The Snake Charmer

by Sanjay Nigam

Book Overview

"Some lifetimes seem to hinge on a single day, and for Sonalal today was that day." A middle-aged snake charmer wakes up one morning in Delhi, little knowing that by evening his whole world will have... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0140278915
• ISBN13: 9780140278910
• Release Date: October 1999
• Publisher: Penguin Group
• Length: 223 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.0" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

Difficult to put down -- a great read!

I loved this book. Simply written with the simplest of plots, this book captivated me from the first page.The story of a snake charmer who surprisingly finds fame but at the price of deep personal loss, this story had me reexamining priorities in light of the charmer's fates. Is fame more important than love? More important than being able to continue work you love? Success at what cost? Is it more important than family? And the charmer's less-than-stellar morality leads to questions of spousal and familial loyalty while exploring "true love." Following the charmer as he searches for his answers only adds to these questions.It's been a long time since I've read such a good story with so many thought provoking issues. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure it's not intended to be such a profound book, but it certainly has caused me to take pause and reevaluate things.I highly, highly recommend this book. Enjoy!

Distant Music, Haunting Tale

Despite a lifelong aversion to snakes, I was captivated by the book jacket (good merchandising) and bought this book. I was enchanted by it from its first sentence to its concluding moments. Amazing how it creeps up on you--and how affecting all the characters are, including the defanged, mourned cobra himself. Utterly beautiful.

A Modern Parable

At first I turned the pages to find the answers: the tricks to ridding guilt, the prayers to embrace fidelity, the trees to age with forgiveness & acceptance, etc. But "The Snake Charmer" reminded me that life is never a novel we get to read before or while it's happening to us. This book should penetrate your day with thoughts about the things we do or did. It might also make you want to drink your morning tea with an aging and affectionate cobra. . . or do you already?

Plummeting the Depths of One's Spirit

An absolutely fascinating, haunting, powerful autobiography. A great read. Easily rivaling Hooks' "Wounds of Passion" for its courage, honesty and disturbing, emotionally wrenching subject matter. A well-paced, balanced work. Great use of historical constructs as well. Highly recommended. Could not put this book down.

Worth going out of the way to find and read.

A stunning book. The first 30 pages are some of the most gripping I've read in a while. This book is deceptively easy to read because of the great simplicity of language it uses. That simplicity in no ways lessens depth of the human soul which the book explores. With deep understanding and empathy, the author shows us the life of a man -- not a character but a man -- struggling to survive in India. The writing is clear and crisp and moving through out the book and the meanings slowly accrue, layer upon layer, until the images resonate deeply. This is a terrific book. What is it about? It is about a snake charmer in India who has committed a horrendous mistake and his efforts to reclaim the love of the people around him and his own small stake of self-hood in the anonymous crowd. I've never been to India, but this book gives me a fresh, vivid, image of a life and an entire world -- a world of magic and science and humanity and passion and great warmth and hu! ! mor.