Dan Simmons is one of the most skilled writers of science fiction currently putting pen to page (or however that metaphor would work in a post-paper age). His Hyperion series is a well-regarded classic that takes Chaucer's Canterbury Tales into the space-faring age and his Ilium and Olympos still stands as the most interesting rendition of a post-singular society-slash-retelling of Homer's epic-slash-paen to Shakespeare that I've ever read.

It was with great excitement that I picked up Simmons' 1985 foray into horror, Song of Kali. I mention the year it was published because it's worth noting that this book is ultimately a product of the age in which it was written, but more on that later. On face this book has everything possible that could make my heart go pitter-pat: a reliable author who had never let me down, the story is set in India, features a resurrected poet (mmmm... zombie poetry), a good dose of gothic dread, a secret death cult, and (have I mentioned?) it's set in India. Surefire draw, right there.

So why didn't I like this book more? It had everything I like in a good read, but just didn't work for me. Primarily, I think it was a problem with the narrator. He's supposed to be a renowned critic of Indian poetry, with an Indian wife and in-laws, yet he is a) completely ignorant of the customs, culture, language, and history of the country which he is supposed to be enthralled with, b) when actually in said country he is simply mortified at how alien and inscrutable the actions of its inhabitants are, and (most damningly for me) c) he seems to have no liking (or even respect) for his wife, Amrita. A woman who did not want to come to Calcutta with him but who he begged to tag along and, once landed, then spends the next 250ish pages trying to force to leave Calcutta. She's supposed to be his interpreter, yet is constantly left behind at the hotel. She gets one decent scene where she gets to reflect upon her status as an alien in both the US and in her ancestral homeland, caught between worlds, as such, but that's it. By the time I finished the book I just kept hoping that she would leave the creep.

I should have loved this book, but I didn't. I didn't quite hate it, but it's not likely to be one that stays with me for long after finishing. It just seems like a trite rehash of things that have come before. When Robert, the American critic, stumbles upon a secret cult of Kali it smacks of the ridiculous scene from Indiana Jones & The Temple of Doom where the guy's beating heart is ripped from his chest. It's just all so xenophobic that it grates on my nerves. I've still got a lot of respect for Simmons and what he has done with his sci-fi writings, but think I'm going to avoid his older works for a time.

Holy crap, what a brilliant book. Harrowing and powerful. ‬

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 patted the baby’s ruff of hair and handed her to me. I settled Victoria in the hollow of my shoulder and watched as Amrita walked to the edge of the pool and smoothed down her tan skirt. The light from the pool illuminated her sharp cheekbones from below. My wife is beautiful, I thought for 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!

My first Dan Simmons book and, man, I am disappointed. I picked it hopping to read some horror but it was............. Sorry!

Unless you have the ability to completely remove yourself from any form of emotion when reading, don't read this book.

Seriously.

Especially if you have kids.

It's so fucking merciless.

The stench of Calcutta comes right off the pages in this vivid tale of an American family's visit to India. I believe this won the Bram Stoker award for best first novel.
It is mesmerizing. The story of the body will stay with me a long time.
Highly recommended for any horror fan.

Song of Kali is what Joseph Campbell would dream during a bad acid trip (with a good case of food poisoning thrown in) after teaching Hindu mythology on location in Calcutta.

It's ponderous that it isn't on horror fan's lips more often. It's the real deal.

The book has the sepia tones of a tense, well-paced, 70's horror movie. I really don't know how to describe the beauty of it without comparing it to things with a little of the same flavor, like: Se7en, Rosemary's Baby, Don't Look Now, Jacob's Ladder, and Heart of Darkness.

It's smartly written. Far more fact-oriented (traveled and researched, I assume) than the almost purely character driven works of King or Koontz. The sense of threat and dread are deep and inescapable, and the results are dire. No punches are pulled.

It would make a seriously incredible animated feature, if mature adult horror animation were likely to gain greater viewership. No other visual form would do it justice like the kinetic, stylized, pans and zooms of traditional eastern-leaning hand-drawn animation.

Definitely my favorite Simmons book so far, and some of his books (A Winter Haunting) are favorites. It feels, at times, like a proto Carrion Comfort (published 4 years later) - which has a broader following, I think.

Recommended!

*insert edward said rolling over in his grave*

A worthy winner of the World Fantasy Award!

Before I read this novel, I was surprised to hear that it won the World Fantasy award. Just because it is Dan Simmons' first novel.
After reading it, I fully understand why it did.

It is a fantastic read! It feels as though you are actually in Calcutta. An incredible achievement for Simmons!

My favorite part about Song of Kali was the characters. Bobby is brilliant, witty and just a normal guy working for a magazine. He isn't a hero. Just a normal person, which is what made him so interesting.

One of my favorite parts is when someone reads a description of Calcutta and asked if it matches what Bobby thinks of Calcutta. He agreed and was then told that it was a description of London during the Industrial Revolution. I know it's trivial, but little parts like this make a great story.

The only downside I can think of is that one of the more important parts of the story, it was read from a poem. I personally struggle analysing and understanding poetry, so this part kind of went over my head. But I got a basic understanding, and it didn't affect the story as a whole.

Overall, as a debut novel, it is brilliant! If I was told that this was his 7th novel, I wouldn't have been surprised. A strong 4* and I thoroughly recommend it!

Novela de terror y drama... o drama y terror. No sabría definir qué género termina teniendo mayor peso.

Para iniciar he de decir que me encanta el estilo de Simmons, amé Hyperion, sin embargo, la trama de ésta novela deja mucho que desear.

La novela narra la historia de Robert qué es contratado para ir a la ciudad de Calcuta en busca de un famoso poeta indio, viaje que realiza junto a su esposa y recién nacida hija, y en el que también descubrirá una serie de macabros sucesos en torno al culto a la diosa kali que cambiarán su vida y la de su familia para siempre.

La pluma de Simmons aquí, al igual que en la mayoría de sus novelas, es magnífica, haciendo soberbias descripciones de la ciudad de Calcuta al punto que te sientes capaz de oler, sentir, ver y escuchar lo mismo que el protagonista. Sin mencionar que también hay partes de la primera mitad que te mantienen bastante enganchado y te invitan a descubrir que se oculta tras el misterioso culto a Kali y el turbio destino del poeta.

No obstante, en el tercer acto todo decae. A través de la lectura el autor parecía llevarnos hacia un desenlace de tintes sobrenaturales (lovecraftianos) a lo grande, para finalmente entregarnos algo totalmente opuesto a ello, algo que no resultaría tan malo si es que el libro hubiera terminado en ese punto, nonobstante, Simmons se alarga, entregandonos un montón de capítulos reflexivos y autocompasivos del protagonista culpandose por lo sucedido.

Ya para el final la novela pareciera que volverá a remontar con una oscura búsqueda de venganza que podría aclarar las dudas y cabos sueltos que hasta ese punto nos han hecho seguir leyendo... pero no, el autor decide finalmente que su protagonista regrese a casa dejándonos con toda la interrogante de qué era lo que se ocultaba tras todo el asunto en torno a Kali.

Realmente una lástima, una novela que tenía todos los elementos para ser una obra de primer nivel, pero que se ve arruinada por su flojo e innecesario tercer acto.

¡Solo para fans acerrimos de este autor!

Powieść mroczna. Powieść odrażająca. Powieść boleśnie przygnębiająca. Historia zderzenia dwóch kultur i przejmującej obcości.

„Pieśń bogini Kali” to historia zderzenia dwóch światów – Zachodu i Wschodu, światów tak różnych, tak obcych, tak drastycznie skontrastowanych, że ich zderzenie może prowadzić jedynie do wielkiej tragedii. I do takiej tragedii prowadzi w powieści Simmonsa właśnie.

On drażni wszystkie zmysły czytelnika – czujemy smród ulic, krowiej uryny, wszechobecnych odpadków… Jest taka scena, w której bohater zanurza się w tym brudzie, by zorientować się, że jego własna skóra kurczy się i cofa z obrzydzenia. I my też się kurczymy podczas lektury. Również czujemy tę wilgoć duszącą, wiszącą, obłapiającą. Doświadczamy tego niedopasowania, którego doświadcza bohater. W tym niedopasowaniu właśnie, w tej obcości, w tej zmysłowej agresji dostrzegam grozę „Pieśni Bogini Kali. Jest w tej powieści coś hipnotyzującego, co nie pozwala jej odłożyć, ale też odpychającego, co każe wzdrygać się i odwracać wzrok. A jednocześnie też coś bardzo przygnębiającego, do bólu wręcz prawdziwego, tym bardziej, gdy akcja dobiega momentu kulminacyjnego. Takich Indii nikt nie reklamuje na prospektach. O takich Indiach nikt nie marzy. To koszmar zrodzony w umyśle pisarza, doskonała metafora uderzenia kulturowego, horror, dla którego warto zarwać niejedną noc.

Z zachwytem pożarłam „Pieśń Bogini Kali” i chociaż wiem, że nie do każdego trafi, to dla mnie jest najlepszą odsłoną grozy Simmonsa. Bez dwóch zdań.

A chilling and heart rending tale set in 1970s Calcutta. Simmons takes you to the dark underbelly of Calcutta, and then below that! A writer and his family go to Calcutta to collect a manuscript of a poet presumed dead over six years ago. This book brings horror to the slums of Calcutta in a pretty ingenious, and very dark way! 8 out of 12.