Kalki (novel)

infobox Book |
name = Kalki
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption = Cover of the British first edition (Heinemann)
author = Gore Vidal
illustrator =
cover_artist =
country = United States
language = English
series =
genre = Novel
publisher = Random House
release_date = 1978
english_release_date =
media_type = Print (hardcover & paperback)
pages = 255 pp
isbn = ISBN 0-394-42053-5
preceded_by =
followed_by =

"Kalki" is a 1978 novel by American author Gore Vidal. It was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1978.

Plot introduction

It deals with Teddy Ottinger, a bisexual Southern Californian aviatrix and author, who after publishing a book called "Beyond Motherhood", comes to the attention of Kalki, the leader of a Kathmandu based religious cult. The cult secretly makes its money through selling drugs and then gives it away using "lotus lotteries". Kalki claims to be God and that he is the final avatar of Vishnu, who is going to end the human race on April 3. The planet will then be rid of the wicked and a fresh, clean start will usher in a new golden age. Ottinger suspects that Kalki will create a world wide nuclear chain reaction which will annihilate every living thing and leave the planet uninhabitable.

The novel deals with many political topics such as overpopulation, birth control, and feminism.

Plot summary

James J. Kelly, a former soldier in the American military, finds out that the American and Soviet governments are about to conduct tests of a new kind of neutron bomb called the "model b" or the nC, which will kill every living thing on the planet, leaving it uninhabitable for centuries. The American generals know the cataclysmic effects of conducting these tests but they acquiesce to the tests anyway, ignoring a report provided to the National Security Council which predicts the end of the world if six or more nC's are simultaneously exploded. Mistakenly assured that the Soviets would not explode reciprocating nC's, the generals are about to unwittingly destroy the whole world.

James J. Kelly decides to save the human race through an elaborate religious hoax, declaring himself to be Kalki and announcing the end of the world. His secret plan is to kill off everyone in the world except for himself and his wife Lakshmi. These two would then be the last living human couple on the planet. They would be the Adam and Eve to a new human race, giving birth to three sons and six daughters over the next twelve years, who would then intermarry and in about two centuries, the world would be fairly well populated again.

In addition to himself and his wife, Kalki decided to bring along three more people to his new world, teachers called Perfect Masters, chosen for their knowledge and the fact that they are all sterile. These three people would teach various fields of science to the new race. Teddy Ottinger would teach engineering, Geraldine O'Connor biology and genetics, and Dr. Giles Lowell medicine. Kalki's wife Lakshmi is herself a physicist, and Kalki is a chemical engineer.

Shockingly, Kalki succeeds in carrying out his insane plan and the "entire" world dies, leaving behind only Kalki, his wife Lakshmi and the three other Perfect Masters. However, Kalki's plans go awry when Lakshmi miscarries the first baby girl and it is learnt that Lakshmi is incapable of having children with Kalki. At this point, the only other male in the group, Dr. Lowell, announces that he never had a vasectomy and is the only one now with whom Lakshmi can conceive a child. It had been his plan all along to be the one to father the new human race with Lakshmi, whom he claims to be in love with. When Dr. Lowell admits his treachery, Kalki kills him.

The story ends with the revelation that since there are now no humans left capable of starting a new human race, the human species is wiped clean off the face of the planet and man's closest cousin, the monkey, ends up inheriting the earth.

Main characters

;The five Perfect Masters
*Kalki, formerly James J. Kelly – ex-US Army chemical-warfare chemist and purported 10th reincarnation of the god Vishnu
*Lakshmi, formerly Doris Pannicker – nuclear physicist and reincarnation of Vishnu's wife
*Dr. Giles Lowell (also CIA agent Dr. R.S. Askok in disguise) – medical doctor and avatar of Ravana
*Geraldine O'Connor – biochemist and geneticist
*Theodora Hecht Ottinger (Teddy) – engineer, aviatrix and the novel's narrator

Covers from around the world

External links

* [http://64.233.183.104/search?q=cache:RRP0qPQmcJIJ:www.nytimes.com/books/98/03/01/home/vidal-kalki.html Kalki] . "The New York Times" book review, 30 March 1978.
* [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,916044,00.html Elegant Hell] . "Time" book review, 27 May 1978.