Song of Kali

Dan Simmons presents Calcutta as a city haunted by its past and present in Song of Kali. Writer Robert Luczak goes to Calcutta on an assignment to retrieve the manuscript of a massive poem written by the legendary Das. Das disappeared nearly a decade ago yet suddenly new works that appear to be his surface. Luczak is also supposed to try and interview the reclusive author while and takes his Indian born wife Amrita as interpreter and their baby Victoria. Luczak discovers that the poem that Das has written is designed for some evil purpose and suddenly finds his family in peril as he tries to uncover the truth of what really happened to Das and what sinister purpose lies beneath the surface of Das' new epic poem.

One of author Dan Simmons' earliest published novels, Song of Kali won the World Fantasy Award when it was published back in 1985. Simmons is an accomplished prose stylist and has written a riveting supernatural thriller. The minor flaw in the book also manages to be a strength as well because the main character of Luczak often has to play the role of idiot when it comes to the mythology that provides the backbone of the novel. Luczak should be better informed about Indian mythology and religious cults and yet has to have things explained to him. As aresult we discover much of what is happening just as Luczak does. This narrative device works pretty well overall increasing our identification with Luczak although there are times when it does stretch credibility.

Unlike some reviewers, I don't feel that the ending is forced at all, overly sentimental or optimistic. It provides a coda that rounds off the story while still keeping the door open about what could happen. There's a sense of unfinished business and doubt about the future of humanity even as Luczak finally finds himself able to live again.

Song of Kali still demonstrates that Simmons is a master of storytelling. It's pretty clear that his skills were continuing to develop with Kali. Kali clearly set the stage for later more masterful works such as his horror thriller Carrion Comfort and even his science fiction masterpiece Hyperion Cantos.

Maybe reading Clive Barker and Joe Lansdale ruined my expectations for a horror novel, because I unfortunately found this novel very slow and uneventful. Simmions writes phenomenal sci-fi and I appreciate his ability to do something different, just didn't feel as greatly executed.

There are a couple of things about "Song of Kali" by Dan Simmons that you should know. First, this is not a horror book. There are scary moments and very disturbing actions, but this book won't have you sleeping with the lights on. Second, there is an ending to this book, maybe not the ending or closure people want... but there is an ending. Granted, loose ends exists and I found myself trying to make sense of them after the book was done, but I tend to like that in a story. Third and final, this was Dan Simmons' first book. In my opinion it's not his best, but for a first effort it's quite extraordinary. It's a smart haunting tale that sticks with you.

The story is about a writer given his first big break. He is to go to Calcutta and bring back the latest poem by the famous M.Das, a poet who had died several years earlier. Bobby, our writer, travels to India with his wife and baby to obtain the manuscript and shed light on the mystery of how a supposed dead writer is still writing. It's to be a brief trip but problems arises and the horrors of Calcutta eventually overwhelm Bobby and his family.

The book takes place in the 70's, and I'm assuming here, has little to do with the Calcutta of today. The city Simmons paints becomes the main character or maybe the main villain. Calcutta is a horror. It is a pit of despair and disease. It is also played as an offering to the Goddess Kali. In western literature we often have fun with our "devil", playing him as an egomaniac, a trickster, a cartoon fool, a manipulator or a beast. After reading "Song of Kali" I am quite confident that Kali could kick our devil's shinny red butt. She is pure darkness, darkness that strikes like a cobra. Simmons uses most of his time slowly building the suspense of this book by painstaking building Bobby's contempt for Calcutta. When it reaches its zenith, odds are you will gasp; but the real ending is in the hope that Bobby and his family finds afterwards.

Dan Simmons has compiled a wide body of eclectic work yet no major movie deals, which strikes me as odd. His writing is clear, riveting, and sometimes poetic. Having written horror, science fiction (Hyperion is just plain awesome), mystery, and other types of fiction, Simmons takes some very interesting chances to create an unusual story. The main character is an American writer named Kuczak who journeys to Calcutta, India to find the great Indian poet Das. He decides to take his Indian-born wife and infant daughter with him for reasons which turn out to be both unnecessary and very problematic. It's a natural story insert though as he believes he'll need a translator, but it turns out that translation is the least of his problems. Kuczak and his family feel the oppressing poverty and an air of evil the moment that set foot in Calcutta. It's a city of beggars, misery, class division, and despair that is palpable. All Kuczak wants to do the moment he arrives is to meet M. Das, get his new manuscript of poetry to be published in the states, and leave. Instead he is pulled into a series of events beyond his control and imagination. Along this journey we meet the mysterious Krishna who may or may not be an ally, the elitist Chatterjee who sees nothing wrong with the poverty and violence which he never has to interact with, and then there is the Cult of the goddess Kali with its bizarre and archaic practices and beliefs. What is reality and what is illusion? Kuczak is never certain. There is a great deal of criticism of Indian religion, culture, and beliefs that might be difficult for some Indians to take, but in the book some Indians can't help but despise what Calcutta is and rightly so as the elites have not only allowed the city to become what it is, but actually sustain the poverty and despair. In addition to being a horror story and mystery, this book also attempts to explore many different themes that third world countries face. This novel is filled with unexpected turns, imagery that is sickening to even read about, and is a no holds barred tour de force that will leave the reader drained at the end (and that's the point). This book is better than King and I won't even mention Koontz and is worth checking out along with Simmons' other great horror story, Carrion Comfort. You won't be disappointed.

Championed by Harlan Ellison and winner of the 1986 World Fantasy Award, Song of Kali is the debut novel by prolific author, Dan Simmons. The book follows Robert Luzak through the thick heat and urban chaos of Calcutta, as he pursues rumored new work by a poet named M. Das, who has been assumed dead for several years. As Luzak grows closer to unearthing the alleged manuscript, he finds himself entangled with the Kapalikas, a dangerous secret society who worship the goddess Kali and might be involved in the poet's disappearance.

With its vivid depiction of the Calcutta's hot and crowded squalor, Song of Kali is drenched in the palpable anxiety created by a first world protagonist thrown into a third world local, escalating with a sweaty, violent propulsion into one of horror's most memorably gruesome scenes.

The fact that the supernatural elements of Song of Kali are amongst its least scary aspects doesn't speak poorly of their development or delivery, but rather to Simmons's eclipsing strengths at stifling atmosphere and asphyxiating real world terror.

This is horror done so well it feels unimaginable reading it on the beach, and unconscionable to recommend to just anyone.

After reading Harlan Ellison's comments about this book years ago, I knew I had to have it. Not an easy book to locate then, but once I had it... Oh my God. I'd never read a horror novel like it. It was bloated with the corruption and festering malignancy of Calcutta: "Some places are too evil to be allowed to exist." With that provocative opening line, Simmons opens up a universe filled with an overpowering sense of the otherworldly that the Western mind cannot escape.
The novel feeds on our (inherent?) xenophobia, our fear of women (manifested in the devouring goddess of Kali), our passion for violence, and the all-too-real fear of our children taken from us. "All violence is power," the poet Das says. "Sometimes there is no hope. Sometimes there is only pain."
THAT, friends and neighbors, is the true crux of all great horror fiction, and Simmons doesn't hesitate to take us as far down the river at the heart of darkness. His knowledge of classic poetry, particularly Yeats, and Luczak's wife's knowledge of geometry, infuses this novel with an intelligence and moral weight most horror writers either fake or never bother with in the first place. And India has such a vast and bizarre mythology I'm surprised no one explored it before like this.
I love this book, and even picking it up again to write this review I'm tempted to read it a third time. Anyone with any knowledge of India's myths will find it all the more disturbing. The use of story-within-story that heightens the horror (for some reason I'm a sucker for this narrative trick; Lovecraft did it, King did it in "Pet Sematary", Anne Rice too-- it always chills me to the bone) I can't say enough of the fascination this book holds for me, its relentless darkness, its stench of rancid flesh, its charnel house images, its fusion of sex and death, its climax of delirium and fire--and the final moral stand of a man who comes to realize how truly helpless he is in the face of so much darkness.
Listen to the song of Kali if you have at all a true taste for the macabre, the funereal, the hopeless, the living dark, the taint of blood: "The world is pain/O terrible wife of Siva/ You are chewing the flesh/Your tongue is drinking the blood, O dark Mother! O unclad Mother/O beloved of Siva/The world is pain."
"The Age of Kali has begun/The Song of Kali is now sung." Hear it? Listen....

I couldn4t help being surprised by this book - it is quite an impressive read - but at the same time I was a little let down, too, for reasons that aren4t all that easy to figure out. I guess the problem is that when we normaly say that a book is "good", what we mean is that "reading this book made me feel good". And when we4re talking about a horror book we mean, by saying that it was good, perhaps that it scared us in some strange, enjoyable sort of way. This book doesn4t do that. It4s scary, yes, but that4s it. For a long period in the first part of the book, nothing happens; all we get to see is some americans loafing around in Calcutta, like so many other tourists, and since Dan Simmons describes it in such an ordinary, credible way, with a great portion of local colour too, you swallow it all - it allmost bores you. All this brings you, without you being aware of it, quite close to the the central character. And so when things start going terribly wrong it doesn4t feel good at all.
What Dan Simmons explores isn4t that nice tingling sensation we get from the horror movies, but rather the true feeling of despair, loneliness and anxiety. These are all feelings that rely more on the unseen and imagined than on the present or chockingly visual, and could just as well be explained by the author4s unwillingness to show all that happens to the reader. Though bound to irritate some people, in the end this way of insinuating things rather than showing them turns out to be the most powerful quality of the author. I remember at one point reading a description of the body of a torture victim, where you as a reader get no clues as to how the terrible events took place. All you get is a picture of a dead body - it is perturbing and painful to read.
So if i have to summon it all up, I would have to say that this is a very well-written book, but definetely not for all tastes. This is the first book i have read by Dan Simmons (and only, but not for long), and it left me with the impression of an author who promises even better work.

Wow! I just finished reading Dan Simmons' excellent first novel, "Song of Kali," and I must say that I am extremely impressed by this work of fantastic horror and its meaning in the real world the reader is invited to recognize as both insane and wonderful all at the same time.
Yes, there are some flaws in the book, and for that reason you should ignore the hype and superlative praise showered on it. For starters, the narrator is not a particularly likeable character; he admits to having a short fuse and a quick temper that often seem out of proportion to even minor annoyances.
In addition, the author goes on for too long just setting up this tale, and nothing much of consequence actually happens for the first third of the story. Then there is the problem of the loose ends that do not answer the questions raised by a murder which serves as the emotional climax of the novel. My best guess is that Simmons deliberately left some things obscure to reflect the protagonist's own confused and frustrated inability to understand what prompted the killing, but - if such is the case - it still leaves the reader unsatisfied with the unresolved mystery of why certain events happened as they did.
Finally, "Song of Kali" suffers from a lack of editing and/or proofreading (at least in its paperback edition), as shown by the many typos in the manuscript. Ordinarily, this would not matter a great deal, but in a story that concerns itself with wordsmiths in one form or another (i.e., writers, editors, and a literary agent) the errors are glaring and disrupt the flow of the otherwise nicely nuanced text.
However, having said all that, I remain amazed at how well the "Song of Kali" managed to pull me into its plot and delve into themes that were at once disturbing and yet undeniably fascinating. The dramatic tension between good and evil is captured in dialogue and descriptive prose that explores the duality of man at both the macroscopic and microscopic levels. This might sound dry and dismal but in fact the final third of "Song of Kali" truly does build suspense like a runaway freight train, and I was unable to put the novel down for the last 80 pages.
Simmons also does an especially good job of translating the universal nature of depravity from the teeming streets of Calcutta to the familiar environs of our own supposedly more civilized society. Although he touches on Indian mythology, the occult, mysticism, and the supernatural, Simmons suggests that the manifestations of culture and religion are merely props that mirror the darkness (or lightness) of the human soul.
And that is really what this book is about when you get down to it: the importance of free will and each person deciding for him- or herself whether to embrace hope and life or give into greed, hate, and the fear of death. In spite of its faults, "Song of Kali" concludes on an optimistic note that does not smack of a conventional, contrived happy ending. Instead, Simmons says, we must beware of the beast within us, but choose the better way.

First novel of Dan Simmons, SONG OF KALI could be read as the perfect introduction to CARRION COMFORT, another Simmons's effort. According to this writer, the world is threatened by evil forces hidden to the common people but well known by the heroes of these novels. The bloody ritual of the indian goddess, Kali, is one of the roots of the Tree of Evil.
The philosophical theory of Manicheism that presents the world as the gigantic battlefield between the Forces of Evil and those of the Good is a theory used, openly or not, by thousands of writers for centuries now. Dan Simmons adds to this pyramidal construction of books his own personal version by associating the Forces of Evil with a city : Calcutta.
The descriptions of Calcutta and of its people, strange rites and Kafkaïan administrations are, as far as I can judge, accurate and are certainly not sponsored by the Indian Tourist Office. The story is interesting and you won't leave THE SONG OF KALI before its ending. But there are a lot of weak pages in it ; characters disappearing and leaving the reader unaware of their destinies, multiple hesitations between the social thriller and the pure Fantastic genre, a rather simple explanation of the system of classes and religions ruling the indian society.
So I would recommend THE SONG OF KALI only to the readers already familiar with the world of Dan Simmons. The other readers can go directly to CARRION COMFORT.
A -stay at home- book.

It's probably a huge mistake to include inflated words of hype on the cover of a horror book. "SHOCK TREATMENTS ABOUND!" And inside the cover, we're made to believe that this is one of the most harrowing novels ever. Well...it had the potential. I won't give in to the "should have beens", but I assumed the end dealt with some kind of sacrifice. The narrator would fall under the goddess Kali's influence and ravage his own family. Would this be more horrific? Or how about some subtlety? I feel the ending came out of left field. I won't give away the secret, but the resloution seemed unrelated to the main plotline, or perhaps thrown in to manipulate what would happen. It is a dreadful conclusion, but grates against simple logic. Perhaps Calcutta trapped the family in a quagmire of despair, forcing them to remain in its corrupt embrace. Either circumstance kept the wife and child there, or an author's slick contrivances.
As for the protagonist, I felt little for him. He was either an arrogant wise#$%, or would explode into fits of anger that seemed disproportional to what was happening. He never really developed a personality, unlike the other characters. The descriptions of Calcutta's rank alleys and abysmal moral center were well done, but I wonder if the author has ever been to India. If so, I think there would have been more fascinating details than the children constantly defecating in the open, bathing in mud puddles, or sleeping under sheets in the rain. He paints a vividly gruesome portrait of the slums, but it grew almost repetitive after a few chapters. The cult of Kali and its mechanisms was frightening, but it never seemed to plummet into the realm of true, paralyzing terror.
All in all, this was a creepy book with a fair share of terrible images. Perhaps a little more time and imagination would have made it the scare classic it boasts about in the opening pages.

As many others have noted, this book is quite depressing, but very good. Author Dan Simmons pulls no punches as he describes the dark atmosphere of Calcutta and its inhabitants. Indeed, the very city is a character in itself that permeates the entire book with its madness. The storyline moves forward at a brisk pace as the entire novel unfolds in the first person narrative of its main protagonist, Robert Luczack, a poet. Like in Simmons' later novel, Hyperion, a poem is one of the main plotines in the story, and there are varied literary references. The supernatural elements in the novel take on a very menacing and realistic aspect because the reader gets so involved in the nightmarish surroundings of Calcutta. We enter the mindset of the hindus and the terrible worship of the death goddess Kali.
I give the book 4 stars because the book leaves many unresolved questions (also like in his later novel, Hyperion, but that one at least had a sequel). Dan Simmons may argue, and rightly so, that in real life not all answers are given, but still, a little more insight into the motivation of some of the characters would have been appreciated.

Wow..
Not your typical looong Dan Simmons book as i was able to finish this one in 3 nights. It helped that i wasn't able to put it down. It stuck with me so much that I was Google imaging Calcutta at work today. There are a few parts of the story that left me scratching my head but i cant get the story out of my head. I always know its a good one if I replay the story and think about it in for days after I finish it. Scary, shocking and a bit sad. But definitely worth the read.

Wow! I just finished reading Dan Simmons' excellent first novel, "Song of Kali," and I must say that I am extremely impressed by this work of fantastic horror and its meaning in the real world the reader is invited to recognize as both insane and wonderful all at the same time.
Yes, there are some flaws in the book, and for that reason you should ignore the hype and superlative praise showered on it. For starters, the narrator is not a particularly likeable character; he admits to having a short fuse and a quick temper that often seem out of proportion to even minor annoyances.
In addition, the author goes on for too long just setting up this tale, and nothing much of consequence actually happens for the first third of the story. Then there is the problem of the loose ends that do not answer the questions raised by a murder which serves as the emotional climax of the novel. My best guess is that Simmons deliberately left some things obscure to reflect the protagonist's own confused and frustrated inability to understand what prompted the killing, but - if such is the case - it still leaves the reader unsatisfied with the unresolved mystery of why certain events happened as they did.
Finally, "Song of Kali" suffers from a lack of editing and/or proofreading (at least in its paperback edition), as shown by the many typos in the manuscript. Ordinarily, this would not matter a great deal, but in a story that concerns itself with wordsmiths in one form or another (i.e., writers, editors, and a literary agent) the errors are glaring and disrupt the flow of the otherwise nicely nuanced text.
However, having said all that, I remain amazed at how well the "Song of Kali" managed to pull me into its plot and delve into themes that were at once disturbing and yet undeniably fascinating. The dramatic tension between good and evil is captured in dialogue and descriptive prose that explores the duality of man at both the macroscopic and microscopic levels. This might sound dry and dismal but in fact the final third of "Song of Kali" truly does build suspense like a runaway freight train, and I was unable to put the novel down for the last 80 pages.
Simmons also does an especially good job of translating the universal nature of depravity from the teeming streets of Calcutta to the familiar environs of our own supposedly more civilized society. Although he touches on Indian mythology, the occult, mysticism, and the supernatural, Simmons suggests that the manifestations of culture and religion are merely props that mirror the darkness (or lightness) of the human soul.
And that is really what this book is about when you get down to it: the importance of free will and each person deciding for him- or herself whether to embrace hope and life or give into greed, hate, and the fear of death. In spite of its faults, "Song of Kali" concludes on an optimistic note that does not smack of a conventional, contrived happy ending. Instead, Simmons says, we must beware of the beast within us, but choose the better way.

First novel of Dan Simmons, SONG OF KALI could be read as the perfect introduction to CARRION COMFORT, another Simmons's effort. According to this writer, the world is threatened by evil forces hidden to the common people but well known by the heroes of these novels. The bloody ritual of the indian goddess, Kali, is one of the roots of the Tree of Evil.
The philosophical theory of Manicheism that presents the world as the gigantic battlefield between the Forces of Evil and those of the Good is a theory used, openly or not, by thousands of writers for centuries now. Dan Simmons adds to this pyramidal construction of books his own personal version by associating the Forces of Evil with a city : Calcutta.
The descriptions of Calcutta and of its people, strange rites and Kafkaïan administrations are, as far as I can judge, accurate and are certainly not sponsored by the Indian Tourist Office. The story is interesting and you won't leave THE SONG OF KALI before its ending. But there are a lot of weak pages in it ; characters disappearing and leaving the reader unaware of their destinies, multiple hesitations between the social thriller and the pure Fantastic genre, a rather simple explanation of the system of classes and religions ruling the indian society.
So I would recommend THE SONG OF KALI only to the readers already familiar with the world of Dan Simmons. The other readers can go directly to CARRION COMFORT.
A -stay at home- book.

It's probably a huge mistake to include inflated words of hype on the cover of a horror book. "SHOCK TREATMENTS ABOUND!" And inside the cover, we're made to believe that this is one of the most harrowing novels ever. Well...it had the potential. I won't give in to the "should have beens", but I assumed the end dealt with some kind of sacrifice. The narrator would fall under the goddess Kali's influence and ravage his own family. Would this be more horrific? Or how about some subtlety? I feel the ending came out of left field. I won't give away the secret, but the resloution seemed unrelated to the main plotline, or perhaps thrown in to manipulate what would happen. It is a dreadful conclusion, but grates against simple logic. Perhaps Calcutta trapped the family in a quagmire of despair, forcing them to remain in its corrupt embrace. Either circumstance kept the wife and child there, or an author's slick contrivances.
As for the protagonist, I felt little for him. He was either an arrogant wise#$%, or would explode into fits of anger that seemed disproportional to what was happening. He never really developed a personality, unlike the other characters. The descriptions of Calcutta's rank alleys and abysmal moral center were well done, but I wonder if the author has ever been to India. If so, I think there would have been more fascinating details than the children constantly defecating in the open, bathing in mud puddles, or sleeping under sheets in the rain. He paints a vividly gruesome portrait of the slums, but it grew almost repetitive after a few chapters. The cult of Kali and its mechanisms was frightening, but it never seemed to plummet into the realm of true, paralyzing terror.
All in all, this was a creepy book with a fair share of terrible images. Perhaps a little more time and imagination would have made it the scare classic it boasts about in the opening pages.

As many others have noted, this book is quite depressing, but very good. Author Dan Simmons pulls no punches as he describes the dark atmosphere of Calcutta and its inhabitants. Indeed, the very city is a character in itself that permeates the entire book with its madness. The storyline moves forward at a brisk pace as the entire novel unfolds in the first person narrative of its main protagonist, Robert Luczack, a poet. Like in Simmons' later novel, Hyperion, a poem is one of the main plotines in the story, and there are varied literary references. The supernatural elements in the novel take on a very menacing and realistic aspect because the reader gets so involved in the nightmarish surroundings of Calcutta. We enter the mindset of the hindus and the terrible worship of the death goddess Kali.
I give the book 4 stars because the book leaves many unresolved questions (also like in his later novel, Hyperion, but that one at least had a sequel). Dan Simmons may argue, and rightly so, that in real life not all answers are given, but still, a little more insight into the motivation of some of the characters would have been appreciated.

Wow..
Not your typical looong Dan Simmons book as i was able to finish this one in 3 nights. It helped that i wasn't able to put it down. It stuck with me so much that I was Google imaging Calcutta at work today. There are a few parts of the story that left me scratching my head but i cant get the story out of my head. I always know its a good one if I replay the story and think about it in for days after I finish it. Scary, shocking and a bit sad. But definitely worth the read.

While there are many insightful criticisms for this book I am stunned by the number of dismissive reviews for this powerful book. It's boring? Hardly. Nothing happens? A lie. No one has even mentioned the cultural aspects of this novel which for me, along with tidbits of Indian history and Indian arts, were the most compelling features of the story. No one has mentioned that although originally published in 1985 the book is set in 1977 which is key to the story and provides a explanation of the mindset (and naiveté as some called it) of the protagonist. I find it alarming that people dismiss this book as "not horror." It is a story that has genuine supernatural elements and has more than a fair share of gore for the readers that crave that kind of thing. So what's the problem? It's not scary enough? A childish complaint. The book is primarily an effectively told and intelligently written story of EVERYDAY horror ACCEPTED AS THE NORM in a culture that is as corrupt as our own United States. I guess most horror readers want only witches, demons, vampires, and all the other derivative clichés of folklore and legend. I think those books need to stop. Who cares? That stuff has all been told a thousand fold. This is a modern day horror novel of a kind of horror that is IGNORED by most people. The negative reviews prove that this book's content is as easily dismissed as an Untouchable is ignored as a non-entity by an Indian Brahman. That's the horror Simmons is telling us about.

SONG OF KALI chronicles one family's hellish journey into darkest India. A major American publisher has received samples of a new work by India's greatest poet, M. Das. What makes this exceptional is that M. Das is believed to have died several years earlier. So poet and small press publisher Robert Luczak is sent on an all expense paid flight to Calcutta to investigate, and discover whether it is somehow true or an elaborate literary hoax. But Luczak will find this is anything but a free ride. His curiosity will cost him dearly in other, less material ways.

The back cover of the Tor reissue of this novel builds the story up a great deal, indeed perhaps beyond the ability of any author to deliver. Is it, in fact, the most chilling, shocking thing I've ever read? Did it strike me through with fear like nothing else has before? Well, no. However, it does contain some very chilling moments, a whole lot of solid suspense, and a final, major shock near its conclusion - all contained within quality writing. If it has any flaw, it's that it leaves a lot of questions never answered. More realistic, particularly since we are experiencing the story from one character's perspective, but it leaves one wanting, nonetheless.

But never mind. The journey is the thing, and it's still a powerful story worth reading. It is also interesting for its philosophical content. Just don't let the marketing hype raise your expectations to outrageous levels. One thing it doesn't lie about: you probably won't forget it.

Friends and reviews sold me this book as an intense exercise in shock/weird horror. I am sorry to say this, but this book doesn't live up to any of those standards. If you want shocking horror, go read Monica J. O'Rouke's "Suffer the Flesh".
First we have the enigmatic dedication that reads: "To Harlan Ellison, who has heard the Song". (Rough retranslation from a Spanish translation) This alone sets the mood for an interesting read. After that, the very opening line is sure to glue you to the following pages... but that's about it. The intense, "horror", atmosphere begins around a little less than 100 before the book is finished; all the pages before, Simmons was creating background with some gross mutilated corpses thrown in to spice up the mix, but not real suspense.
It's too bad, really. Simmons can paint really disturbing images in your mind, he really can, but too much time (and trees) was wasted in "i'm-going-nowhere" plot building. There is a sense of a cruel supernatural world exiting alongside ours, but its existence is just hinted at, and in the end nothing is really resolved leaving a trail of doubt, which is good in fact, plot-wise.
Oh, did I forget to say that "good triumphs over evil" is hinted at in the end?
To his merit, we can say that Simmons does a GREAT work in describing that hell hole known as Calcuta; his description of putrid streets, low lives, underground crime, grotesque morgues and pits infested with trash, vomit and people are, simply put, deliciously disgusting. He does success in the "bleak is the existence" department
Song of Kali, if properly rewritten, would make a superb short story... but it doesn't make a good book. I'm not even sure if this volume can be called "horror" at all.

For my tastes, a rather clumsily written book that really isn't scary, just a bit slimy. Anyone who has read at all deeply in the horror realm will likely find this book a disappointment. I typically like Simmons but this just didn't do anything for me. Neither as scary or as shocking as the blurbs would lead one to believe. Plus, I would add that the shock is rather clumsily telegraphed from the moment the protagonist decides to go to Calcutta.

Dan Simmons is something unique in the literary world. He writes horror and science-fiction, alright, but I never considered this as something bad. The way he writes it, is brilliant. His "Carrion Comfort" is a masterpiece in every way, and "Summer of Night" and "Prayers to Broken Stones" prove his brilliance too.
"Song of Kali" was in that way a disappointment. It's a pretty good horror novel, well written, suspenseful and all, but something was missing. Something "Simmons".
The story is about a literature agent who travels to Calcutta to find a manuscript by a famous, but vanished author. On his journey he gets involved in cultural and occult struggles and his life changes dramatically.
Right up to the middle of the book, it's also built-up and exposition. It can be read easy, it's not too interesting, but not boring. Then, after 3/4 the suspense somehow increases extremly. From that point on I had to read it all till the end. The end itself was not disappointing, but surprising in another way than usual.
"Song of Kali" is a good read, not brilliant, but better than most Koontz and some King.

People expecting a traditional "horror" novel in the tradition of Stephen King, et al., will be disappointed. There is horror here, but the horror comes more from the hideous conditions in Calcutta and from the plight of an American man trapped in-- and at the mercy of-- a people and a culture he cannot even begin to understand, much less deal with effectively.

The novel points up the fact that your basic normal, educated, politically correct American is no more qualified to deal with a truly foreign culture than he would be to deal with actual aliens from another planet-- as well as the fact that there are cultures here on earth that are every bit as alien to our "western" ideas and sensibilities as any extra-terrestrial culture could ever be.

I have no idea what the city of Calcutta is actually like, but Simmons portrays it as a horrific cesspool in which human life has no value whatsoever, in which the most horrific and depraved behavior is not just commonplace, but acceptable, and in which traditional "western" values and beliefs are not just disregarded, but have no meaning or value whatsoever. Here is a city where residents think nothing of stepping over the corpses of those who have died of hunger and disease during the night while making their way to work... a city in which no one cares if a five-year-old girl is sleeping by herself on the street, with no protection from the elements but a tattered blanket... a city in which people are so inured to death and degradation that there is nothing, literally NOTHING, that can cause them to do so much as blink an eye.

That is true horror, and Simmons portrays it very well.

I won't venture to say what Simmons was trying to achieve with this novel, but what he does achieve is to show how radically different cultures can be, and how utterly out of his depth a "westerner" is when he finds himself at the mercy of a people and a culture he doesn't even remotely begin to understand.

Simmons does a superb job of depicting someone in an utterly foreign place-- a place that is "foreign" in ever sense of the word.

He also does a good job of pointing up the evil inherent in that foreign culture. Is there something fundamentally WRONG with a "culture" in which the lives of cows have a higher value than the lives of human beings? YES, there is-- and Simmons makes that point without belaboring it. Is there something fundamentally WRONG with a "culture" that regards human life as being worth less than nothing? YES, there is. Is there something fundamentally WRONG about a "culture" in which people routinely die in the streets and are collected in the morning by dead-wagons that haul take them to a crematorium, where their relatives much pay an exorbitant amount of money to take them away for a decent burial or cremation? YES, there is.

At least, these things are "wrong" by our standards... but the fact that they are NOT wrong by the standards of Calcutta serves to point up just how radically different cultures can be.

That brings us to what is really scary about this book: the fact that there are places and cultures, right here on earth, that are worse than even our most creative science-fiction writers have been able to imagine.

Robert Luczack (pronounced 'Loozak') works for the magazine 'Other Voices' and is sent to Calcutta, India to write a story about recently written poetry from a poet who is supposed to have been dead for 8 years. Reluctantly he brings his wife and baby girl along for the trip. Once in Calcutta he finds himself in a totally different world filled with trash, grime, violence and an underground cult who worships Kali, the goddess of death. Things go from bad to worse to nightmarish as he plunges further into the depths of this cult.

For Simmons' first novel, Song of Kali is written quite well. Even out of the gate Simmons writes like a seasoned pro, however his later works trump this. For a short novel (for Simmons) this has some lengthy sections that I just didn't find all that interesting. Overall it's a decent read but I just never found myself hooked like I did with his other efforts like 'Summer of Night' and 'The Terror'. However, I will say that the end of this book is certainly nightmarish, it just takes a minute to get there. I imagine if you're a parent (which I'm not) then you'll find the ending to be unbearably disturbing.

This is a worthy read for sure, but his later work does improve significantly. I'm giving this one a pessimistic 3.5.

The coolest thing about Dan Simmons is that he usually goes to the places he writes about just so he can get the aunthenticity down. He likes to be honest with his readers. He wrote a book about Vlad The Impaler (Dracula) called Children Of The Night, so he traveled to Romania and visited the real Castle Dracula. In his first novel, Song Of Kali, a poet travels to India with his Indian wife and their infant daughter in search of some epic poem. Simmons writes about Calcutta and Simmons was there, for two and a half days, but that, apparently was enough to get the right ambiance down pat. Calcutta, as Simmons points out to us over and over again, is a complete f*cking sh*thole! I accept that. I never had a desire to see Calcutta & after Song Of Kali, I still have no desire to see it. Calcutta can stay where it is for all I care. Anyway, Song Of Kali is one of the best first novels ever written. Simmons won the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel, so that says something. I love this book. It's dark and brutal and intense. The ending will make you recoil in horror. Heavy. Dan Simmons has been a powerhouse since his first short story "The River Styx Runs Upstream" appeared in Twilight Zone Magazine. Intense.

Dig It!

Having read the Hyperion series, I was on the prowl for more Dan Simmons, when I came across Song of Kali. I was very surprised to find that Simmons wrote horror, and proceeded to read this book in one sitting. The lush descriptions and vivid details served to bring realism to the sordid world of Calcutta. I have rarely seen writing of this caliber in works of horror or fantasy. A propos the horror aspect -- I found this to be less of a horror novel than a tragedy. Yes, there were horrific fantastic elements, but these were not as overwhelming as the realistic descriptions of the surroundings. The story is truly tragic, and to me at least, it seemed about as 'horror' as Hamlet. Sure, there's a ghost in Hamlet, but that's not the point. Similarly, the mythos and horror of Kali is merely a vessel to convey a much more important message -- a warning about our society today. Apart from the horrific, this book also contained much of humor (in the vein of the great tragedies). I found myself chuckling out loud in parts, due to the absurb metaphorical juxtapositions the narrator sometimes presents. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys long, beautifully worded descriptions and an insight into violence in the world today.

Particular scenes in The Song of Kali are still haunting me over a month after finishing the book. This is certainly the mark of a good horror story. What sets this novel apart is the mood created by the author. The story takes place in Calcutta, painted as a locale that is as evil as any you might find in your worst nightmare. The atmosphere and the local characters add to the effectiveness of this book in a way that exceeds any other book in recent memory. For lovers of well-written horror, you 'd be hard pressed to find a better page-turner. I'm a huge Stephen King fan, but this one has images that horrify more than Mr. King's best. If you read this book, you will be thinking about it for months. Try it and enjoy...

Plot Summary: Bobby Luczac and his wife and baby are off to Calcutta to find a poet who is apparently creating new material despite being dead for over 8 years. How can M. Das be writing new poems, how is he still alive, where is he to be found? These are the questions Bobby is to answer as well as collect a new manuscript for his stateside periodical. Despite warnings from colleagues, the whole family flies to India, birthplace of his wife. Nothing good happens for Mr. and Mrs. Luczac from this point on.

Opinion: I'm kind of in between on this book. At points I am amazed and disgusted by the imagery and the squalor of Calcutta. At other points I find myself just skimming to get on with the story. Simmons does a good job overall painting the city as this almost black hole of misfortune, horror, and evil. Much of it based on cult worshiping of the goddess Kali. I was impressed at how far he took the things that could and did happen in this book. Far past where a weaker author would have maybe spared us a little. Then things got a little out of character after the climax of the book. There is hope after all we are led to believe. The characters were all decently written including the city which is the main character of this horror story. I can't say how well this portrays Calcutta because I don't know anyone who has been there, but it was very vivid for me from the book that I wouldn't want to.

Recommendation: I would recommend this to Simmons fans because he is a good writer and the story is pretty good. I would not suggest this as your first Simmons book though as I think his Hyperion and Ilium stories are much better. I rate it 3.5 out of 5 overall.

Song of Kali was fairly underwhelming. For a book touted to be one of the best horror novels of all time, I was understandably shocked when I finished the book unable to recall ever being scared. Simmons is apt at painting a dreary and filthy portrait of Calcutta, a "city too wicked to be suffered", but never in the novel is there a sense of fear, of shock, of terror. Sure there's vivid imagery of squalor and contamination, even graphic depictions of corpses, but is that scary? No, that's just gross. Gross is fine when backed up with fear, but the relationship between the two never quite materializes in Song of Kali.

That being said, the narrative was fairly engaging. The story moves along at a nice place, though Richard Luczsek is essentially an unlikeable moron. The plot resolution, however,(or more appropriately, the lack thereof) will leave you dissatisfied and perhaps feeling a little cheated. The weirdness and the paranormal events are fairly standard for the genre, and nothing really jumps off the page at you to frighten or enthrall, but as this is Simmons' first novel, perhaps that's an unfair expectation. There is an overhanging sense of despair and melancholy in the novel, which fits in well and gives an interesting atmosphere to the book; unfortunately, though, the atmosphere is never utilized to its full potential and ends up serving only as a half-developed image of an abysmal and horrid Calcutta.

Another reviewer said that this book was missing something "Simmons" and I totally agree. Song of Kali is a very quick and easy read, and overall it's quite enjoyable. However, I was expecting something more from this award winner (and why is this book NOT a Horror winner but a Fantasy winner???). I really enjoyed the ending, or at least the way Simmons ended it, since there isn't really an ending to this book (and I like that a lot!!). Not your typical smiley face, happy, Hollywood type story, Song of Kali is a definitely gets under your skin...but I was expecting a bit more. With that said, I'm about ready to start Carrion Comfort - can't wait!

Not what I expected. Simmons is my favorite author, Hyperion my favorite series. That said, the only unsurprising thing about the Song of Kali is the quality of the work--excellent.

Other reviews have adequately highlighted the story, the 'what is', of The Song of Kali, so refer to one of them for a plot synopsis. The 'what [it] does' will be the focal point of this review.

The book evoked in me emotions utterly alien to any fiction I've read before. This is, without a doubt, a work of horror (and a ridiculously effective one at that), but it underscores the fundamental difference between the haunting and the frightening. Almost entirely the former, The Song of Kali does not scare, it does much more: it repulses. Not through horrible writing, not through ludicrous and tasteless violence, but through hideous atmosphere. Dan Simmon's Calcutta is so irrefutably sinister, so fecal, so hopeless, that you'll find yourself in agreement with Simmons' contention that Calcutta should be eradicated, that it is too malevolent to be left standing. It makes you wonder how accurate his depiction is, and you want to believe that he fabricated all of it.

For what it is (the story of a man spiraling into a maelstrom in the most ominous sense), this is one of the most compelling books I've ever read. I have to say, though, that beneath all the grime, the story is fairly standard and would have been nothing special had it not been in the capable hands of Dan Simmons.

Simmons demonstrates over the years that he can pick up almost any genre, and excel at it. However, Song of Kali represents Simmons at his best: the telling of the psychological terror that ensues as the story's main character goes in search of the elusive poet M. Das in Calcutta.

Simmons portrays a Calcutta--and the characters he encounters--that is as haunting in its squalor as it is unforgiving. Although the story-telling is refreshingly direct, Simmons still manages to captivate his audience with characters you feel forced to trust in spite of yourself.

I read this book for free from the the store Overdrive program.
This book was apparently written in the 70's or maybe early 80's and is set in Calcutta. Supposed to be horror story? but who can tell. The real horror here was the description of India's human condition. Book did not make a lot of sense to me, like why did his wife and baby go along on the trip at all, especially since his wife knew what India was like from her own childhood...but if she doesn't go, I guess you don't have a book.
Usually I love Dan Simmons work, this was his first book I didn't like.

Magnificent wordsmithing by a top young writer. Simmons' lush descriptions and vivid characterizations are up to the challenge of his strong topic. Perhaps the only mild letdown is the principal character's sporadic density---he brings his wife to her native India to assist in translation, but never actually bringing her to any functions where translation might be required. I find it hard to believe that Simmons meant only to use the presence of the wife and child to advance his theme on evil in the world towards the tail end of the tome while ignoring their existence for most of the novel, but that's what he did.
A great read, really. I read this on an airplane and had to ask myself a few questions about air rage---especially since I'd been bumped off a full flight and was getting home six hours late on my wife's birthday. There was a point where during that evening when I could relate to Simmons' naive protagonist (psssst...read the book to see what that meant).

When poet Bobby Luczak is asked to go to Calcutta in search of the poet M. Das, he ignores friends' warnings and of course, says yes. His wife and infant daughter accompany him on what is to be something less than the perfect family holiday. M. Das has been missing for eight years, but recent reports suggest that the man is still alive and that there are unpublished works to be found. Luczak begins to suspect that it may be a scam, but the truth of the matter is far more horrifying.

A haunting tale that will stick with readers long after it's finished. Highly recommended!

First off, be warned, Simmons can be extremely graphic. This is not a book for the faint of heart. He spares no expense in depicting some truly vile and horrific images. Some of the passages are extremely vivid and disturbing. I think, at times, Simmons is overly explicit in some of his descriptions, which is the only complaint I have with this book.

That being said, this is, overall an excellent book. I was hooked within the first few pages. His writing is straightforward, and strongly evocative. I have never been to Calcutta, or any place like it, yet I had no problem envisioning it Simmons has a talent for making the reader feel for and fear for his characters, something that is lacking in most books of this genre.

This is one of the most original horror books you will ever read. I recommend this book, and as I have read the entire Hyperion series, anything else written by Simmons.

A poet need not always rhyme
But a reason's essential, you'll find.
Calcutta is evil's persuasion
Demanding its manifestation.

The streets winding
The dark blinding.
Speaking of only one thing.
Can you stop yourself hearing One Thing?
This:

The dead are alive
The living-- dead
While Kali sings
Of a severed head.

Simmon's debut presents an intense character study, not of any human characters, but of the city of Calcutta itself. Indeed, with the notable exception of the narrator's wife, the character developement in this novel is often thin and weak (a problem Simmons almost overcompensates for in his follow up novels). What makes Song Of Kali so effective and terrifying are two things: the attention to detail in describing the sights, smells, oppressive heat, and claustrophobic crowding of the poorest of the poor; and his writing style itself. While the protagonist may be somewhat weak, Simmons makes what happens to him so vivid your disbelief is suspended for you. Even the most horrifying (and supposedly supernatural) events in the story give the reader an out: you don't have to accept a character's description as accurate, not taking a description at face value only hightens the tension and therein lies this novels power.

While the author's intense prose descriptions of Calcutta were horrifying enough to keep me away forever, and his story riveting enough to keep me glued for several days, he couldn't seem to figure out how to solve (and thus end) his own mystery. The last 75 pages were a huge let-down. No answers -- simply the "cult of evil" spreading throughout the world, with no understanding of the identity of the mysterious woman who kidnapped the protagonists' baby, the real motivation of the master poet, the cult, etc. etc.
A worthwhile read but an ultimate disappointment.

This was the first Dan Simmons novel I have read (I know many people urge you not to start with Kali), but I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it. I know it was touted as 'one of the most horrifying books ever written' and to be honest, while it was deeply dark and depressing, it was a bit underwhelming in the terror department. However, that did not taint the novel for me, not by a long shot.

Dan's extensive knowledge of poetry is quite impressive, while the story was so well-written and detail-oriented, I could have easily believed it to be 100% factual. Dan paints a perfect portrait of Calcutta; "the worst city in the world." His vivid (and dark) imagination perfectly conveys the violence and squalor that occupy the city. While reading the book, I almost felt like I was living in some sort of nightmare. His prose allows the reader to truly understand the horrors of the city, and to feel the evil (power) within the streets. I was extremely impressed with the social/political commentary on Calcutta culture as well. There are moments when several Calcutta intellectuals challenge Bobby's arrogant sense of western ideology, and reveal that perhaps Bengal and America are not so different. These remarks are countered with impeccable and insightful observations by Amrita.....an argument that could no doubt hold relevance even today.

The Song of Kali ends on such a dark and regretful note, I have been unable to shed the depressing undertone in which the book has cast on me (and all its readers). Dan's work is perverse, chilling, but most importantly, very real. Perhaps someday I would like to witness the horrors of Calcutta myself, but until then, this book will have to do.

I've read nearly every book written by this author. I just picked Song of Kali up to round out my Dan Simmons reading list. I was not expecting the physical sensation of not being able to take a breath, nor pull my eyes away from the lurid horror revealed in these pages. The last few chapters were a spiritual struggle for me, because Dan was so completely effective at interweaving a sense of awe and dread into my quiet evenings. I've read many books in this genre, only two or three have knocked me off my feet like this one. Song of Kali will haunt me for a long time.

The atmosphere reeks of horror throughout this story. It's bleak and a couple of little things dangle at the end, but it's also pretty powerful. Good stuff very reminiscient of another master of atmosphere, H.P. Lovecraft. The story within the story is also a nice touch. Truly horrible.

Unless a book clearly deserves a five-star rating, I usually start deciding what to rate a book and what to say in my review as I come upon the last ten pages or so of whatever I'm reading. I didn't want to give this book two stars because I so badly wanted to love it, but, almost as if it was a sign, I run into two very obvious typos within the last two pages. Pretty much, Song of Kali left me feeling extremely underwhelmed.

Two stars instead of one because I liked some minor things about this book. Of course, there's the big shock (I'm sure those who've read it know what I mean) that, although probably in poor taste (despite it being fiction), adds a depth to Simmons writing that keeps me very much wanting to read more of his books, and that is the unpredictability factor. I've read far less of Koontz than I had before because of the lack of moments where I go: "Holy crap, I can't believe that happened." As a reader, knowing that anything can happen and nothing is off limits is a huge plus.
The setting was brilliant.
Also, the city of Calcutta and its descriptions are horrific at times, but I found it almost reading like a historical fiction, probably because the lifestyle there isn't exactly modern, and also because the book is set nearly forty years ago.

Both good and bad was the horror aspect. There was a bit of genuinely creepy instances here, however, overall the book had far less than I expected, and the horror was far lighter than I anticipated.

Some things I did not like were:
-There's quite a few passages of poetry here, and while it pertains to the plot, just seems much less than important when everything happens so quick.
-Also, it takes a long time for the story to really get where it's going. I remember being halfway through and thinking "Okay, it's gotta start soon." To make matters worse, the payoff was not worth the tedious build up.
-This book won the world Fantasy Award, but the fantasy (much like the horror) is very light.

I still like Simmons, and I still can't wait to read Summer of Night, Carrion Comfort, and Prayers to Broken Stones, but Song of Kali really didn't do much for me.

The stench of Calcutta comes right off the pages in this vivid tale of an American family's visit to India. I believe this won the Bram Stoker award for best first novel. It is mesmerizing. The story of the body will stay with me a long time. Highly recommended for any horror fan.

Another horror novel of the disturbing sort. When a book publisher type discovers a heretofore unknown work by a dead author, he goes to India in search of it.

What he uncovers is a whole lot of nastiness associated with the worship of the goddess Kali, and publishing this work would make things even nastier.

Pretty much a story of unrelenting and likely unstoppable evil.

After havining seen the cover blurbs. I spent about two thirds of this book wondering what the hell I was missing. The overlong setup failed to get me invested in the main character, a self-involved poet, who comes across as rather petulant, dull and disengaged. We spend a short eternity with Luczack's literary mentor, a boring cliche of a cigar-chomping New Yorker with a heart of gold. Luczack's one saving grace is his capable, intellectually curious wife, whom he mostly talks down to and/or places in peril. (There's a ridiculous bit late in the book where he makes a big display of "I'm not leaving you again, kiddo", only to wander off again as soon as she falls asleep.) I would have been grateful for Luczack to get killed off early and the focus shifted to the wife.
In addition, while the horrified-travelogue aspect of the book is effective, we never go any deeper than Luczack's ugly-American revulsion at a society he doesn't understand. Simmons seems content to paint most residents of Calcutta as potential gangsters or murderous fanatics, and leave it at that. The story only gets interesting (far too late in the book) when the Luczack character mercifully shuts up long enough to let some of the Indians tell their own stories. The storyline involving the Kali cult is genuinely, darkly fascinating and I wish Simmons had done more than scratch the surface of it.
The emotional climax could have been wrenching if only I'd been invested in the main character, and unfortunately the novel peters out with him descending into a world of self-pity for several chapters. Some really interesting horror material here, sandwiched into an otherwise boring novel.

I had high expectations about this book, somehow driven by the good reviews.
But it didn't took long before I began turning pages thinking "maybe it's now this is gonna warm up", just to find out it didn't. And it never did.
Except for some curiosities about the indian way of life/culture and the description of Calcuta, the story doesn't have more to hook the reader. I felt disapointed at the end and felt this is a book I wouldn't spend money on if I could turn back time. Consider yourself advised.

I have never encountered a paperback book of any kind, fiction or non-fiction, that had as many punctuation and spelling errors as this one. It actually became distracting at times. That being said, the story is a decently written novel about India and how it is the worst place in the entire world. I'm looking forward to exploring more about India, partly to figure out what the hell Dan Simmons' problem was with the place. From the one page "prologue", it is clear that Simmons is virulently hateful of India.
I was told it was one of the scariest novels ever written. While it has managed to haunt my thoughts, I believe that is a result more out of wonder if India is really as evil as it is in the novel.