Aleph Book Company The Small Wild Goose Pagoda [Hardcover] [May 18, 2014] Irwin Allan Sealy

The Small Wild Goose Pagoda Is A Natural And Social History Of 433 Square Yards Of India. On This Piece Of Land In The Foothills Of The Himalaya, The Sealy Family Have A Small Brick House With One-And-A-Half Bedrooms, Two-And-A-Half Gardens, Front, Back And Side, An Old Fiat, An Internet Link With The World, And A Terrace Roof For Walking On Under The Sky. HereSurrounded By Trees: Litchi, Rosewood, Magnolia, Silk Cotton, Jacaranda, A Reluctant Pear, A Profusely Flowering PeachAllan Sealy Looks Back On His Life As He Turns Sixty And Goes From Householder To Forest Dweller (The Two Middle Stages In The Life Of A Man - As Set Out In Indian Philosophical Tradition). Lending Depth And Texture To A Narrative Written In The Form Of An Almanack Is His Experience Of Building, After A Visit To China, A Pagoda On His Roof. As The Pagoda Takes Shape We Are Introduced To A Host Of Extraordinary Characters Who Drift In And Out Of The 433 Square Yards: Dhani, Family Retainer And Mali, Bent In Half By Age; Habilis, Master Brick-Layer And Contractor With A Roving Eye; Beauty, Part Of HabilisS Crew, Who May Or May Not Be His Lover; Victor, Stoic Assistant To Habilis. In This Remarkable Book, His First In A Decade, Award-Winning Novelist And Travel Writer, Irwin Allan Sealy, Gives Us An Evocative Account Of The Drama Of Small Town Life; At The Same Time It Is An Extraordinary Meditation On Work, Family History, Nature, Indian Society, And The Passage Of Time.