Sorcerer's Apprentice

Rating:
Summary: Outlandish facts + twisted humor = splendid entertainment
Review: Do baby-renters (people who make a living out of lending out babies to beggars), skeleton-dealers (people who export unclaimed dead bodies to the west for studies in anatomy), ghamelawallas (people who collect gold from city dust), multi-generation executioners (people who inherited their job as an executioner from their parents), acid-drinkers, etc, etc sound intriguing to you? Do you enjoy self-deprecating, and at times self-abusive humor? If (and only if) so this is the book for you. Shah does a splendid job in exploring and writing about his arcane experiences all across India. This was the most entertaining book I read in years.

Rating:
Summary: Sorcerer's Apprentice
Review: I was amused by one of the reviews - how much squalor and grit could you want? This book described the lowest classes in India living in absolute squalor and poverty, scraping a living in the most ingenious ways, you get a picture of how strong the human spirit really is, even in the direst circumstances. This is the background of the story about Tahir Shah's training in magic and the art of illusion. Fascinating story, appeals to the cynic in me who believes that most "spirituality" is smoke and mirrors. anyway, I highly recommend this book - what an adventure. Loved the whole story from his childhood in England to his training in illusion and magic in India, and then his journey through India.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: Sorcere's Apprentice, Tahir Shah - Excellent, excellent book! From an unbelievable start to an equally astounding
finish. Tahir sets out to expose the mendicants, magicians, godmen (for they are almost always men), and tricksters of
India. What a better way to do it than to become one! But that requires a rigorus tutelage under the Master, requring
Tahir to perfom tasks least related to magic: eat pebbles, ingest soap, dig a deep trench armed only with a teaspoon,
etc. The book can be divided in three broad parts: the early years which detail why Tahir became interested in this
arcane area, the second part discusses tutelage under an exacting Master, and the final part consumes itself with a
journey across India putting the latest learned skill to test. Here is the explanation of the famous Indian disappearing
rope trick, or making vibhuti (ash) out of thin air, walking on fire, dangerous surgeries where the godmen pluck out
livers and intestines of the patient only to have the patient recover and walk away! Of the three parts, paradoxically, the
last one is the least interesting. Maybe the author could not sustain the levity, humor, quick wit, and sarcastic writing
that is evident in the first two parts. In any case, this was an excellent read. (September 2001).