Before
you come to India, let us suggest you a few books
We
are presenting books in English as well as in French for those readers
who are fluent in both languages. However, references to books in French
are written in green.
Travelbooks and guidebooks:
- India,
Lonely Planet [Great
value for money - an excellent guide. You will find all the information
you need: places of interest, historical background, hotels, restaurants...]
French version entitled
Inde.
- Nepal,
Lonely Planet (January 2000) French
version entitled
Népal.
- Inde
du Nord, Inde du Sud, Népal et Tibet, Le
Guide du Routard [in
French (only?). Correct but if you are hungry for details, you will
be frustrated]
- Rajasthan
et Gujarat ; Inde du Nord, Inde du Sud, Guides Bleus, Hachette
[in French (only?).
Very complete commentaries on the various places of interest]
- Rajasthan,
Annie SORREL [in
French. Full of details about many fascinating places in Rajasthan.
Some information on hotels and restaurants avalaible too]
- Népal,
Guides Bleus Evasion,
Hachette Tourisme
Phrasebooks,
dictionaries:
- Hindi and
Urdu Phrasebook, Lonely Planet (August
1998) [Devanagari and Urdu script and Roman transliteration]
- Hindi
& Urdu, a Rough Guide phrasebook, Lexus Ltd (1997), distributed
by the Penguin Group [Romanized
form mainly]
- English
Hindi Dictionary, Collins Gem
[a small but convenient dictionary]
Methods
to learn Hindi:
- Hindi,
Teach Yourself Books, Hodder & Stoughton [a
method with cassettes to learn Hindi, Devanagari script and Roman transliteration
up to chapter 6]
- Hindi in
Three Months,
Hugo, Dorling Kindersley
[Romanized script but you can find the Devanagari version at the end
of the book]
- Teach Yourself
Hindi, Mohini RAO, Hind Pocket Books [insists
on grammar and exercises, few texts]
- Colloquial
Hindi,
The complete course for beginners, Tej K. BHATIA, Routledge London
and New York (1996) [textbook
+ cassettes]
- Le
Hindi Sans Peine, La Méthode
Assimil (1994)
Books
on India:
- Rajasthan,
India's enchanted land [seen
English and French version],
Raghubir SINGH, Thames and Hudson (1989)
[80 superb colour photographs]
- Fleuve
de couleur l'Inde de Raghubir Singh,
Phaidon Press
Limited (2000)
[River of Colour. He captured the
spirit of India. Marvellous!]
- Thar,
The Great Indian Desert, RC
SHARMA, Tiger Books International PLC (1998) [French
version: Le Thar, Le grand désert
indien, Les Editions
du Carrousel (1999)]
- Delhi •
Agra • Jaipur The Golden Triangle, Celiv (1994) [French
version:
Delhi • Agra • Jaipur Le Triangle
d'or]
- Rajasthan,
Kishore SINGH, Lustre Press Pvt. Ltd 1995 [English and French
versions available. Nice presentation of Rajasthan, its maharajas and
main places of interests]
- Hindu Mythology,
W.J. WILKINS, Rupa Paperback (sixteenth edition 1997)
- Ramayana,
C. RAJAGOPALACHARI, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Mumbai (1996)
[telling the story of Rama and Sita, how they met Hanuman...]
- Mahabharata,
C. RAJAGOPALACHARI, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Mumbai (1996)
[relating the famous battle which opposed the Pandavas to the Kauravas]
- Sacred
Symbolism of Hinduism, J. R. SANTIAGO, Book Faith India, Delhi
[a quick
review of the most recurrent sacred symbols and their explanation -
interesting]
- Meeting
God Elements of Hindu Devotion, Stephen HUYLER, Yale University
Press, New Haven and London (1999) [how
the Divine shows through everyday life - inspiring book]
- Dictionnaire
amoureux de l'Inde, Jean-Claude CARRIÈRE,
Plon (2001) [in
French (only?) an alphabetical insight at India]
- Errance
vers Calcutta, Jean-Pierre LEFEBVRE, Points de Suspension (Octobre
1997) [another photo album
with beautiful pictures of daily events from a journey starting in Mumbai
and leading to Calcutta with a halt in Varanasi]
- L'Inde
pays des maharajas,
Autour du Monde, Des Pays et des Hommes, Larousse (1996)
- Bombay,
Les Grandes Cités,
Éditions Time-Life,
Amsterdam (1979)
- Népal,
Jean RATTEL, Espaces, Éditions A. Barthélemy, Avignon
(1991) [some notes on Nepal and beautiful photographs]
- Gandhi, athlète
de la liberté, n° 50, Catherine CLÉMENT, Découvertes
Gallimard (septembre 1996)
- La sagesse
du Bouddha, n° 194, Jean BOISSELIER, Découvertes Gallimard
(octobre 1997)
- L'Inde impériale
des Grands Moghols, n° 320, Valérie BERINSTAIN, Découvertes
Gallimard (mai 1997)
Other
titles:
- The
God of Small Things, Arundhati
ROY (1997) [French
title:
Le Dieu des Petits Riens,
Éditions Gallimard (1998)]
- Plain Tales
from the Hills, Rudyard KIPLING, (1887) [French title:
Simples Contes des Collines]
- Midnight's
Children,
Salman RUSHDIE,
(1981) [French
title:
Les Enfants de Minuit]
- Haroun and
the Sea of Stories, Salman
RUSHDIE,
Granta
Books [French
title:
Haroun et la Mer des Histoires]
- Tales and
Legends from India, Ruskin BOND, Rupa Paperback (1998)
- Littératures
de l'Inde, Europe, revue littéraire
mensuelle (avril 2001) [short
stories and poems by Indian authors from various states of India translated
into French]
- L'Inde,
une vision du XXIe siècle, Revues des
Deux Mondes (septembre-octobre 2001) [articles
by mostly Indian personalities on different aspects of Indian society]
- Quinze
contes de l'Inde, Leonard CLARK & Partap
SHARMA, Castor Poche Flammarion, Junior (2000) [fifteen
tales from Indian folklore]
- Dix-sept
contes du bouddhisme, Thalie de MOLÈNES,
Castor Poche Flammarion, Junior (2000) [seventeen
tales inspired with Bouddhism]
- L'Apprenti
sorcier Au coeur de l'Inde mystérieuse, Tahir
SHAH, Editions de Fallois, Le
Livre de Poche (1998)
- La
Mort à Bombay, Paul
Mann, Le Livre de Poche, (novembre 2000)
[English title: Death in Bombay]
- La
Jungle de Goa, Paul Mann, Le Livre
de Poche (2002) [English title: The
Ganja Coast]
Paul Mann - La Mort à Bombay, novembre 2000L'
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