The Glass Palace

This book has widened my interest in Good story about a generation of families living under British rule pre and post WWII. Well done for a 1 volume story.

Glass Palace is perhaps my favorite book. I have never been in Burma, but Amitav has the gift to transport you to such places within a specific historic moment. The description of life and customs is fascinating. The reading is never boring. Even more, you want to read it again and again. Few novels are so full of both historic and fiction features. Just a wonderful book!!!

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.

Like his previous book, In an Antique Land, The Glass Palace is about Indians living in other countries. It starts with the British invasion of Burma in the 1880's and follows a young Indian boy, Rajkumar and his rise from poverty to wealth. Set in Malaysia, Burma and India, the first part of the book concentrates on a small set of characters over a relatively short period of time. The second half of the book moves faster, across most of the 20th century, and moves the novel from an adventure story to thoughts on imperialism, nationalism and family. I've traveled in both India and Burma, and once more, Ghosh vividly brings these countries to life. Some sections recall The Jewel in the Crown, with the important difference that this story concentrates on the views of the Indians and Burmese, with few British characters, and no named Japanese ones. The book is not without its set pieces, though, and the section on elephant teak logging is fascinating on its own. A great book, well written, hard to put down.

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.

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.