Journey Back to Peshawar, by Rona Murray, Sono Nis Press, 304 pp., paper FTER A 50-year absence from India, Victoria writer Rona Murray revisits this country of her childhood. The expe- rience is both a dream anda nightmare, as Murray finds “her North American atti- _tudes challenged by the dif- ferent way of life in India. The journey begins in Murray’s memory, as she recounts the lifestyle of her English family in the India of the British Raj, a world very different ‘from today’s. She starts with a poetic disclaimer: “It relies on Jnemories of those who grew up in a world so different from the present in terms of values, class structures, expectations, and even geographies that one can only move into it as Theseus * moved in the ‘Minotaur’s cave, - carrying Ariadne’s thread into “darkness...” ; _ This “moving in the darkness” is‘one of. the problems that plagues the book, as Murray seems to grope her way through the cobwebs.. There is plenty of | “+ good historic and anecdotal: - material: Murray discusses the ‘caste system, Ghandi's © -". Independence movement, the ‘status of Indian women, the cul- tural gulfs between the British - “ - and the ladians; but, rather than _ developing them into an overall _ structure Murray: piles image : upon image (and.creates exasper- ating misplaced modifiers). The “y tesult is a rambly collection of | ideas'and memories. This is real- ” lya’shame, because Murtay - “Makes astute observations about : North American and Indian cul- tures ! : Highlights of the baok include the opening chapters of India’ .... Then. Here Murray recounts her: “earliest impressions of being | raised exclusively by nannies in’ , -an almost Victorian environmeni. ; Her fondest memories are those _-of her Indian nanny or avah; and her first words were in: a, Hindustani: “That language was “the language of the first sights, “sounds, and smelis; it was the _ language of the feel of a white AULSING Barbara Black BOOK REVIEW sari...” On the other hand, she remembers her British nannies as being cold and rigid. Murray comments critically _ on the practice of raising chil- dren separately (and almost mili- taristically) from their parents, but buffers her own opinions with those of her mother, father and other “children of the British Raj.” She inserts this chorus of commentators throughout the book, which balances the per- spective. it helps us understand how these privileged British could live among people they neither understood nor took an interest in. As Murray draws out their value system, we see that it is entirely differerit from ours ’ with regard to education, mar- - riage, racial and sexual equality. The second half of the book, India Now, starts with Murray’s recent trip to India. She and her husband Walter arrive in “Calcutta, city of poverty and mis- ery. This chapter is vivid with detail and observation. Murray finds that amidst the squalor and suffering there is genuine happi- ness and laughter. Hardship, and a certain randomness absent from North America, is accepted with benign resignation. This is the beginning of her new respect tor India. She describes her stay in Calcutta as “stripping away layers of conditioning.” Finally, halfway through her trip, after trekking to long-forgot- ten family landmarks, Murray abandons the obsession wilh reconnecting to her childhood places and begins instead to ‘experience India more directly, more viscerally. Naturally, the most perilous and miserable adventures hold the most fascina- tion. These iinclude a hair-raising. car ride through treacherous mountain passes in Kashmir - :CAUI: Cruise with a PRINCESS June 4-11/94 (Siar Princess) 7 -nts/8 days ©: Cruise the scenic inside passage to Alaska. BONUS - Shipboard Must be booked by Feb 14/94 ‘credit of $190 per couple (outside cabin) c Apr 23 - May. 10/94 (Star Princess) Kom § yi 689 us. 47 nts/18 days © Visit these exciting ports of call: San Juan * St. Thomas - Curagao * Puerto Caldera » Costa Rica * Acapulco * Cabo San Lucas « San Francisco and Vancouver ¢ Includes air Vancouver to San Juan Prices shown are per person based on double occupancy and do not include porthir tax, ALE in tales ut lack cratism 2 where signs read: “Caution: weak 5 bridge” or "Be cautious, avoid pregnancy and widowhood.” _ Murray ends her journey only partially satisfied, but with a “tempered respect for the British in India” and a love for the Indian peaple. Two final “requests: footnote the meaning of Indian words rather than leaving them to the end in a glossary; include the maps of the two jour- neys with plotted place names with the text, rather than at the end. The Sinbuster of Smoky Burn, The Memoirs of a Student Minister on the Prairies, by Hugh W. McKervill, Whitecap Books, 178 pp., paper A somewhat less ambitious memoir, although not less enter- taining, is Hugh McKervill’s The Sinbuster of Smoky Burn. McKervill takes us back to 1950s northern Saskatchewan, where, as a fledgling student of God ,he ministered to people in the. Smoky Burn region. Except for the occasional lapse into schaolbook purple prose, the book trudges along in good humor and in old-fashioned storytelling style. McKerviil never _ did subscribe to the “unctuous” style of theology and he pokes fun at the sometimes absurd pos- turing of the church. He pre- ferred, rather, a more down-to-' earth approach to tending his flock. Under the eyes of the towns- folk, the young McKervill does his ministerial rounds in a “noisy, limp-fendered, 1929 Model A _ Ford...held together by pieces of wire and electrical tape.” The car -is a source of unending mishaps. In the end, McKervill probably learns more from the people than, the.other way around. What he finds, in this harsh land, is people who have“sou! without sancti- mony,” — which is just how | would describe this book. Postscript: For a travel memoir with beautiful writing and insightful comments on cultures read Karen Connelly's account of Thailand, Touch the Dragon. Kf ALL « PATTERNS 36” QUILTER’S PRINTS 100% COTTON Over 1,000 limited edition prints. : Shop early for best selection. Open 7 days... 980-7216 | 103-1200 Lonsdale Ave. N. Van. STRETCH VALENTINE'S DAY - ¢ INTO A WHOLE WEEKEND! _ "VALENTINES DAVIS MONDAY, BUT START EARLY ENIOY BRUNCH ON SAT¢ UKDAY OR SUNDAY HOW “ABOUT DINWER FRIOAY OR SATURDAY MIGHT? 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