Scan barcode
A review by savaging
River of Smoke by Amitav Ghosh
3.0
Despite this book's problems, I feel like everyone should read it before talking about a drug crisis or imperialism or the meaning of Free Trade. We're haunted by the cruelty of racist imperialism, but we remain ignorant of our history and misdiagnose our disease.
But this book was a slow slog after Sea of Poppies. It is largely composed of meetings between businessmen. It doesn't pass the Bechdel Test (though I'm slightly more forgiving of that since it mostly takes place in Canton's foreign enclave, where women weren't allowed).
Maybe this book only exists to set things up for the final book in the trilogy. I just wish it wasn't so long. Long sections describing buildings or reminiscing on seeing Napoleon once. (Ew, Napoleon.)
But this book was a slow slog after Sea of Poppies. It is largely composed of meetings between businessmen. It doesn't pass the Bechdel Test (though I'm slightly more forgiving of that since it mostly takes place in Canton's foreign enclave, where women weren't allowed).
Maybe this book only exists to set things up for the final book in the trilogy. I just wish it wasn't so long. Long sections describing buildings or reminiscing on seeing Napoleon once. (Ew, Napoleon.)