Hinduism: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)
Product Details | Similar Products | Customer Reviews | Author: Kim Knott List Price: £7.99 Our Price: £5.59 You Save: £2.40 (30%) Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours  |
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 | Product Details: Paperback 160 pages Release Date: 24 February 2000 Publisher: Oxford Paperbacks ISBN: 0192853872 Rating:   Sales Rank: 10182 | | Look for similar books by subject:
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| | Customer Reviews: Like being lost in a maze without a guide (25 September 2008)I've picked this book up and put it down so many times. It takes ages to get going and once it does get going it gives you no idea about the hierarchy of ideas in terms of importance, and it doesn't spell out what the main ideas are simply enough. It goes right for the small detail without painting the bigger picture, so you can't see how it all fits together. Reading this guide is like being lost in a maze - without a guide. I'm looking for another introduction to the subject. Useful (28 October 2007)I give thanks for the day someone thought up the idea for this wonderful series of books. In beginning to study or understand a subject it is often hard to know where to start and how to get a handle on it. Nowadays the first thing I do is look to see if OUP have printed one of the Very Short Introductions and then buy it! This is another winner for me. I have spoken to Hindus of my acquaintance about what it is to be a Hindu, but it is such a personal and varied set of religious beliefs it is often difficult to find a way in to the topic. This book is a kind of life raft round which I have built all my other findings and studies. It is by no means comprehensive, but it is sensitively written, easy to understand, interesting and gives as much as a cohesive view as I'm likely to find, and that is good enough for me. A perfect introduction to Hinduism (11 November 2005)Hinduism has a special place among the world's major religions, being of great antiquity and being, until recent times, an ethnic or racial religion, like Judaism, Sikhism or Shinto. In the last century it has spread its teachings to the West and in doing so has fragmented and branched into an even more complex variety, so that, as the author of this book says, we must now talk of 'Hinduisms', in the plural. So the writing of a very short introduction that will do justice to this subject is a tall order. Kim Knott succeeds splendidly. She does not shirk problematic topics, such as the evils of the caste system or the burning of widows. In fact, she devotes a fair amount of space to the particular difficulties faced by Hindu women. Knott being a British academic, and a Quaker, this is an outsider's view, a learned, sympathetic and interested outsider's view. It is none the worse for that. Including a map, a timeline, a glossary, excellent illustrations and suggestions for further reading, it is packed with a surprising amount of information in such a small space. If you have only a passing interest in Hinduism, this book may tell you all you want to know. If you wish to pursue the study, this is the perfect introduction. A good next step would be an annotated edition of the Bhagavad Gita. - The order of discourse seems unnecessarily complex. For instance, the concept of divinity and its many embodiments in the form of Gods and Goddesses, which I would consider a fundamental element, is not explained until late in the book. - There is a gender bias. Almost throughout the book, a lot of emphasis is given to female figures, views and issues. Understandable given the writer's background, but I think a very short introduction should be more impartial. | |
