John Speed
John Speed began studying Indian history, art, and religion while still in high school. For more than thirty years, his explorations deepened as he became absorbed in tales of the fall of the Mogul Empire and of the rise of the rebel prince Shivaji. During his many visits to India, he has stood on crumbling battlements, crawled through lightless caves, bathed in sacred rivers, wandered through forgotten gardens, prayed at old mosques and ancient temples, joined in night-long kirtans and qwalis, cheered on ecstatic temple dancers, and laid his head at the feet of hundreds of saints both living and dead, Hindus and Muslims. Speed is a freelance political consultant and journalist who cofounded a successful on-line newspaper. He now lives with his dogs in a very small house overlooking Swami’s Beach in Cardiff-by-the-Sea, California. The Temple Dancer is his first novel.
“I do not dream anymore, nor do I sleep. My days are empty, my nights endless. My only thought is of her, this murderer. But despite what you say, she brings me life. ”
“We sleep in many tents,”
“Life is a caravan, and on this journey we sleep in many tents. Tomorrow I shall sleep in a different tent. ”
“I think we were very foolish, you and I. ”
“Things are best that way, Deoga. Forgetting, not remembering. You Farangs become encumbered with your past. The past drives you mad. It keeps you from acting sensibly. ”
“This is desire, daughter, the endless piercing that informs the universe throughout eternity,”
“You are closer to me than my breath,”
“Leave me now as one leaves a corpse...with regret, and memories, but without a second look. ”
“At my age a man discovers regret, Senhor Mouse. I pursued blood instead of beauty. My memories are all of killing. I've forgotten the rest. Sometimes I cannot sleep. ”
“The road is not certain, and the end of the journey cannot be seen. ”
“Maybe he loves her. Maybe he wishes to have her forever, maybe he wishes that she could be his bride. Even then he might lose much to be with her-his properties, his position. But next to his love for her, what meaning do they have? He would be a fool to treasure dead gold more then a live heart.”
“Here in this old palace, untouched by the winds of change, here maybe some magic happens, for a little while. But the day must come when she will walk the road across the lake, and on that day, in the sad, heartless world on the other shore, you know it cannot last she is a slave. ”
“When you dance, sister, you feel in your heart the blessing of the Goddess, her peace, her kindness. But when you are with him, then the power of the Goddess is in your heart, crashing through you. The Goddess is no thing of stone. The Goddess is breath, desire, despair. She is the green of the brushing leaf, the baby's cry, the lovers bite, the fragrance of the rose. You feel the Goddess moving through you. ”
“To worship means to feel distance. But God is not distant. ”
“Finally Lucinda grew used to her silence, and began not only to accept it, but treasure it. She too grew quiet. For the first time she heard the music of her heart.”
“You can't trust even thieves these days.”
“It's one thing to be helpless as one tries to lace a corset or to mount an elephant, quite another to be helpless as a bandit pushes a black steel knife against the flesh of your throat while his brother comes to join him.”
“In Islam, all living things have souls. We are made pure by the fire of the lord compassion. ”
“I smell like brett riley”