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3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
adventurous
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Amitav Ghosh is a crisp writer, if I may say so, and that becomes quite apparent in this book, which for me was quite unputdownable - I ended up finishing it in a day! Spanning across decades, countries and generations, the novel is filled with beautiful descriptions, especially about the teak business. It is quite clear that Ghosh did his research and as a student of anthropology, I expect no less. When it comes to the characters and their arcs however, he is found to be lacking. The first couple of parts of The Glass Palace keeps churning out characters very rapidly but also doing away with them equally speedily. My grievance is especially with the female characters - once they get married their entire identity gets subsumed by their husband and kids.
Amitav Ghosh is also quite obsessed with breasts and that becomes apparent throughout. In fact almost every female character, irrespective of necessity, have had their boobs described, even a random dancer who is introduced for quite literally three pages. He has thankfully rectified this in his later works.
The character arcs themselves are quite predictable at various moments, especially the romances. Ghosh builds archetypes for characters and slots each of them into those neat boxes - Rajkumar, a good businessman (with incredible luck) and therefore has to be a bad father to at least one of his kids, Dolly, the mother figure, overwhelmed by domestic life, Uma, the chaste widow, Allison, the manic pixie girl figure who finally chooses the good artistic boy, Dinu, the artistic one, prone to tragedies, Arjun, the macho bad boy who has moral dilemmas, etc. What kept me hooked was in fact this predictability, although I hated it, because I simply wanted to know whether what I am thinking ends up being true or not. What does not become true is the amount of times homosexuality is hinted throughout the book and not one of the man holding another man tenderly ends up kissing each other.
I am curious as to why the moment of Partition is glossed over entirely, an erasure to finish off the book perhaps? Also a lot of things in the book remain unanswered - Even the time skips are bizzare, because years have passed and we are practically seeing the same people with their same idiosyncrasies.
All in all, it was an interesting read but I am glad I am done with it.
Spoiler
Yes one might argue that Queen Supayalat is portrayed as an incredibly decisive character, but she enters the book married. The shift is especially noticeable for characters like Dolly and Manju, who prior to their introduction to a potential suitor are seen as having aspirations, as people with strong opinions. With their weddings come incredible docility.Amitav Ghosh is also quite obsessed with breasts and that becomes apparent throughout. In fact almost every female character, irrespective of necessity, have had their boobs described, even a random dancer who is introduced for quite literally three pages. He has thankfully rectified this in his later works.
The character arcs themselves are quite predictable at various moments, especially the romances. Ghosh builds archetypes for characters and slots each of them into those neat boxes - Rajkumar, a good businessman (with incredible luck) and therefore has to be a bad father to at least one of his kids, Dolly, the mother figure, overwhelmed by domestic life, Uma, the chaste widow, Allison, the manic pixie girl figure who finally chooses the good artistic boy, Dinu, the artistic one, prone to tragedies, Arjun, the macho bad boy who has moral dilemmas, etc. What kept me hooked was in fact this predictability, although I hated it, because I simply wanted to know whether what I am thinking ends up being true or not. What does not become true is the amount of times homosexuality is hinted throughout the book and not one of the man holding another man tenderly ends up kissing each other.
I am curious as to why the moment of Partition is glossed over entirely, an erasure to finish off the book perhaps?
Spoiler
The rapid deaths of most of the second generation towards the end was however incredibly shocking, it was not at all well paced.Spoiler
why does Dinu randomly stop contacting his family in the middle of the war? Why does Dolly feel so much for the First Princess' child and then suddenly not at all once Rajkumar enters the scene? What about her interest in Buddhism?All in all, it was an interesting read but I am glad I am done with it.
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
An interesting look at the colonial British East. It paints a broad picture acrosss a huge span of the period. This for me is it's flaw. It moves so fast through such a time span that certainly character development, and for me the story suffers. I would have liked more development and detail.
Though it is very interesting and the story far reaching and engaging.
Worth reading.
Though it is very interesting and the story far reaching and engaging.
Worth reading.
emotional
informative
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
informative
reflective
Wow. So, a bit of a historical tour-de-force here. I don't know about anyone else, but I had not previously known much about Burma's history. I was fascinated by this description of "the golden land" where is it said no one ever went hungry and everyone, down to the fishmonger at the docks, could read and write. They keep reiterating this image of a land lost to time and colonialism, and had me googling flights to Mandalay. The story starts with the British invasion of Mandalay and the banishment of the monarchy to a remote part of India. The story mainly follows street urchin Rajkumar after he sees Dolly, part of the Queen's entourage, being marched out of the city. Rajkumar builds a vast empire based on teak exports with the help of Uncle John, but years later unmarried and still thinking about Dolly, he goes to India and convinces Dolly to marry him. The story follows the family they create and the relationship with Uncle John's family (and the family of Dolly's close friend Uma) over a period of 60 or so years. There's a constant political tension and it is so interesting to witness the different perspectives of people oppressed by the yoke of colonialism. In Indian there is a transcendent reverence for the English that mingles with a strong and casual sense of self-loathing. The Burmese manage to maintain a sense of superiority and a disdain for the oppressor. Both cultures are crushed by the cultural confusion associated with enforced service. There is so much heart-break, sadness, sickness and euphoria. You know all of the characters, and from each other's perspectives, as the voices change. You scream into the pages at them when you know they are about to mis-step and you cry when they are swept away by the waves of disaster.
A long read, but so worth it.
A long read, but so worth it.
I admired the scope of this book, which was very ambitious. I liked the big web of related characters, and the ways they came in and out of each other's lives.
The main problem for me, though, was that I felt like I barely got to know the characters, particularly the two most important ones, Rajkumar and Dolly. I learned a lot about what they did, but not how they felt. The process of them falling in love seemed glossed over, and their marriage appeared almost like a business decision. Throughout the book, I felt that their emotions were never truly shown. Perhaps this was intentional, as Rajkumar was meant to be very stoic and Dolly emotionally repressed, but I would have appreciated some small glimpses into their psyches. And this was the case with all of the other characters, too. It was almost as if they were paper cutouts of people designed to keep the historical plot moving.
The thing that irks me is that Ghosh is clearly an excellent writer. His prose is beautiful and flowing, and his descriptions are incredibly detailed and impressive. It seems like he would be more than able to do a better job of character development. This is the first book of his that I've read; I'm interested to see if this is always the case with his writing.
[Spoiler alert:]
The final third of the book was horrible scenario after horrible scenario, followed by death and more dying. I'm aware that there was a war going on and a lot of tragic things happened. There shouldn't be any sugar-coating of this, but I wasn't particularly happy with the way it was treated. Again, it felt removed and distant. This is clearly a personal preference on my part, and the author is welcome to write how he likes, but it just left me feeling a bit cold. Sad for the characters, yes, but I mostly had the feeling that I was being hit over the head with depressing events just for the sake of it. I think more character development would have helped me: 1) sympathize more with the plight of the characters, 2) better understand some of their decisions (like Manju killing herself), and 3) feel a little less manipulated.
All in all, this book left me feeling depressed and a bit let down.
The main problem for me, though, was that I felt like I barely got to know the characters, particularly the two most important ones, Rajkumar and Dolly. I learned a lot about what they did, but not how they felt. The process of them falling in love seemed glossed over, and their marriage appeared almost like a business decision. Throughout the book, I felt that their emotions were never truly shown. Perhaps this was intentional, as Rajkumar was meant to be very stoic and Dolly emotionally repressed, but I would have appreciated some small glimpses into their psyches. And this was the case with all of the other characters, too. It was almost as if they were paper cutouts of people designed to keep the historical plot moving.
The thing that irks me is that Ghosh is clearly an excellent writer. His prose is beautiful and flowing, and his descriptions are incredibly detailed and impressive. It seems like he would be more than able to do a better job of character development. This is the first book of his that I've read; I'm interested to see if this is always the case with his writing.
[Spoiler alert:]
The final third of the book was horrible scenario after horrible scenario, followed by death and more dying. I'm aware that there was a war going on and a lot of tragic things happened. There shouldn't be any sugar-coating of this, but I wasn't particularly happy with the way it was treated. Again, it felt removed and distant. This is clearly a personal preference on my part, and the author is welcome to write how he likes, but it just left me feeling a bit cold. Sad for the characters, yes, but I mostly had the feeling that I was being hit over the head with depressing events just for the sake of it. I think more character development would have helped me: 1) sympathize more with the plight of the characters, 2) better understand some of their decisions (like Manju killing herself), and 3) feel a little less manipulated.
All in all, this book left me feeling depressed and a bit let down.
slow-paced
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A