Reviews!

This is a long overdue review entry.

First, The Glass Palace by Amitav Ghosh

This book is a rare find.
You probably know, if you're reading this, that I love books by Asian authors. In particular, Indian authors. Once in a while you find brilliant books by Non-Asian authors about Asia, or set in an Asia. The latter can be wildly exciting, to see a scenario that i am all too familiar with,through the eyes of a foreigner. When I read Shantaram, for example, his views about Bombay and all its intricacies are so new to me, that its almost titillating.

But it is rare that you find a novel by an Indian author, which is not set in India. I did not have high expectations of this book, to be frank. I had read The Hungry Tides, by the same author, and did not think that a writer who was so used to and so good at describing the Indian subcontinent, would be able to apply himself to a completely different background. I did no research about the book, although I had heard about it before from someone. I was not particularly thrilled about starting to read this book. The only reason I even picked it up was because my father told me to.

I was richly rewarded.

This book starts off in pre-WWII Mandalay. The land is ruled by King Thebaw and Queen Supayalat. The characters in the book are surrounded by rich, lavish landscapes. The poverty and hypocrisy in the land only serves to increase the charisma and charm of this land. Ghosh wrote the book in such a way that you know you should feel some sort of hatred towards the way the country is run, yet in contrast to the way it will come to be run, you wish it just stayed this way. The old charm, you could call it.

It moves on to Ratnagiri, in India, due to the circumstances in the book that I do not wish to reveal. Ratnagiri is equally lustrous, though more through the characterisation than the landscapes. Each character is richly moulded, and exudes a sense of loneliness that i could identify with, but only enough to understand. Not to the extent of empathy. By intentionally leaving out desriptions of relationships between characters, especially ones whose lives are monotonous, Ghosh is able to provoke emotion in the reader towards the few relationships in the book that are focused on. These relationships then become integral, and the reader feels an affinity towards the characters involved in them.

From Ratnagiri, the book moves on to more familiar locations like Malaya and Singapore. From this point on, the richness of culture, and of family ties and relationships that Ghosh has built uptil this point become a sort of backing for everything that is going to come. It is this familiarity that accompanies the reader through all the journeys that are to come. This bond that has already been formed with the characters and their families will form the basis for every tear, every smile, every sigh- every emotion evoked in the reader.

All in all, a brilliant book. The plot, which is naturally of primary importance, is well researched, and well written. It may prove difficult to read at times, but the plot is far too interesting for you to put it down.

Amitav Ghosh did not fail me.

Next: The Calcutta Chromosome- described by my father as "bizarre" and "surreal" and "very unlike Ghosh's other books." I'll just have to read it for myself.

More of my favourite books, which I don't have time to recommend because I have to go out and deposit things at the laundry and run other errands of similar nature:

The Wind-up Bird Chronicles- Haruki Murakami
Norwegian Wood- Haruki Murakami
Shantaram- Gregory David Roberts
Life of Pi- Yann Martel
The Hungry Tides- Amitav Ghosh
The Joy Luck Club- Amy Tan [a little melodramatic. but a good read nonetheless.]
A Fine Balance- Rohinton Mistry
Family Matters- Rohinton Mistry
God of Small Things- Arundhati Roy

Have fun reading these!
I plan on doing a film review, as soon as i get the time to.

Cheers!