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As always, the author finds human comedy everywhere he looks. Take his initial departure from beneath the Balawali Bridge, where a highly emotional crowd has gathered to see him off:
Two hundred yards below the bridge and some twelve hundred miles from the Bay of Bengal the boat grounded in sixteen inches of water.... I looked upstream to the bridge but all those who had been waving and weeping had studiously turned their backs. The boatmen uttered despairing cries for assistance but the men at the bridge bent to their tasks with unwonted diligence. As far as they were concerned we had passed out of their lives. We might never have existed.And so it goes, even as Newby and his crew run aground 63 times in the first six days, or switch doggedly from boat to train to bullock cart and back to boat again. His patience in the face of continuous disaster is superbly entertaining, as are his attempts to mollify his increasingly impatient wife, Wanda. Still, his gift for the farcical slow burn never keeps him from relishing the terrain, or from recording it in lyrical yet laconic prose: "At about six the sky to the east became faintly red; then it began to flame and the moon was extinguished; clouds of unidentifiable birds flew high overhead; a jackal skulked along the far shore and, knowing itself watched, went up the bank and into the trees; mist rose from the wet grass on the islands on which the shisham trees stood, wrapped like precious objects in their bandages of dead grass." Slowly down the Ganges is packed with such time-lapse portraiture, along with plenty of casual wisdom about history, humanity, and (last but not least) conjugal life. It's one of those rare voyages we only wish were much, much slower. --James Marcus
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Book Description Hardback. Condition: Very Good. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged. Seller Inventory # GOR002925370
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Slowly Down the Ganges (Textplus) This book is in very good condition and will be shipped within 24 hours of ordering. The cover may have some limited signs of wear but the pages are clean, intact and the spine remains undamaged. This book has clearly been well maintained and looked after thus far. Money back guarantee if you are not satisfied. See all our books here, order more than 1 book and get discounted shipping. Seller Inventory # 7719-9780340499757
Book Description Condition: Good. Most items will be dispatched the same or the next working day. A copy that has been read but remains in clean condition. All of the pages are intact and the cover is intact and the spine may show signs of wear. The book may have minor markings which are not specifically mentioned. Seller Inventory # wbs3384451199
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. This book is in very good condition and will be shipped within 24 hours of ordering. The cover may have some limited signs of wear but the pages are clean, intact and the spine remains undamaged. This book has clearly been well maintained and looked after thus far. Money back guarantee if you are not satisfied. See all our books here, order more than 1 book and get discounted shipping. Seller Inventory # 6545-9780340499757
Book Description Condition: Very Good. Book is in Used-VeryGood condition. Pages and cover are clean and intact. Used items may not include supplementary materials such as CDs or access codes. May show signs of minor shelf wear and contain very limited notes and highlighting. 1.46. Seller Inventory # 0340499753-2-3
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Very Good-. Dust Jacket Condition: No Dust Jacket. Reprint; First Printing. Missing DJ if issued, corners lightly bumped and rubbed, some sunning to base of spine, minor foxing to edges of reading block. ; First printing in this edition with no other printings listed. Satin finish pictorial boards. Nice tight copy, no names or marks inside. Cover illustration by Diane Fisher. Heavy book and priced accordingly. ; Text Plus; 320 pages; An enthralling and entertaining account of a journey down India's sacred river, from Hardwar, where it enters the great plain, to where it meets the waters of the Houghly and finally flows into the Bay of Bengal. Travelling in a variety of boats, the author and his wife meet an engaging assortment of characters, endless forms of religious devotion, and the enchantment of India itself. With an introduction by Nicholas Wollaston and notes by Shaun McCarthy. Seller Inventory # 32019
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. Some fly marks on cover and some sun fade to spine, slight foxing to page edges. Dedication on endpaper in ink, previous price in pencil. The story of the author's travels alonside the Ganges. Seller Inventory # ABE-1560867052430