Trash!

Prepare to be seduced," enthused Bem Le Hunte’s publisher, Penguin India, inits pre-launch publicity for the book. And judging by its bestseller ratings, it’s achallenge Indian readers are more than willing to undertake. The Seduction of Silence, alas, is as close to a seduction as Matashri is to Matahari. For the author, the seductive powers of silence have yielded nothing less than 433 pages of precious prose. The story revolves around Aakash, a farmer-sage who lives—where else!—in the Himalayas, is not interested in worldly success, spent his "earthly existence" either helping his "fellow countrymen" and his even saintlier son Ram discover God. Withrelentless relish, Bem not only inflicts the saintly Aakash on readers through anunenduringly long lifetime, but even reincarnates him! Those with the stomach for thesethings are assured a lifetime of spiritual cliches.