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3.93 AVERAGE
3.93 AVERAGE
A cogent addition to the deluge of Magic Realism books coming from India, but not particularly insightful or incisive.
You get the usual multi-generational drama telling the story of the country and it's colonization and culture, this time through the lens of the opium wars. More than most, Ghosh delights in using non-English words and colloquialisms to remind you "Hey, look, this is exotic!" But it usually comes off as overmuch.
Most of the secondary English characters are one-dimensional villains, which robs the narrative of much of its conflict since it feels so thin. The main characters are interesting enough, and it's paced well, but the plot, characters, and themes just seem to be retreading lines that have been laid down many times before.
I don't feel it added anything new to the genre, though it's competent in its execution and rigid adherence to the genre.
You get the usual multi-generational drama telling the story of the country and it's colonization and culture, this time through the lens of the opium wars. More than most, Ghosh delights in using non-English words and colloquialisms to remind you "Hey, look, this is exotic!" But it usually comes off as overmuch.
Most of the secondary English characters are one-dimensional villains, which robs the narrative of much of its conflict since it feels so thin. The main characters are interesting enough, and it's paced well, but the plot, characters, and themes just seem to be retreading lines that have been laid down many times before.
I don't feel it added anything new to the genre, though it's competent in its execution and rigid adherence to the genre.
Its an amazing book... hope everyone reads this atleast once
This book was just as good the second time - rich, full of life and with a totally captivating cliffhanger ending.
The pacing of this book is uneven, but I imagine that when the trilogy is finished, the time taken to explore each characters will be worth it.
The pacing of this book is uneven, but I imagine that when the trilogy is finished, the time taken to explore each characters will be worth it.
Although the Sudder Opium Factory was indisputably indisputably large and well-guarded, there was nothing about its exterior to suggest to an onlooker that it was among the most precious jewels in Queen Victoria's crown.
This book is a multitude of so many great characters, a complicated set of situations and a meticulously planned plot.
I loved the powerful women, the equally powerful men, whose lives change along the way and finally find themselves enroute Mareech or Mauritius.
It is a beautiful book and one of the best literary/historical fictions I have read in sometime.
While many would choose to recast their origins, inventing grand and fanciful lineages for themselves, there would always remain a few who clung steadfastly to the truth: which was that those hallowed names were the result of the stumbling tongue of a harried gomusta, and the faulty hearing of an English pilot who was a little more than half-seas over.
The book is set in the backdrop of the East India Company, the poppy war, and zamindary in India.
The only bummer was that the book ends in a cliffhanger, hence better buy the other two books in the series along with this one.
In Conclusion:
A beautiful read. Looking forward to read the next two books in the series. A great insight on early British India when the stronghold was only prominent in the North.
What was she to do? It rained hard that night and the whole house was filled with the smell of wet thatch. The grassy fragrance cleared Deeti's mind: think, she had to think, it was no use to weep and bemoan the influence of the planetS. She thought of her husband and his torpid, drowsy gaze: how was It that his eyes were so different from his mother's? Why was nis gaze so blank and hers, so sharp and cunning? The answer came to Deeti all of a sudden-of course, the difference lay in the wooden box.
This book is a multitude of so many great characters, a complicated set of situations and a meticulously planned plot.
I loved the powerful women, the equally powerful men, whose lives change along the way and finally find themselves enroute Mareech or Mauritius.
It is a beautiful book and one of the best literary/historical fictions I have read in sometime.
While many would choose to recast their origins, inventing grand and fanciful lineages for themselves, there would always remain a few who clung steadfastly to the truth: which was that those hallowed names were the result of the stumbling tongue of a harried gomusta, and the faulty hearing of an English pilot who was a little more than half-seas over.
The book is set in the backdrop of the East India Company, the poppy war, and zamindary in India.
The only bummer was that the book ends in a cliffhanger, hence better buy the other two books in the series along with this one.
In Conclusion:
A beautiful read. Looking forward to read the next two books in the series. A great insight on early British India when the stronghold was only prominent in the North.
What was she to do? It rained hard that night and the whole house was filled with the smell of wet thatch. The grassy fragrance cleared Deeti's mind: think, she had to think, it was no use to weep and bemoan the influence of the planetS. She thought of her husband and his torpid, drowsy gaze: how was It that his eyes were so different from his mother's? Why was nis gaze so blank and hers, so sharp and cunning? The answer came to Deeti all of a sudden-of course, the difference lay in the wooden box.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
"she looked at her seed as if she had never seen one before, and suddenly she knew that it was not the planet above that governed her life: It was this miniscule orb - at once bountiful and all devouring, merciful and destructive, sustaining and vengeful. This was her Shani, her Saturn." - Deeti reflecting on the poppy seed and its implications
"Opium is what has made the industrial age possible; without it the streets of London would be thronged with coughing, sleepless incontinent multitudes. .. Is it not apposite to ask if the Manchu tyrant to deprive his subjects of the advantages of progress?" - Mr. Burnham extolling the virtues of the Opium trade
As a fan of James Clavell's Asian saga, Amitav Ghosh's Ibis trilogy which deals with the poppy trade in 19th Century India and the transport of economic migrants to Mauritius seemed like a natural fit. The sweeping nature of the novel which relates the experiences of both European and Asian protagonists of different backgrounds instantly draws you in and keeps you firmly engrossed. The author seamlessly blends the various languages and dialects in a way that is reminiscent of Rushdie while at the same time being comprehensible to an average reader. The use of different voices for the characters which reflects their backgrounds and past experiences makes the novel feel particularly authentic
At the same time the novel deals with a critical period in history which is often neglected and continues to influence us today. The introduction of mono culture by the colonists and the propagation of "Economically useful plants" of which the repercussions were ecological devastation and creation of a sub group of economic migrants who went far afield to escape poverty resonates with the experience of South Asian experiences even today.
"Opium is what has made the industrial age possible; without it the streets of London would be thronged with coughing, sleepless incontinent multitudes. .. Is it not apposite to ask if the Manchu tyrant to deprive his subjects of the advantages of progress?" - Mr. Burnham extolling the virtues of the Opium trade
As a fan of James Clavell's Asian saga, Amitav Ghosh's Ibis trilogy which deals with the poppy trade in 19th Century India and the transport of economic migrants to Mauritius seemed like a natural fit. The sweeping nature of the novel which relates the experiences of both European and Asian protagonists of different backgrounds instantly draws you in and keeps you firmly engrossed. The author seamlessly blends the various languages and dialects in a way that is reminiscent of Rushdie while at the same time being comprehensible to an average reader. The use of different voices for the characters which reflects their backgrounds and past experiences makes the novel feel particularly authentic
At the same time the novel deals with a critical period in history which is often neglected and continues to influence us today. The introduction of mono culture by the colonists and the propagation of "Economically useful plants" of which the repercussions were ecological devastation and creation of a sub group of economic migrants who went far afield to escape poverty resonates with the experience of South Asian experiences even today.
I got 165 pages into this book. It was for a university module and I can honestly say this is one book that just wasn't for me. I dislike books which have dual narratives and narrators which aren't properly introduced or blend in with one another. The writing besides that was good but it just wasn't for me sadly.
Very difficult read. Language that appears to be a mix of Hindi and Old English is incredibly difficult to follow.
Storyline slow. Still planning to trudge on to book two of this trilogy.
Storyline slow. Still planning to trudge on to book two of this trilogy.
“From now on and forever afterwards, we will all be ship-siblings to each other. There’ll be no differences between us. The answer was so daring, so ingenious, as fairly to rob the women of their breath. Not in a lifetime of thinking, Deeti knew, would she have stumbled upon an answer so complete, so satisfactory and so thrilling in its possibilities.” In Sea of Poppies, kismet brings seemingly disparate group of characters in late 19th century India to the decks of the Ibis, once a slave ship, but now enlisted to transport indentured labor from Calcutta to Mauritius. The visible chains in the ship’s hold have been physically removed, but the figurative chains remain. The journey is both physical and mental, as our main characters transform themselves, casting off old identities and the confines of race, caste, religion and even gender and adopting new ones. It took me almost half the book to get into it. Each character speaks in their own English vernacular, which certainly adds both color and character, but is occasionally difficult to follow. I found it a relief when characters spoke in Bengali which is translated in to plain English. After the first 200 pages or so, reading became smooth sailing, but I wondered how Ghosh was going to wrap it all up in the following 250 pages. I didn’t realize the book was the first in a trilogy. I will read on. I want to see the complete metamorphosis