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3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
The scope of this book was a lot bigger than the brief review indicated. It spanned a little more than 100 years, from deposing King Thebaw of Burma and exiling him and his family to India, up until pretty much modern day. Sometimes the shifts in narrative gears can be a little jarring -- from extremely close-up narrative to skipping over years, passing over the deaths of some (minor) characters, looping back to recover the histories of others.
This book follows three generations of three families whose lives are intertwined with the histories of Burma, India and Malaya, three countries about which I know very little, so this was particularly interesting on that level alone. It's about political upheavals, military coups, wars, racism and prejudice, and about the lives and loves of the members of three families - and most particularly it's about colonialism and the impact it has on countries. It's a wonderful, exotic, atmospheric read and I would highly recommend it.
adventurous
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A fantastic book. Rich and multi-layered characters who are easy to empathize with. Fascinating settings in a part of the world I know little about. Informative details about historical events I knew little about. And an eye opener on the horrors of colonialism. My favorite character was Dolly -- I loved how she grew and developed over the period of the story. I also really liked Alison and Dinu -- especially together. And I did like how the author explained more about Dinu at the end. The character I liked the least was Arjun. But I love what the author did with him at the end... such an unexpected and yet somewhat "just" fate for him. I was disappointed about how Manju's tragedy was dealt with -- it didn't feel authentic to me. And I would have liked hoping for a little more depth to Ilongo's character. What I liked the most was the way the families were tied together. It would have been nice to see Alison bear Dinu's child so that Saya John could have a great-grandchild descendant of 'both' his families. I will definately seek out more of this author's work.
Very good book set during a tumultuous period in indian and burmese history.
Somehow this book failed to hold my attention..Completing it was a tedious chore. I never got into the skin of the characters - the Bhutan royal family in exiles, Dolly, Rajkumar ,their children or anyone else.
Historical fiction at its best, this multi-generational tale starts off slow but sucks you in as each deep layer is unravelled gradually and precisely. At times the details can get exhausting, when you just want to know what happens next. However the author has really put a lot of research into this and we get to learn a lot if we give it time. Really amazing female characters written by a man and a gripping family drama set through pivotal moments in Asia's history. Amazing to read how the world wars had an impact on the eastern side for a change.
loved Ghosh's first two Ibis trilogy books, and wanted to read another book of his while waiting for the third in that series to come out. Absolutely loved this ingenious work of historical fiction, published in 2000. Remarkably similar style as the Ibis books - multiple storytellers with different voices and accents & diverse cultural backgrounds, varied settings in multiple countries (and in this case, generations/time periods), evidence of intensive research on historical settings (in this case -photographic techniques of the early 20th century, types of cars available in Burma & Malaysia in that same time period, details of niches in social and political history).
I work with people from Burma, and learned so much more in this book about that nation's complex history, including the role of Indians and the impacts of WWII. The entire book - characters, settings, plot - was completely engrossing and fascinating. Sad to have it end, as I have been with all his books.
Very surprised to see some names of characters used here were repeated in the Ibis books (Neel, Ah Fatt [*not sure of spellings since I listened to the audiobook]) - anyone know why? Do other authors do this?
I work with people from Burma, and learned so much more in this book about that nation's complex history, including the role of Indians and the impacts of WWII. The entire book - characters, settings, plot - was completely engrossing and fascinating. Sad to have it end, as I have been with all his books.
Very surprised to see some names of characters used here were repeated in the Ibis books (Neel, Ah Fatt [*not sure of spellings since I listened to the audiobook]) - anyone know why? Do other authors do this?
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This was tge first time I read Amitav Ghosh and I know why he's such a celebrated author. His writing is simply beautiful. I used to be scared of him as in my brain I thought I wouldn't be able to decipher his writing. But oh how wrong I was! Now I know the value of literary fiction more. Maybe it's gonna be my favorite genre.