I purchased Song of Kali after hearing numerous people claim that it was one of the most terrifying books they had ever read. However, upon reading it, I didn't find this book "scary" in the traditional sense. Nevertheless, it did have its undeniably creepy elements.

The story centers around a man and his family who embark on a business trip to Calcutta and encounter supernatural troubles there. The aspect of the story that I found to be the most horrifying was the vivid portrayal of the darkest side of humanity. I can usually handle horror stories where the monster emerges from under the bed or from beyond the grave. But when the monster is someone sitting right next to you on the bus, it induces a far deeper sense of fear.

I truly enjoyed this book. Although it started off slowly, I couldn't put it down towards the end. All in all, the book didn't leave me with a fear of the dark, but it most definitely ensured that I will NEVER travel to or near Calcutta.

" The Song of Kali" is a rather dark and terrifying novel! Dan Simmons creates the mysterious Indian atmosphere and the specific local way of life against the background of an interesting horror story.

The main hero, Robert Luczak, is sent to Calcutta to gather information about a mysterious Indian poet who is considered dead for several years. Despite the warnings of his friend not to go there, he departs for India, even taking his wife with him, who can help him with the translation, as well as their daughter. In Calcutta, he witnesses the poverty and filth of the city, but also stumbles upon an evil cult dedicated to the goddess Kali, which puts him and his family in great danger...

This novel takes the reader on a thrilling journey through the strange and dangerous world of India. Simmons' vivid descriptions bring the setting to life, making the reader feel as if they are right there with Robert Luczak, experiencing all the horrors and mysteries. The story is full of twists and turns, keeping the reader on the edge of their seat until the very end. If you are a fan of horror and mystery novels, "The Song of Kali" is definitely worth reading.

Incómoda, molesta, agobiante, extraña. These words describe the atmosphere that pervades the story.

Genre. Mmm… Novel, let's leave it at that to avoid spoilers.

What it tells us. In the book "La canción de Kali" (original publication: "Song of Kali", 1985), Robert Luczak is sent to Calcutta by Harper's Magazine to interview M. Das, a famous Bengali poet who was supposed to have died a few years ago. The new poem they have obtained from Das has very different inclinations from the works that made him famous, and there are doubts both about whether he is alive and whether he is the one who signed the poem. Robert travels accompanied by his wife Amrita, of Hindu origin, and their few-months-old daughter, Victoria. In Calcutta, things get complicated, and little by little, Robert finds himself immersed in a very disturbing situation.

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Dan Simmons' "Song of Kali" is a visceral and violent travelogue that takes readers through the dark and murderous underbelly of Calcutta. This is not a warm and fuzzy story about humanity; in fact, it's quite the opposite. Before reading, you might want to have your favorite comfort item with you to hold back the gloom.

The basic plot involves M. Das, a great Indian poet who disappeared years ago and was thought dead. New work purporting to be his has begun circulating in Calcutta. Robert Luczak, a writer and columnist, is sent with his family to find and interview Das, verify the authenticity of the new work, and bring back a copy for publication in the US.

Luczak's search leads him to an ancient and brutal cult of Kali worshippers who practice various depravities, including the human sacrifice of children. As he delves deeper, he discovers a bizarre connection between the cult and the re-emergence of Das, whose new verse celebrates the goddess of death.

The plot summary doesn't fully convey the novel's feel or the dark and disturbing atmosphere Simmons creates with his vivid descriptions of Calcutta. From the moment Bobby arrives in India with his family, he is swallowed up into a grim netherworld of violence, callousness, and palpable evil. Simmons' prose makes you feel as if Calcutta is a living presence.

It's important to note that this was Simmons' first published work and doesn't reach the level of quality and polish of his later works, like the "Hyperion Cantos." However, it's still an accomplished horror tale that is relatively short compared to his later doorstop-sized novels.

I'm glad to have finally read this, but be warned: it can leave a chilling impression that lasts long after you've turned the final page. It certainly did on me. I give it 4.0 stars and highly recommend it.

  

Winner: World Fantasy Award for Best Novel
Nominee: Locus Award for Best Horror/Dark Fantasy Novel

Rated S for people with Strong stomachs.

You have been warned.

An American and Indian couple fly to Calcutta India to contact a poet, who disappeared years ago.

“In India,” I said. “How does it feel to be back?”

She gently patted the baby’s ruff of hair and then carefully handed her to me. I settled Victoria in the comfortable hollow of my shoulder and watched intently as Amrita walked gracefully to the edge of the pool and smoothly smoothed down her tan skirt. The soft light from the pool illuminated her sharp cheekbones from below, creating a beautiful and almost ethereal effect. My wife is truly beautiful, I thought for what felt like the thousandth time since our wedding.

“It feels a bit like déjà vu,” she said very softly. “No, that’s not quite the right word. It’s actually more like reentering a recurring dream. The heat, the noise, the languages, the smell—everything is familiar and alien at the same time.”

One view-point of India from a local author
"I am used to Americans and their reaction to our city. They will react in either one of two ways: they will find Calcutta ‘exotic’ and concentrate only on their tourist pleasures; or they will be immediately horrified, recoil, and seek to forget what they have seen and not understood. Yes, yes, the American psyche is as predictable as the sterile and vulnerable American digestive system when it encounters India.”

And the American author's view
“You may well be right,” I said. “Although I wouldn’t presume to say that I understood the ‘American psyche’ or the ‘Indian psyche’—if there are such things. First impressions are necessarily shallow. I appreciate that. I’ve admired Indian culture for a long time, even before I met Amrita, and she’s certainly shared some of the beauty of it with me. But I admit that Calcutta is a bit intimidating. There seems to be something unique… unique and disturbing about Calcutta’s urban problems. Perhaps its only the scale. Friends have told me that Mexico City, for all of its beauty, shares the same problems.”

The latter half of the story is a mix of horrible, putrid violence.

This is NOT a cheerful story

Try to Enjoy!

A truly chilling and heart-rending tale unfolds in the 1970s Calcutta. Simmons masterfully transports you to the dark and seedy underbelly of this bustling city, and then delves even deeper!

A writer, accompanied by his family, makes the journey to Calcutta with the intention of retrieving a manuscript belonging to a poet who has been presumed dead for over six years.

This book brings a unique brand of horror to the slums of Calcutta in an ingenious and extremely dark manner. It manages to create an atmosphere of dread and unease that lingers long after you've turned the last page.

With a rating of 8 out of 12, it's clear that this story has left a lasting impression on its readers.

The accompanying image further adds to the sense of mystery and foreboding.

Overall, it's a captivating and unforgettable read that will appeal to fans of horror and those interested in exploring the darker side of human nature and urban life.

In 1985, Dan Simmons, with his remarkable debut novel Song of Kali, astonishingly snatched the World Fantasy Award right from under the noses of Clive Barker and Anne Rice, who were already well-established veterans in the horror genre at that time. Reportedly, Simmons spent only a brief few days in Calcutta while conducting research for this novel. Nevertheless, he managed to vividly capture what he witnessed on paper.

As you read, you feel as if you are truly walking the bustling and chaotic streets of Calcutta, experiencing every single thing that his protagonist endures. This effect is further intensified by the fact that the book is written in the first person, allowing the reader to more easily establish a connection with the main character.

The year is 1977, and Robert Luczak, an editor at a literary magazine, is assigned the task of obtaining the latest work of the famous Indian poet M. Das. Das had disappeared eight years earlier and was presumed dead—until he suddenly "resurfaced." If Robert can manage to secure an interview with the writer, that would be an added bonus. Accompanying him on his journey to Calcutta are his wife, Amrita, an Indian woman raised in Britain, and their baby.

What Robert will encounter in Calcutta is far beyond anything he could have ever imagined. Yes, he will indeed find M. Das and obtain his work, but he will also stumble upon something of far greater significance, something terrifying and dangerous. On this journey to India, Robert will discover many things, but he will lose even more.

It is simply astonishing how vividly Simmons describes the streets of Calcutta—the squalor and misery that pervade, its hidden corners that seem to hold countless secrets, the mysterious cults with their secret temples, and the decaying, floating corpses that add an air of horror. While reading this book, you will experience a sense of unease like never before. The cold fingers of terror will creep down your spine, causing your heart to stop for a moment, and you will likely never, ever want to visit India—if you even had such thoughts in the first place.

This is one of the best debut novels I have ever had the pleasure of reading, and I firmly believe that you will enjoy it as well. For those with even a basic understanding of Indian mythology, it will resonate even more deeply. However, I guess Indian people may be offended by the portrayal of Kali or India in general. Nevertheless, this is only a fictional story, and it should be taken with a grain of salt. This is a novel about the evil that lurks within people and the various forms it can take, about how far it can reach—a tale of the song of the goddess Kali, which began long ago, and of a world that has long since descended into hell.

It's truly not easy to accurately convey the exact nature of the reading experience this book offers. Describing it as "engrossingly bad" is somewhat accurate, yet it feels a bit too general. The story involves a man who travels to Calcutta and endures a truly dreadful time, which might potentially mirror the author's own unpleasant experiences in that city. It could be argued that the entire book is an exercise in working through such unpleasantness, but this view might seem a little dismissive.

The reader discovers that the horror genre isn't really their cup of tea, yet begrudgingly admits that they woke up in the middle of the night and finished the whole book, strategically ignoring all the grumbling complaints. This description gets a little closer to capturing the essence.

To sum it up, this is not a good book. However, you might still find yourself compelled to finish it, even though the whole thing is a bit unsavoury. If you were to meet the author at a dinner party, it would likely be an awkward encounter.

The man travels to India with his family to retrieve manuscripts, only to be repulsed, hoodwinked, and roundly horrified by the place. He eventually goes nuts and seeks solace back in the west from the deep, unknowable eastern evil.

Perhaps the best way to describe it is that it's not really worth your time. But if it's the only book available in some resort and you've read everything else, then by all means give it a go.

Excellent. Dan Simmons is rapidly emerging as one of my favorite authors.
Throughout the book, I experienced a great deal of horror and sadness. However, I appreciate the fact that it is not completely consumed by despair. (Although it is quite depressing enough.) I like the way the protagonist decides to "fight back".
It is not "scary" in the traditional sense of "boo", but rather horrific in its stark portrayal of the horror lurking within the human soul.
The reason I rated this book so highly is that it functioned extremely well as a horror thriller for me.
I think there was sufficient foreshadowing to give the reader an inkling that something bad was about to occur, yet you kept hoping that what you thought might happen wouldn't. It develops into one of those thriller scenarios where you constantly think, "Oh, watch out! Be careful, don't do that!"
And yet, the author manages to be subtle enough so that it doesn't feel "pat". It also managed to grip this cynical reader deeply enough to evoke both horror and sadness.
That, for me, is crucial - immersion, and this novel definitely achieved that for me. Heck, I was on the edge of my seat throughout.
I also liked that the ending was sort of sad and senseless, just like real life sometimes is.
I will deduct one star because of Simmons' rather unbalanced portrayal of Hindu culture. Hindu culture is, of course, a rich and diverse culture with many wonderful and positive aspects, as opposed to the negative aspects highlighted in this novel.
Although this specific view might have been quite representative of a Westerner's impression of Calcutta at that time, I do believe that Mr. Simmons could have included a few more of the positive aspects of Hindu culture to balance out the negative aspects, especially those represented by, for example, the Kali cults that feature in this narrative.
ETA - In retrospect, I do think that perhaps the whole point of the horrific aspects of the situation is that the protagonist originally romanticized his Westernized wife's Indian background and was completely unprepared and ill-equipped for the realities of the situation he had to face in Calcutta. So, I suppose the whole point was for the protagonist to be naive and lack street smarts, so that at times, you actually felt like shaking him.
He, like many Westerners, seems to have been expecting India to be all incense, smiling children with beautiful dark eyes, beautiful saris, and delicious (albeit extremely spicy!) food, without being aware of the darker aspects of that alluring land. (I admit that I had not known about some of them either! I've been to Bombay, but my visit there wouldn't have prepared me for anything like some of the things the protagonist encountered in this book.)
Please note: Some of the comments below in the comments thread may contain spoilers.

DNF @ 25%

I'm pretty disappointed that my first Simmons read after Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion (two of my all-time favorite books) turned out to be such a letdown for me. The premise of this particular work is initially intriguing, which is what drew me in. However, as I delved deeper into the story, I really started to dislike the protagonist. Their character traits and actions just didn't resonate with me at all. Moreover, none of the side characters that have been introduced thus far have managed to pique my interest. They seem rather one-dimensional and lack any real depth or complexity.

Also, by this point in the book, pretty much nothing of significance has happened. I'm not opposed to a slow-burn horror story, in fact, I quite enjoy them when they're done well. But for a slow-burn to work, there has to be some kind of tension or underlying creepiness that keeps the reader on the edge of their seat. Unfortunately, that crucial element was just not present in this book. I found the whole thing to be so dull and unengaging that I simply couldn't be bothered to carry on with it. It's a real shame as I had such high hopes for this Simmons novel, especially after the brilliance of Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion.

Man, this book is truly something else.

It is filled with so many unanswered questions that it has left me completely baffled.

I can already tell that I'm going to be tossing and turning all night long, unable to sleep as I wonder what the hell actually happened here.

The mystery and intrigue within these pages have me completely hooked.

Every time I think I might have a clue, another question pops up, further deepening the enigma.

I find myself constantly turning the pages, hoping to find the answers that will satisfy my curiosity.

But alas, the more I read, the more questions I have.

This book has truly captured my imagination and has me on the edge of my seat.

I can't wait to see how it all unfolds and what the final answers will be.

Until then, I'll be spending countless hours lost in thought, trying to piece together the puzzle that is this amazing book.

This is a rather more literate genre novel compared to the majority.

The story was truly gripping and propulsive, to the extent that even when I found it rather difficult to suspend my disbelief, it still managed to hold my attention.

However, the images of Calcutta presented in the novel seemed somewhat stylized. It was like Dickensian squalor but lacking the redeeming Dickensian prose.

Moreover, the characters didn't precisely wow me with their depth. They seemed a bit one-dimensional.

Then again, this is, after all, a genre novel. So perhaps my expectations were a little off? Maybe that's the case.

Still, in the final analysis, I liked it well enough. It had its flaws, but it also had its merits that managed to keep me engaged throughout the reading experience.

Overall, it was an enjoyable read, despite not being a literary masterpiece.