Tal Streeter
Auteur de Art of the Japanese Kite
Œuvres de Tal Streeter
Philosopher's Kite: Essays and Stories 1 exemplaire
Feather on the Wind, The Art of Japanese Kites 1 exemplaire
from the place at the far end of the sky 1 exemplaire
From the Place at the Far End of the Sky 1 exemplaire
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Membres
Critiques
Statistiques
- Œuvres
- 9
- Membres
- 73
- Popularité
- #240,526
- Évaluation
- 3.8
- Critiques
- 3
- ISBN
- 6
- Langues
- 1
The Indian kite experience is different from that of the West, or even from Japan, in two respects. Firstly that there is very little variation in the design of Indian kites and consequently this is a journey of discovery of people, rather than of both people and kites. Secondly, Indian enthusiasts and kite makers make it clear that kite flying is synonymous with kite fighting. Kites are made and flown simply to fight - using glass covered string manoeuvred so as to cut the opponents kite line. Flying a kite is not a deliciously idle activity or an aesthetic delight, it is a invitation to battle. Indian kites are manufactured in their millions, and it is nothing for an individual to purchase - and lose - up to fifty kites a day during the brief flying season. As Streeter observes, this puts pressure on manufacturers - usually family affairs - to put priority on keeping costs down and the rate of production as high as possible, both factors inimical to design and quality. You get the sense that Streeter is longing to meet someone who would express their joy at simply holding a kite string or looking at a beautiful kite hanging in the sky. But the Indian kite flyer, and the Indian kite is unrelentingly competitive.
Streeter's experience of the aesthetics and enthusiasm that the Japanese brought to kite making and flying was both an insight into Japanese culture and a mirror held up to that of the West. It was a story about the value of play, and of mad enthusiasm and taking a childish joy in life. But there is a sense that Streeter's Indian kite experience involved a certain disconnect. He has the instinct and sensitivity to connect with the kite makers, but he seems to struggle to enter into the spirit of the world of Indian kite flying - a world of competition, of winners and losers.
It is a telling thing that Streeter never appears to - or appears to wish to - learn and practice kite-fighting, If he had done so this might have been a book called 'The Art of Indian Kite Fighting' and it would have been a very different book. But I have no idea how, nor indeed do I think Streeter could see, where in this competitiveness there was a beautiful truth or revelation. Perhaps it lies somewhere in the contrast between the limits to ambition and the obligations to tradition and the struggle simply to survive that exists at ground level, and the chance - with a kite - to step outside those constraints for a while. But we never quite see that, and India doesn't lend itself to analysis or simple truths. Streeter opens his book with a quote about India, "In this huge country little or nothing is everywhere true." In the end I believe Streeter acknowledges that this isn't a book about a journey into the soul, but a journey through a place, hence the choice of title of the book. Perhaps the lesson is that India can ultimately only be experienced. To try too hard to understand it is to miss the experience.
Streeter has shared his journey through India and written honestly about it with a great deal of affection for the people he has sought out, and those that fate has brought his way. If in doing so he comes down a notch from his 'exalted status' as the author of the greatest book ever written about kites, he gains in our estimation as someone whose enthusiasm is undiminished by adversity (and fame). Streeter is driven to find and tell the stories of other cultures and kites, even if it is apparent that he doesn't completely understand what is going on. But I think the reader is rewarded, because sometimes the telling of an honest story is more important than a arriving at a neat conclusion. I recommended this book as an insight into an aspect of Indian culture, and - of course - highly recommend it to the kite fraternity. If you are coming to Streeter for the first time, however, there is no better place to start than his earlier work, 'The Art of the Japanese Kite'.… (plus d'informations)