Customer Reviews

The Glass Palace

5 star:		(43)
4 star:		(25)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Amitava Ghosh is an outstanding member of the new genre of writers of Indian literature in English. His niche is combining history with fiction. In his previous books he focused on India's longstanding ties with Arabia. In the Glass Palace he moves to the East: Bangladesh, Myanmar, Malaysia & Singapore. Through his story he highlights a number of important but neglected historical issues: slavery in the East - poor Indians shipped to plantations in the Far East; racism in the British Indian Army & the moral dilemma of Indian soldiers confronted with the Indian National Army fighting for India's freedom; treatment of the Burmese royalty when they came in the way of the English colonial trade in teak; and finally the enterprise of the businessmen of the Indian Diaspora. All through these events, he creates wonderful characters that we can feel and touch. The story line starts at a gentle pace but in the end is gripping, and the book is difficult to put down. It is also laced with erotica ala Indian style for the first time in his books. The only problem is the Indian publisher printed so few copies of the first edition that bookshops were out of stock before the reviews could hit the press.

I have the feeling that _The Glass Palace_ is in some ways a better history book than novel. It is nearly impossible not to admire it as an achievement-- the richness of the detail is astonishing as is the mood that the detail manages to create. We follow a family through three generations as they try to negotiate identity in both the colonial and post-colonial worlds.

Unfortunately, the structure and characterization in the novel do not live up to the quality of the historic and atmospheric detail. The book follows a fairly standard rags-to-riches story format, and in many cases the characters lack the complexity that Ghosh is able to bring to the surrounding environment. It's a disappointing lack in an otherwise stunning work.

It's worth saying as well that I found _The Glass Palace_ an incredibly *satisfying* read. I literally had a really hard time putting it down, and kept it in my purse to read on my lunch breaks and while waiting in lines. I suppose that's a fairly high recommendation in and of itself.

Writing a semi-fiction, rather, a piece of literature whose many characters and incidences are by no means fictitious, is an arduous task, but Ghosh manages to accomplish it with a rare aplomb. Technically Ghosh is superb, painting a vivid picture of the period and the different cultures (Burmese and Bengali in particular) and their evolution. He maintains a delicate balance between the evolution of the historical, 'non-fictitious', characters and events and those which are the produce of his imaginations. I can't help admiring Ghosh for his ability to create characters who seem so so real that makes me feel as if I have personal acquintance with them, and this feat he manages to achieve in all his books, The Circle of Reasons, The Shadow Lines (my eternal favourite) and also Calcutta Chromosomes. I had picked up this book with apprehension that he won't be able to live up to the promise that he has created himself through his previous works, but by the time I reached halfway I realised that my apprehensions were grossly misplaced. Each character is subtly crafted out in detail and their evolution couldn't be more natural. It's definitely a very good read.

Be prepared to learn about a part of history and an area of the world about which you know next to nothing. Ghosh has done a great deal of research to give his novel lush detail and historical accuracy, and then provides a rich family saga which delivers the fruits of his labors. More than that, he makes us think about the evils of empires, and the implications of personal decisions to serve masters other than those of our own making. He tells the story of displaced peoples, manipulated by the British not just physically, but mentally and spiritually as well. One final comment: The book is damn entertaining, and will stay with you long after you've read it. Instead of what most novels do, which is fade out after the first 100 or so pages, this book builds on itself and expands in richness as it draws closer to the present day. I highly recommend it as a work in which you can lose yourself and come away entertained as well as educated about a part of the world you may never have thought about.

The Glass Palce is a, very well written, historical novel but at the same time a very thoughtful reflection on humanity and many of it's dilemma's.

On top of this I found it intriguing that the story concentrated on a relatively unknown part of the British colonial past; Myanmar/Birma and it's relationships with India and Malaya.

Fianlly, unlike most historical novels, which originate from the former colonialists, this is written from the local perspective by a local writer.

The story itself is epical in proportion intertwining the stories of the banned King of Birma and his servants as well as the prospering of a young man in the timber trade. It spans various generations from the middle of the nineteenth century to the last years of the last century.

I have been fortunate enough to visit all three countries described in the recent months and I was fascinated by the way Gosh describes them. He has a wonderful feeling of observation and a poet's gift with words.

In particular the early part, in which Mandelay is the centre stage is done wonderfully.

The need Gosh feels to be exhaustive in all his historical facts sometimes is a bit awkward and artificial. However, the storytelling and the story line are good enough to keep the reader interested. I warmed to most of the characters and felt really part of the story.

A very good read for anybody who likes a good novel and in particular for those who are interested in this part of the world.

Amongst all of Amitav Ghosh's works (I have read shadow lines, CIrcle of Reason, Calcutta Chromosome and IN an antique land), shadow lines was definitely the best and to me remains the benchmark. Compared to Shadow lines, this book is definitely more linear in progression but straddles more generations (reminscient of Garcia Marquez?). As always Ghosh's works are a treat in terms of the added knowledge gained about distant worlds: this time, Burma. Further, Ghosh's interest in the evolution of the Indian army which I first noted in his 1997 New Yorker article manifests itself clearly here. I am not going to discuss the story (there are too many things to discuss) but it is fairly gripping and like shadow lines it is about the story of families intertwined through various circumstances - but compared to shadow lines where the story developed and then came to what i would call a gripping and disturbing end, here we have a more even progression with a more natural culmination. Nevertheless the book is a treat to read. One sore point: I noticed that Ghosh seems to repeat some words and phrases too often e.g. "presently", "such", and "as it were". Sometimes more than once in a single page.

I have been an avid reader of Indian Authors for a long time now and have now probably read at least dozens of books by various authors ranging from the phantasmagorical Salman Rushdie, the cheeky Upamanyu Chatterjee, the solemn Anita Desai and even the operatic Vikram Seth. However Amitav Ghosh's 'The Glass Palace' stands out even amongst this august company as a novel of unmatched complexity.

Based on the life and family of Rajkumar - a street urchin who finds himself penniless and orphaned in Burma - the sweeping story carries the reader across almost the entire 20th century beginning with the British Invasion of Burma in 1885 and carrying on through till sometime around 1990.

One of the central themes in the book is the role of the Indian Subcontinent as a tool of the British Empire as seen both from the eyes of Burmese residents whose country is overrun by Indian soldiers acting as 'mercenaries' of the British Raj and from the viewpoint of Indian Soldiers who later serve in the Army during World War II but find it impossible to come to terms with the duality of their existence - their ethos teach them to fight and die for country and yet they do not have a country to call their own; they are expected to lay down their lives fighting for the Empire but yet are never accorded the status of equals.

Having grown up in India we are taught (fleetingly) of the role of Indian Soldiers that battled loyally with the British - but the author presents an entirely different view point. Without judging he tries to potray how these soldiers - several of them illiterate and having to choose between a life in the Army or a life of penury - served as proxies for COlonialism and how they helped spread the very empire that holds them captive. He presents through his characters a scathing view of colonialism and tears to shreds some of the post-modern arguments that try to potray British Subjudgation of india in a positive light.

Another theme , very pertinent in light of current world events that "the place of politics.. what it ought to be.. that while misrule and tyranny must be resisted .. so too must politics itself" is one that we can all relate to. He makes a sincere effort to present the excesses of various rulers, governments wittout trying to pass judgement on any of them.

It is also very informative as a view of the role of Indians as Labourers across all of Asia - exploited by their very own, working as bonded labourers, illiterate and poor - slaves by any other means. In this light the book is almost akin to "Roots".

I found this book to be moving on so many levels- its potrayal of the complex human relationships between characters; the amazingly lifelke characters that inhabits its narrative - both dark and amazingly complicated; the everyday themes of survival, trying to get ahead, family and love and betrayal.

Thank you Amitav Ghosh for creating a true Epic.

Full of the colors, scents, and sounds of exotic Burma in the 1860's, this novel comes to life within the Glass Palace of the royal family and in the streets of Mandalay, sometimes the "home" of its ordinary citizens, in the final days before Britain's voracious, imperialist juggernaut shoots its way up the Irrawaddy River.

Giving life to the Burmese point of view, Rajkumar and Dolly, orphaned children working as servants when the novel begins, eventually become the founders of a family whose members, in succeeding generations, reflect the economic and the political realities in Burma, Malaya, and India over the 150 years from the British raj to the present day. Working as suppliers of teak, petroleum, and rubber, members of this family and of two other families with whom they have close ties, also work as soldiers supporting Britain during World Wars I and II, with the independence movement in Burma and India, and eventually as anti-communist intellectuals in the present state of Myanmar.

By having these families participate in the important historical events which occurred in this part of the world, Ghosh does a remarkable job of personalizing these events and making them memorable for readers (especially if they, like me, have little knowledge about these countries). The action, especially during the World War II invasion of Malaya by the Japanese, is vivid and very exciting, as people try to flee the shooting in Malaya but find roads closed to Burma and Siam.

The extent to which Indian and Burmese troops, fighting for Britain, accelerated the collapse of the British Empire following World War II--and led to the (sometimes temporary) independence of India, Malaysia and Burma, now Myanmar--is presented clearly and unambiguously, and the reader is jolted by the extent to which whole cultures were lost through British zeal to colonize. While this is not War and Peace, The Glass Palace is a fascinating look into the history and cultures of a region which has had little exposure in western novels. Mary Whipple

This is a well-researched novel concerning a lot of British colonial history of India, Burma, Malay. It also shows the effects of war and imperial savageries on human lives. It becomes too dramatic as we see the characters are too often bumping into each other, thus completing the circle. It appears to me that sometimes the author gets obsessed with history and gets carried away. Histroy drives this novel rather than the characters. Well that may be a problem with historical novels, but the author should make an effort to show off in an artistic and humane way. Otherwise, this is a good novel to read, particularly on Burma.

Be prepared to learn about a part of history and an area of the world about which you know next to nothing. Ghosh has done a great deal of research to give his novel lush detail and historical accuracy, and then provides a rich family saga around which he delivers the fruits of his laborious work. More than that, he makes us think about the evils of empires, and the implications of personal decisions to serve masters other than those of our own making. He tells the story of displaced peoples, manipulated by the British not just physically, but mentally and spiritually as well. One final comment: The book is damn entertaining, and will stay with you long after you've read the last page. Instead of what most novels do, which is fade out after the first 100 or so pages, this book builds on itself and expands in richness as it draws closer to the present day. I highly recommend it as a work in which you can lose yourself and come away entertained as well as highly educated about a part of the world you may never have thought about.