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3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Exceptional novel spanning some of the most turbulent times in recent history. Through the story of a young immigrant to Burma and Malaysia we learn of the effects that colonialism has on its subjects and the lasting legacy in the continent.
I bought and read this book for a class I took on Southeast Asian history. It begins as the British army invades Burma roughly 1885 and ends in 1996. The action primarily takes place in Burma and India with brief trips to Malaysia/Singapore.
Summary: Rajkumar is a poor orphaned Indian boy in Burma as the British invade. He sees Dolly, a servant of the Queen and vows to find and marry her. As the story continues he becomes a rich man, marries Dolly, and the plot shifts to their children.
I was engaged by the story almost immediately and found it a pretty easy read. It moves quickly and is pretty good historical fiction although if you might have problems if you are unfamiliar with the region. I was studying this in class but if I was reading it on my own I would definitely want to do more research. The reader meets many characters who represent some of the people, actions, and reactions of the region to war, colonialism, and economics. Interestingly while much of the book takes place in Burma the main focus is on Indians rather than the Burmese.
I had two problems with this book. First there is not enough time spent on each character and too many characters are introduced too rapidly meaning that sometimes the relationships were blurred in my head. Second huge amounts of time are passed over in sentence or two. 1914-1929 goes by in a blink and post-WWII receives only cursory attention while still important to the story. Although the book is already quite long (my paperback is 470 pages), I felt it could have been longer and then the story could have been fuller.
Overall: 3 1/2 out of 5 I enjoyed it and I'm recommending it to my mom but I feel there are serious flaws that detracted from the book.
Summary: Rajkumar is a poor orphaned Indian boy in Burma as the British invade. He sees Dolly, a servant of the Queen and vows to find and marry her. As the story continues he becomes a rich man, marries Dolly, and the plot shifts to their children.
I was engaged by the story almost immediately and found it a pretty easy read. It moves quickly and is pretty good historical fiction although if you might have problems if you are unfamiliar with the region. I was studying this in class but if I was reading it on my own I would definitely want to do more research. The reader meets many characters who represent some of the people, actions, and reactions of the region to war, colonialism, and economics. Interestingly while much of the book takes place in Burma the main focus is on Indians rather than the Burmese.
I had two problems with this book. First there is not enough time spent on each character and too many characters are introduced too rapidly meaning that sometimes the relationships were blurred in my head. Second huge amounts of time are passed over in sentence or two. 1914-1929 goes by in a blink and post-WWII receives only cursory attention while still important to the story. Although the book is already quite long (my paperback is 470 pages), I felt it could have been longer and then the story could have been fuller.
Overall: 3 1/2 out of 5 I enjoyed it and I'm recommending it to my mom but I feel there are serious flaws that detracted from the book.
dark
informative
sad
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
As I'm writing this review there is another great upheaval across the European continent. The mass migration of refugees from the East has, for better or worse, brought to the forefront of many people's minds questions about national identity and loyalty.
What makes a citizen of a country, culturally? At what point does 'improvement' turn into gentrification? Is the enemy of my enemy my friend?
Ghosh's characters in the Glass Palace are forced to navigate these questions as Britain's imperalism encroaches upon India and then Burma. We feel the long lasting effects of this conquest through a host of characters: the migrant child, the palace worker, and the royal family, the warmongering entrepreneurs, the political activists, and the ostriches with their heads in the sand. They're tied together, for the most part, as blood relations providing us eyes in the glass palace, and the social, economical, and emotional impact of a country under siege.
The scope of the novel is incredibly ambitious: from the exile of the Burmese royals in 1885 to Aung San Suu Kyi's public speeches in 1996, each great historic event is interwoven with, an oftentimes tiresome, family drama. Despite this every voice feels unique and authentic, one that especially touched me was Uma and her slow moves towards independence: first in her relationship and then for her country.
I loved the first 2-3 parts of this book: watching the helpless exile of the shielded but revered royal family, the harvest of teak forests and the manipulation of elephants (although I probably could have done without the pages of description of elephant anthrax tbh), and the breakdown of the Collector's marriage.
Parts 4,5, and 7 of the book are more focused on the various businesses that have sprung up over the generations and setting up relationships between characters. Some of the romance was nice, much of it felt unnecessary and just filler to make sure grandchildren existed in the latter parts of the book.
Ghosh also appears to be a big fan of the 'love at first sight' model of courtship.
Part 6 of the novel feels very different to those that come before and after it. One of the many grandchildren of the original characters spends his deployment thinking about how he can reasonably face his countrymen if they side with the Japanese to fight a common enemy. Ghosh, in a note at the end of my edition, talks about his father as one of the soldiers in WWII in a unit of the British-Indian army: among the indians 'loyal' to the crown and across the lines from the 'traitors' in the Indian National Army, which is maybe why Part 6 is so powerful.
The Glass palace then, is at its strongest when it explores the effects of the division of countrymen along political boundaries that were forced upon them and its this that has stuck with me after reading. The characters are considered and deliberate individuals and their every struggle feels relevant to today.
A story about empathy and long lasting implications of imperialism and well worth the read!
What makes a citizen of a country, culturally? At what point does 'improvement' turn into gentrification? Is the enemy of my enemy my friend?
Ghosh's characters in the Glass Palace are forced to navigate these questions as Britain's imperalism encroaches upon India and then Burma. We feel the long lasting effects of this conquest through a host of characters: the migrant child, the palace worker, and the royal family, the warmongering entrepreneurs, the political activists, and the ostriches with their heads in the sand. They're tied together, for the most part, as blood relations providing us eyes in the glass palace, and the social, economical, and emotional impact of a country under siege.
The scope of the novel is incredibly ambitious: from the exile of the Burmese royals in 1885 to Aung San Suu Kyi's public speeches in 1996, each great historic event is interwoven with, an oftentimes tiresome, family drama. Despite this every voice feels unique and authentic, one that especially touched me was Uma and her slow moves towards independence: first in her relationship and then for her country.
I loved the first 2-3 parts of this book: watching the helpless exile of the shielded but revered royal family, the harvest of teak forests and the manipulation of elephants (although I probably could have done without the pages of description of elephant anthrax tbh), and the breakdown of the Collector's marriage.
Parts 4,5, and 7 of the book are more focused on the various businesses that have sprung up over the generations and setting up relationships between characters. Some of the romance was nice, much of it felt unnecessary and just filler to make sure grandchildren existed in the latter parts of the book.
Ghosh also appears to be a big fan of the 'love at first sight' model of courtship.
Spoiler
Also, it felt really out of place to spend so much time with Bela, Jaya, and Dinu in the last part of the book.Part 6 of the novel feels very different to those that come before and after it. One of the many grandchildren of the original characters spends his deployment thinking about how he can reasonably face his countrymen if they side with the Japanese to fight a common enemy. Ghosh, in a note at the end of my edition, talks about his father as one of the soldiers in WWII in a unit of the British-Indian army: among the indians 'loyal' to the crown and across the lines from the 'traitors' in the Indian National Army, which is maybe why Part 6 is so powerful.
The Glass palace then, is at its strongest when it explores the effects of the division of countrymen along political boundaries that were forced upon them and its this that has stuck with me after reading. The characters are considered and deliberate individuals and their every struggle feels relevant to today.
A story about empathy and long lasting implications of imperialism and well worth the read!
I just wanted to read a book about Burma and this was perfect. I love multi-generational immigrant epics and post-colonial lit; learned a lot about the region and the ways in which the British empire pitted different colonized groups against one another.
what an epic! it went into much detail about the time period so got an understanding history and its impact on the people. however it affected the writing style which became a drag every so often.
Historical fiction, in general, is my favourite genre of books. I can read about any fictionalised event of human history. But if the book promises to tell me a fictionalised account of the colonial or pre-colonial history of the Indian subcontinent, especially the eastern part of the subcontinent, I swoon over it. The Glass Palace by Amitav Ghosh promised to tell me the tales of intertwined lives located in colonial India and Burma. Hence I started the book with immense anticipation not only because of its subject but also because of the author. I had read In an Antique Land by Amitav Ghosh and I really liked his writing style. But I was utterly let down by this book. Despite having immense potential it failed in every aspect of the literary and artistic standards. It was such a poorly written novel with an insipid plot and one-dimensional characters. The writing was not organic at all. The characters were not consistently developed, I felt like they were made to act in an erratic manner that was not at all aligned with their temperament just for the sake of advancing the narrative. The plot was also very haphazard and moved in a very mechanical manner, which was quite evident, in whichever way the author wanted it to move. The lack of organicity coupled with the excessively forced contrivance of the author made this novel such an abominable read for me.
My Rating: A disappointed 1 star, I would have liked to rate it zero star but I didn't want to be too harsh on the initial literary venture of an author that I admire, or at least I had, a lot.
My Rating: A disappointed 1 star, I would have liked to rate it zero star but I didn't want to be too harsh on the initial literary venture of an author that I admire, or at least I had, a lot.
Quote:
“In English they use a word-it comes from the Bible-evil. I used to think of it when I talked to those soldiers. What other word could you use to describe their willingness to kill for their masters, to follow any command, no matter what it entailed?”
This book is written from different points of view and also from different countries, not just Burma, as it was known then, starting in 1885 and covers a century of time. Therefore the genre of this novel is historical fiction.
-One point of view, beginning in Burma at the beginning of the British dominance, we follow the story of Rakumar, who I loved. I enjoyed reading about his hardships, childhood and how hard he worked to become successful. A very dedicated man making the most of the situation with the British Invasion.
-Another point of view is where we follow Dolly, who works in the Palace and is exiled along with the royal family to India, where they spend many many years.
-Later on, their children, and their lives and how they intertwine.
The author enjoyed explaining all about logging, which I found interesting, but the car parts, hmm, not so much, for the author was important to mention what make and model the characters were driving, but it didn’t add to the novel.
The war section was interesting, from an Asian point of view, different from what I have read in the past, which was mostly from a Europe point of view.
The parts of the novel, the family saga parts, were interesting, some historical details were very nice, and enjoyable, the romance parts were unnecessary and sometimes drawn out.
The characters traveled extensively throughout the book and you certainly felt this, with lovely details and descriptions.
The author also addresses why the locals, the Burmese, the Indians, and the Malayans are all fighting for the English despite the colonisation of their countries.
I enjoyed the military details on how they lived and interacted with others. I enjoyed the history side of the book, I didn't connect with the many characters, apart from Rajkumar as a child and young adult. He was my favourite character of the novel. Dinu was a bit of a mystery but also enjoyable.
The final chapters cover a large amount of time very quickly jumping backwards and forwards, it is very fractured and each of the family members are now separated living their separate lives, due to this finish, which I didn’t find I enjoyed, it was wrapped up too fast, but the author clearly displays a huge knowledge for the area and the history so I am giving this book 4 stars.
“In English they use a word-it comes from the Bible-evil. I used to think of it when I talked to those soldiers. What other word could you use to describe their willingness to kill for their masters, to follow any command, no matter what it entailed?”
This book is written from different points of view and also from different countries, not just Burma, as it was known then, starting in 1885 and covers a century of time. Therefore the genre of this novel is historical fiction.
-One point of view, beginning in Burma at the beginning of the British dominance, we follow the story of Rakumar, who I loved. I enjoyed reading about his hardships, childhood and how hard he worked to become successful. A very dedicated man making the most of the situation with the British Invasion.
-Another point of view is where we follow Dolly, who works in the Palace and is exiled along with the royal family to India, where they spend many many years.
-Later on, their children, and their lives and how they intertwine.
The author enjoyed explaining all about logging, which I found interesting, but the car parts, hmm, not so much, for the author was important to mention what make and model the characters were driving, but it didn’t add to the novel.
The war section was interesting, from an Asian point of view, different from what I have read in the past, which was mostly from a Europe point of view.
The parts of the novel, the family saga parts, were interesting, some historical details were very nice, and enjoyable, the romance parts were unnecessary and sometimes drawn out.
The characters traveled extensively throughout the book and you certainly felt this, with lovely details and descriptions.
The author also addresses why the locals, the Burmese, the Indians, and the Malayans are all fighting for the English despite the colonisation of their countries.
I enjoyed the military details on how they lived and interacted with others. I enjoyed the history side of the book, I didn't connect with the many characters, apart from Rajkumar as a child and young adult. He was my favourite character of the novel. Dinu was a bit of a mystery but also enjoyable.
The final chapters cover a large amount of time very quickly jumping backwards and forwards, it is very fractured and each of the family members are now separated living their separate lives, due to this finish, which I didn’t find I enjoyed, it was wrapped up too fast, but the author clearly displays a huge knowledge for the area and the history so I am giving this book 4 stars.