calcutta and its inhabitants. Indeed, the very city is a character in itself that permeates the entire book with its madness. The storyline moves forward at a brisk pace as the entire novel unfolds in the first person narrative of its main protagonist, Robert Luczack, a poet. Like in Simmons' later novel, Hyperion, a poem is one of the main plotines in the story, and there are varied literary references. The supernatural elements in the novel take on a very menacing and realistic aspect because the reader gets so involved in the nightmarish surroundings of Calcutta. We enter the mindset of the hindus and the terrible worship of the death goddess Kali.I give the book 4 stars because the book leaves many unresolved questions (also like in his later novel, Hyperion, but that one at least had a sequel). Dan Simmons may argue, and rightly so, that in real life not all answers are given, but still, a little more insight into the motivation of some of the characters would have been appreciated.
Book Review: Atmospheric, Insidious and Terrifying
Summary: 5 Stars
I am *never* going to Calcutta.Apparently he only spent two and a half days there, but Calcutta must have made one hell of an impression on Dan Simmons. I don't know if his portrayal of it is accurate, but he's presented a dark, dirty, frightening city -- a place I've visited in my nightmares many times since reading "Song of Kali."
This is a novel that really stuck with me. In fact, after reading it I had to get rid of my copy, because it freaked me out so much. It's a thoroughly engaging story -- part of why it was so upsetting is that I believed the protagonists (a writer and his wife and baby) so completely.
Lots of writers have approached the subject of bad places -- mostly in the form of haunted houses (Shirley Jackon's classic "The Haunting of Hill House," Richard Matheson's "Hell House," and Stephen King's "The Shining" all come to mind). This is the first example of a *city* as bad place that I've seen. It's also the first book in a long time that's really scared me.
Book Review: Audrey Blankenhagen author of The Curse of Kali
Summary: 5 Stars
A scary, page-turning narrative but Simmons' Calcutta of the 1970s was a far cry from the beautiful city of my birth.