Friday 14 November 2008

My Thoughts: Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh


Boy this book has taken me so long to read, a week and a half may not sound so long to some people but thats more than double the time I normally take.

An Indian housewife steps down to the Ganga to wash and sees a vision of a ship, she goes inside and immediately draws what she has seen. What is so shocking about the vision is that the woman has never seen even a drawing of a ship before, yet before long her life has dramatically changed and the ship, the Ibis has become an important element of her life.

This book is littered with characters from far reaching areas of life - a mixed race American, a young girl born and raised outside of the traditions of the British or Indian culture, a fallen raja, and an Indian widow on the run after marrying below her caste. Each has an individual story, a reason to end up onboard the Ibis.

These characters where all gripping and I will be looking out for the next instalment of the triology to see what becomes of them.

Having read and loved The Glass Palace I was disappointed with this book, I did find it was overly long, and although I loved all of the characters, the vast array of plot lines and the ranges of langauges, religious and cultural traditions and beliefs created a very challenging read.


Have you read this? Id be interested to hear other peoples opinions on this book.

No comments: