Arun Divakar's Reviews > Song of Kali

Kolkata is a city of contradictions. One side of the road would show magnificent high rises while the other has shanties and hastily put together human habitations. You travel through roads where garbage is piled high and refuse floats through large bodies of water. Turn a bend in the road and you see a tree lined pavement, well cared for houses and apartments and the road will lead you to some of the swankiest shopping malls in town. There is a mix of the old and the new, the beautiful and the repulsive & the eye catching and the forgettable. Kolkata in short thus is a replica of any other large city in the world. Dan Simmons though paints a grim portrait of this town and calls it in so many words a nest of many evils.

Kali is in Hindu Mythology a manifestation of uncontrolled feminine power. She is rage,lust,power,battle fury, primeval intellect, bestial instincts,benediction, omnipotence and a lot many other traits rolled into one. The cults that follow her are said to be violent in nature to appease this dark side of the divine female. Simmons capitalizes on this and takes imagination to a higher level when he calls Kali an undoubtedly evil entity with a ruthless cult behind her. Song of Kali is one of the best horror novels I have come across with the focus kept solely on one of India's dark myths. Contrary to my usual taste, there is quite a scattering of the visceral throughout the events which serves mostly to heighten the ambiance.

I agree with many of the reviewers here, the characters and the story makes us feel that Kolkata is solely and completely evil. Nothing could have been farther from the truth. Also, the moment the characters walk back into America all sense of horror dissipates like those bogey men before a shaft of strong light. But I must say that even after close to 35 years of the novel's setting, there still are places that retain the same shades in this enigmatic city.

This book goes to my favorites list for the simple fact that after a long while, I was completely drawn into the ambiance of a tales setting.

Couple of funny things though :

1. According to the Indian dialect you do not call a person Jayaprakesh. You call him Jayaprakash or Jayaprakas but not Jayaprakesh !

2. A hymn with 108 stanzas is not called a mantri for this word is not the plural form of mantra . Which means it is still called Gayatri Mantra and not Gayatri Mantri .