J. Mill answers “Does anyone else think Mr. Simmons...”

Gordon Grant asked this question about Song of Kali:

Does anyone else think Mr. Simmons demonstrates a streak of racism in this book? The uniformly vile description of India and all the people he encounters there in contrast to the idyllic visions of Vermont, Colorado and his lovable, New Yorker friend Abe leaves a sour, xenophobic taste in my mouth.

J. Mill No. His vision was specific to Calcutta as one of the places on earth that are "black holes in reality." He didn't talk about the rest of India. He po…moreNo. His vision was specific to Calcutta as one of the places on earth that are "black holes in reality." He didn't talk about the rest of India. He posited the entire city as a place where evil things were very close to this plane of existence, thus the plethora of bad actors. His character was caught in a web of deceit and evil. Why would you find it shocking that most of the people he came into contact with had bad intentions? His description of Calcutta is dead on the money for the 70's (and may still be today, for all I know). If you want "balance" in your fiction then what you really want to read are travelogues, not fantasy/horror. Don't look for racism in every story, because you find it in anything if you look hard enough.(less)

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