The Serpent and the Rope is much more than the description of the spiritual journey of an Indian visitor to a new land…. In his main character, Ramaswamy, the author has the East turn West in its search for one of the fulfilling mysteries of the universal quest. Rama comes to Europe to study the Albigensian heresy and to complete his doctoral thesis. During his immersion in his studies he meets and marries a beautiful French girl, Madeleine….

Ostensibly, the story is about the dissolution of the marriage between Rama and Madeleine, told with "objectivity" (Rama's word) by an "historical scientist."…

[Madeleine] senses she must offer her womanhood, raise it to the point of a religious ecstasy if she is to hold on to Rama. Yet she cannot hold him. Something in her is rooted in the earth, and Rama is the air. Inevitably they separate, without having...