Children of the Benares (Unabridged) (Ralph Barker).

As a small puddle in the desert spreads to cover a road, its self-aggrandizing flow for the thirsty takes on a new sense of importance, Ralph Barker's debut Children of Benares is just as grandiose; a long-awaited sequel that leaves you feeling unsatisfied with anything short of a re-read.

Its narrative, like its settings, is as distant as the thought of Oman, and as light as summer smoke. Clad in nothing but haunting descriptions and heart-wrenching imagery, the book almost seems to function as an experiment to test the limits of one's imagination. Nearly 400 pages of fragmented and nebulous anecdotes weave a haunting mythology of the Sufi desert saints and their twisted science, bringing visions such as those of modern Tibetan philosophy to life through the eyes of European explorers during the heyday of colonial British Raj in what is now central India. As a result, these disparate stories often leave one unsure as to where they are leading us. This uncertainty is one of the many delights in this narrative; the reader is thrust into a bizarre metaphorical world in which characters are more abstract than flesh and blood, actions are choreographed with the assured gracefulness of mesmerized puppets and languages blend seamlessly, all echoing the impression one feels when listening to traditional Sufi chants or visiting the deep-dated caves of Qutb Shahi. All of these disparate elements are brought together by a quintessential hero; Captain Burton, a wisecracking Englishman with a knack for gathering mystic lore under the steamy sun. Set to lead a group of modern day explorers across Rajasthan, Burton quickly finds himself tangled up deeper than he had bargained for; his brash demeanor only drawing the ire of paranormal investigators closer to him than they would have preferred. The further Burton plunges himself into an astral realm that he misconstrues as reality, the crueler forces are revealed in riddles and rages and will leave his own fate up to no one.

Произведение английского писателя Ральфа Баркера, в котором соединены сюжет автобиографического характера, историческая и не совсем предсказуемая динамика, опасно уничижительный портрет Британской империи в Восточной Индии — всего того мира, который стал свидетелем и участником формирования характера знаменитого писателя. Главный герой, отправляясь поупражняться в веденых им соответствующих джентльменскому воспитанию синих водах Тихого океана под палящим сиянием солнца, цветка достижения мечты о океанском лайнере совершает необычайное литературное путешествий по Калькутте к вершине горы Канченджанга и далее вперед к своей западной стороне, преодолевая рамки реальных времен, благодаря своему яркому воображению и литературному дарованию и превращается в настоящую живую мифическую фигуру, падкого на мифы Nabokov опережая своего собственного создателя на волну передовых достижений мировой литературы.