KALKI

Rating:
Summary: When The World is Running Down....
Review: A friend recommended this as a good "millenium" read, as we approached the end of one, and beginning of another.

I found it enjoyable and disturbing (if just a bit unbelievable in parts), but more as snapshot of what the world was like (or perceived to be like) at the crossroads of the Carter and Reagan years, with the world going to hell with no energy, much pollution, etc. In fact, it is interesting to think back on those times and compare them to now.

In the broad scheme of things, there is probably not too much different between 1979 and 1999, but the perception is very different. Is that what an extended economic boom, and e-everything does to ones attitude?

Back to the book, it is simply another example of the talent and creative flair of GV. While I still miss the ability to await another of his US historical novels (which appear to have run their course), a book like this certainly makes one think.

Rating:
Summary: Gore Vidal is OUT OF CONTROL!
Review: Gore Vidal is too too funny -- I absolutely loved this book -- it cracked me up --- and I rarely laugh while reading, but Gore Vidal's writing is too irresistable. Honestly, this book is hilarious, but what is suggests is a little frightening. I've read The Smithsonian Istitute and Myra Breckenridge, and this one is my favorite --- go out and read this!

Rating:
Summary: An Alternative Classic
Review: Gore Vidal's Kalki belongs in the ranks of Cat's Cradle, Crying of Lot 49, and other such experimental literary classics. Vidal's biting political satire and wryly intelligent playfulness in Kalki make it, in my humble opinion, an even better read than Vonnegut or Robbins or Pynchon have produced.

The story is, without giving away too much, about an American Hindu cult figure who has predicted the end of the world. An unlikely reporter is hired to cover the case, only to end up in a labyrnth of deceit, political intrigue, and no shortage of playfully sexy scenarios.

Major issues dealt with, as only our leading man of letters Gore Vidal could, include feminism, bisexuality, American politics, media, religion, and the end of life on Earth. These major "issues" do not, however, interfere in any way with the romp-in-the-sand fun of reading one of the best novels written in the second half of the 20th century.

For anyone who likes metafiction, experimental fiction, and humor, this novel should be the next one you read.

Rating:
Summary: Master of understatement, Vidal's novel is deeply disturbing
Review: I cannot tell you what is deeply disturbing about this novel in regards to the actual plot without giving much of it away--which would be a crime and a half for a novel of this punch. Suffice it to say that despite the fact that Vidal puts enough aspects of 70s culture into it to make it fresh and new for when it was written, it carries even more power--and becomes even more disturbing--when read in our new millenium; almost as much as it would have had I read it in 1999.

There is a woman named Teddy Ottinger: feminist, an aviatrix extraordinaire, divorced mother of two; longing to step into the shoes of her immortal hero Amelia Earhart, even at the expense of the emotional lives of her children, for whom she has little true maternal feelings and little more than a contempt for her ex-husband that had to have been there latently when she married him. Cold, but searching for love and warmth in the arms of both lesbian women and men--and something of meaning in her life via French philosophy--she is summoned to the world of Kalki, the tenth avatar of the god Vishnu, harbringer of the end of the world. But he may also be someone else; a someone else that could make this entire fantasy world she is seemingly caught up in a dangerous lie. Or, he could simply be Kalki, and the world must prepare for the End...

Vidal channels Mark Twain in our century like he always does and creates a novel of social criticism with a style and expertise of which few in history have ever equalled. But with this novel he weaves essential Hinduism and the CIA into it in a way that makes one question not just American society, but reality itself. In two hundred plus pages Vidal will have you sitting on the edge of the bed at two o'clock in the morning with this novel, not being able to put it down, yet being afraid to read the final chapters.

And make no mistake, the final chapters will blow your mind.

I highly recommend this one.

Rating:
Summary: Master of understatement, Vidal's novel is deeply disturbing
Review: I cannot tell you what is deeply disturbing about this novel in regards to the actual plot without giving much of it away--which would be a crime and a half for a novel of this punch. Suffice it to say that despite the fact that Vidal puts enough aspects of 70s culture into it to make it fresh and new for when it was written, it carries even more power--and becomes even more disturbing--when read in our new millenium; almost as much as it would have had I read it in 1999.

There is a woman named Teddy Ottinger: feminist, an aviatrix extraordinaire, divorced mother of two; longing to step into the shoes of her immortal hero Amelia Earhart, even at the expense of the emotional lives of her children, for whom she has little true maternal feelings and little more than a contempt for her ex-husband that had to have been there latently when she married him. Cold, but searching for love and warmth in the arms of both lesbian women and men--and something of meaning in her life via French philosophy--she is summoned to the world of Kalki, the tenth avatar of the god Vishnu, harbringer of the end of the world. But he may also be someone else; a someone else that could make this entire fantasy world she is seemingly caught up in a dangerous lie. Or, he could simply be Kalki, and the world must prepare for the End...

Vidal channels Mark Twain in our century like he always does and creates a novel of social criticism with a style and expertise of which few in history have ever equalled. But with this novel he weaves essential Hinduism and the CIA into it in a way that makes one question not just American society, but reality itself. In two hundred plus pages Vidal will have you sitting on the edge of the bed at two o'clock in the morning with this novel, not being able to put it down, yet being afraid to read the final chapters.

And make no mistake, the final chapters will blow your mind.

I highly recommend this one.

Rating:
Summary: Not The Best Vidal Has To Offer
Review: I figured I would give this one a shot after reading Vidal's masterpiece Burr. Burr was absolutely brilliant and flowed like rich cream. This book, which deals with an apocalyptic scenario set against the background of 1970's pop culture, was much less impressive. Maybe I should stick to Vidal's historical fiction pieces and not expect much out of his social satire work. Having started this review with this somewhat negative comment, I should say there is some good stuff about this book. There is still plenty of "Vidalian" wit to enjoy, and some of the imagery and references to 70's culture is pretty amusing. I always get a kick out of end of the world books too, so I am biased in that regard. Still, for this genre, Kalki is pretty out there.

The main character of Kalki is Teddy Ottinger, a smart mouthed feminist who is a world-renowned aviatrix, an author of a feminist tract called "Beyond Motherhood" and an avowed bisexual. It isn't hard to see that Vidal is borrowing heavily from 1970's feminism, with its calls for the ERA and loud blustering. The big news of the day in Teddy's world is an American who is calling himself Kalki, or the avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu. Kalki has returned to the world to end the last cycle of mankind and usher in a new Golden Age of man. Kalki recruits Ottinger as his personal pilot while she is writing a story about him for an American newspaper. Needless to say, lots of hijinks follow, as secret government agents, drug lords and a freaky dude by the name of Dr. Ashok, run around and provide lots of plot twists and turns. Vidal drops lots of clues to what will happen in the end of the book, but the apocalypse Vidal unfolds here is not what Stephen King would have had in mind.

What is interesting about this book is that it serves as a snapshot of late 1970's culture. I can just imagine that if this book is still read several centuries from now, that there will be fifty pages of footnotes in the back, defining such terms as Reverend Moon, est, and other events that were so relevant in the 1970's. The book also attacks the widespread attention that religious cults were attracting during the time this book was written. It's not surprising that Vidal picks a religion from the East as his delivery device for destruction. Lots of people were turning to Katmandu for guidance, apparently as the 1960's and early 1970's faded and new ideas of "turning on" were hard to find. Vidal savagely attacks the shallowness of cults and people that believe mindlessly in any type of contrivance that promises them something. In this way the book works, but it fails in other ways.

As mentioned above, this book lacks Vidal's usual magic. Maybe this sub par book is part of the larger malaise that gripped the U.S. in the late 1970's. Maybe it is part of the national hangover that occurred during this time, as America woke up from the 1960's with a dry mouth, a nasty headache, and wondered where it had been the night before. Even better, maybe Vidal planned his book to read this way to reflect the weariness of the time, although I'm probably giving him way more credit then he deserves with this theory. Anyway, it just lacks his typical majesty, although the book was hard to put down at times, and I did care somewhat about how things turned out, which isn't too bad. I can't say I cared much for Teddy, who quickly became annoying with her smart mouthed comments and her constant references to ghostwriter Weiss (who helped her write Beyond Motherhood). Maybe Gore was dealing with memories of his own experience with a ghostwriter? Whatever it is, it became wearisome very quickly.

Would I recommend Kalki to someone else? It depends on whether that someone is a Gore Vidal fan. It also depends on whether someone knows the 1970's and likes apocalyptic literature. If none of the above criteria are met, skip this book. Recommended (with reservations).

Rating:
Summary: Another Bull's Eye for the AMAZING Gore Vidal!
Review: It would be tough to find a writer with such a huge range as the great Gore Vidal in this or any other time! KALKI is surely one his "breezy", less difficult reads, but it scores on every play! The story of a deranged ex-Vietnam vet who metamorphsizes into a huge Hindu cult leader takes direct aim at the super- commercial media society, cults and apocalyptic religions in general, government agencies, ultra feminism, and about any other hyped up cant of the 1970's , or 2000's. It's ultimate message is horrific, especially relevent today. All written in the amusing, satiric, deadpan style of the incredible Mr. Vidal..In short, a bizarre, all too possible, fable for all of us, for all time.

Rating:
Summary: That '70s Book
Review: KALKI is very much a product of its time. And, as that time was the late '70s, one can see that the book is obsessed with many of the same things that other products of that era were fascinated by. The main protagonist is a female, she's an avowed feminist, she's overtly bisexual, she's an airplane test pilot, she constantly thinks about Amelia Earhart, and her autobiography was a rejection of motherly values, ghost-written by a man selected by her publishing company.

The rest of the story is similarly '70s in flavor. An Eastern/Hindu religious sect is claiming that their god Kalki has been reincarnated in the form of an ex-army soldier from the American Midwest. Their scripture claims that when Kalki returns to ride the white horse, the world will end soon afterwards; only the chosen few will survive. Naturally, since this is the '70s, everyone on the planet becomes obsessed with the Kalki story. The newsmagazine show, "60 Minutes" produces an unusually long segment investigating the Kalki phenomenon. Even Walter Cronkite gets into the act, making an amused comment on the impending end of the world.

In between the references to Watergate and the mentions of Ronald Reagan, there's a very effective religious satire going on here. Gore Vidal paints his satirical strokes a little broad at times, but when he focuses, the story soars. Fun is poked at, not only the religious cults that were springing up at the time, but many aspects of pop culture. Some of the jokes still apply today, of course. In fact, were this book to be written now, many of the shots at television news coverage wouldn't need to be changed at all.

Although the book seems most concerned with its satire, it also works extremely well as straight adventure/thriller. A genuinely enjoyable story, I simply could not figure out what direction it was going to go in next. The gothic tone of the ending slips in nicely after the whimsy of the beginning and middle. Vidal manages to get the balance of comedy and drama just right. Some moments are laugh out loud funny, while a page later one will be faced with sudden and utter horror.

Rating:
Summary: As a novelist, Vidal's a darn good essayist
Review: Kalki, written in the late '70s and very much a product of that era (for better and worse), was one of Gore Vidal's periodic satires on religion. In this case, the various End-Of-The-World-Movements that were so prominent towards the end of the last century is the brunt of most of Vidal's barbs. The plot deals with James J. Kelly, a former soldier and drug dealer who has recently declared himself to be Kalki, a human form of Vishnu who has come to Earth to end the latest age of mankind. Vidal's uneven book details the last days of -- well, the human race more or less. As an apocalyptic thriller, Vidal's book works. It holds your attention, the final twist is indeed unexpected, and he does a good job of maintaining a heightening level of suspense. That said, this is quite an imperfect book.

The novel is narrated by one Teddy Ottinger, a bisexual aviatrix and aetheist who hero worships Amerlia Earhart and spends far too much time bitterly complaining about the one Herbet Weiss, the man who served as ghost writer for her autobiography. While Ottinger is a vivid narrator, she is also probably one of the most unlikeable and just plain annoying narrators that I have ever come across. Monumentally self-absorbed, Ottinger's obsession with Weiss and her other ghost writer -- Bruce Sapersteen -- borders on the pathological (and, I think, an arguement of borderline anti-semetism could be made as well) and -- especially annoying -- doesn't contain any specific pay-off in the end. I'm willing to give Vidal the benefit of the doubt and assume that he meant for Ottinger to be such a pain but it still doesn't make it any more enjoyable to spend 273 pages with her.

Beyond his narrator though, Vidal never seems to have really settled on just what type of story he was trying to tell. While certainly comedy and drama can be mixed very succesfully, Vidal fails to do so in this book. The first three-fourths of the book is a wild satire on cults, religion, and international intrigue. The humor is a bit forced (and, quite frankly, smugly elitist) but still somewhat effective. However, once Kalki's plans are set into action, the book becomes grimly serious. This final third is the most effective part of the book but its still a jarring transition and Vidal doesn't quite pull it off. It hard to buy that the final third of the book is actually part of the same story that ran through the first half. Still, Vidal does manage to pull off a trick that has eluded many acclaimed authors -- he comes up with a truly killer (and surprising ending).

As a novelist, Vidal has always been a superb essayist. His characters and his plot twists have always served more as a vehicule for him to serve up his special brand of disdain than anything else. Hence, his plots often seem to be rather rudimentary. In his historical novels, this is usually less of a problem since, basically, the story has already been written for him and the characters are already familiar enough to us that he can get away with shallow characterization. However, in novels like Kalki, his weaknesses become more apparent and distracting. Unfortunately, Kalki basically reads like satire written by a satirist who, unfortunately, has no sense of humor.

Rating:
Summary: Heavy Handed Plot
Review: The plot overwhelmed this story, turning some fine characters into unbelievable stick people, reducing them to comic book figures. One gets involved with the bisexual narrator, Teddy, only to see the rug pulled from beneath her as she is surreptitiously pulled into a conspiracy to destroy mankind (including her two young kids!). Give me a break. It doesn't rescue the story to call it a satire-satire of what? Doomsday prophets? I enjoyed the zany cast with their double personalities until they were forced to cope with the dystopian horror ending. I don't think anyone could remain sympathetic or interested in such a cast of characters. Yes, the Kelly/Kalki character took mental illness to new heights in believing himself to be a trinity of Hindu gods, creators, preservers and destroyers but all he really did was immolate himself to Vidal's rather ridiculous plot. Is Gore asking us here-look ma, no hands-see what a ludicrous story I can tell?