The Lost River: On The Trails of Saraswati by Michel Danino

lecherous_v

Often overwhelming, at places boring but still, enlightening experience this book is. As it travels to various topics, from history to geology to archeology to Vedas and my most favorite topic - civilizations. That too, the amazing Indus valley civilization. (or should I say Indus-Sarasvati civilization?) It shows how gorgeous the past must have been.
At places, I find it a bit boring, obviously not because of the writing, but my own capacity to digest such complex and vast field of geology and its findings. (Reading such book for the first time, hence) I enjoyed the part when author talks about civilizations that Indus and Sarasvati rivers nurtured. And possibilities of their vanishing.

As I have visited two such sites, curiosity only increases after reading that there are as many as more than 3000 such sites !!! As Michel Danino puts "The sum total of the explorations was simply prodigious and could be ranked among the most important archaeological discoveries of the 20th century, even though we rarely hear about it - especially in India, where most school textbooks describe the 'Indus valley' civilization as it was know in the 1930s !"

Its indeed amazing how an author, who is originally from France, can have so thoroughly studied Vedas, Purana, Brahmanas and many such literature in India, and can easily find clues in any of them, regarding Sarasvati.

If you are in, for snail paced but enriching experience, this is strongly recommended.

Mousetrap

Wow... Thanks for the review! This book is there in my bucket list for this year - I think I'll pick it up sometime next month.

b_mayukh

this river, or rather, this lost river is an enigma. the excellent review is enticing me to read this book.

cynic

Thanks for sharing your review. The book has been on my TBR list for a while. I totally get the pace bit. It took me quite a while to complete Gene: An Intimate History but it was well worth it.

Meself

That was a wonderfully written piece. Having read your review, I so want to pick up the book and see for myself all that you described!

anisojaru7981

This book sounds amazing...I wish to read the book...

Chinasa

amazing book, and well researched. its so descriptive, you don't need a map for reference

LoneFighter

Thanks for the review. It is great. Can you please share the link here? Not a member of Reading Room yet! Thanks.

lecherous_v

LoneFighter 3-7-2018 11:51 AM
Thanks for the review. It is great. Can you please share the link here? Not a member of Reading Room ...

Am afraid, can't do that. Just wait and be active for a few days, you'll be there.

LoneFighter

lecherous_v 3-7-2018 12:37 PM
Am afraid, can't do that. Just wait and be active for a few days, you'll be there.

No problem. Let's wait for that, I will update this thread after reading it. Thanks for your response.