Review by Jessica Schuhow -- Head Waggling in Delhi
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Review by Jessica Schuhow -- Head Waggling in Delhi
[Following is a volunteer review of "Head Waggling in Delhi" by Eytan Uliel.]
Be prepared to be taken on an amazing journey in Head Waggling in Delhi where Eytan Uliel details his adventures backpacking across India in 1996 with his partner, Camilla Mahony. They travelled four months covering a massive circle beginning at the Ganges River in Varanasi and finishing at the capital in Delhi. The adventure is dissected into very readable short stories, based off of his journal entries taken chronologically throughout the trip.
I thoroughly enjoyed my time with this book. Uliel’s vivid and engaging descriptions allowed me to feel I was travelling along with them as friend and I found myself invested in all their tribulations. I felt personally outraged each time someone attempted to take advantage of them as outsiders (which was frequent, the poor things) and rooted for them whenever they stood up for themselves. The heat and grime was palpable and as a Westerner myself, I could definitely understand how every overcrowded train or bus ride was referred as an “endurance test".
From interacting with hippies in Varanasi, to learning about gratitude at the sunrise at Tiger Hill, to referring a children’s game of cricket in Pushkar, to riding camels in Thar desert and learning that the Taj Mahal is worth the hype, there is so much to experience and enjoy in this book.
Having personally never been to India, I learned a lot from this book as well. Not only about the nature of the varied customs throughout India, but also historical facts. Uliel did a fantastic job of detailing historical information that was relevant to why they wanted to visit specific places, without getting derailed from their story, which is certainty the most interesting part.
There was an interesting level of reflection throughout the story as well. I think the years between the journal entries and publishing the short stories have allowed the author to mature and this coloured the tone in a fantastic way. There were multiple accounts of him becoming understandably frustrated at completely absurd situations and there was a level of self-deprecation one does when they look at their younger self with wiser eyes and just shake their head and laugh.
I have no critiques of this book. It is professionally edited. The sections were very well organized and the writing was amusing and captivatingly descriptive. So, this book’s rating is 4 out of 4 stars. I recommend this to anyone who could use an escape into a real-world adventure.
******
Head Waggling in Delhi
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Be prepared to be taken on an amazing journey in Head Waggling in Delhi where Eytan Uliel details his adventures backpacking across India in 1996 with his partner, Camilla Mahony. They travelled four months covering a massive circle beginning at the Ganges River in Varanasi and finishing at the capital in Delhi. The adventure is dissected into very readable short stories, based off of his journal entries taken chronologically throughout the trip.
I thoroughly enjoyed my time with this book. Uliel’s vivid and engaging descriptions allowed me to feel I was travelling along with them as friend and I found myself invested in all their tribulations. I felt personally outraged each time someone attempted to take advantage of them as outsiders (which was frequent, the poor things) and rooted for them whenever they stood up for themselves. The heat and grime was palpable and as a Westerner myself, I could definitely understand how every overcrowded train or bus ride was referred as an “endurance test".
From interacting with hippies in Varanasi, to learning about gratitude at the sunrise at Tiger Hill, to referring a children’s game of cricket in Pushkar, to riding camels in Thar desert and learning that the Taj Mahal is worth the hype, there is so much to experience and enjoy in this book.
Having personally never been to India, I learned a lot from this book as well. Not only about the nature of the varied customs throughout India, but also historical facts. Uliel did a fantastic job of detailing historical information that was relevant to why they wanted to visit specific places, without getting derailed from their story, which is certainty the most interesting part.
There was an interesting level of reflection throughout the story as well. I think the years between the journal entries and publishing the short stories have allowed the author to mature and this coloured the tone in a fantastic way. There were multiple accounts of him becoming understandably frustrated at completely absurd situations and there was a level of self-deprecation one does when they look at their younger self with wiser eyes and just shake their head and laugh.
I have no critiques of this book. It is professionally edited. The sections were very well organized and the writing was amusing and captivatingly descriptive. So, this book’s rating is 4 out of 4 stars. I recommend this to anyone who could use an escape into a real-world adventure.
******
Head Waggling in Delhi
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: In It Together by Eckhart Aurelius Hughes
