I don't buy books. And if I buy, they are invariably from the street side with a lotta haggling and all. But Pi had a gift voucher of Crossword bookstore, so we had to buy something.
I thank my stars that I bought "Sea of Poppies" by Amitav Ghosh. I am done with it and its turned out to be a great, great read. Amitav Ghosh took about 4 years to write this one and this is part of the Ibis Trilogy. Ibis is the ship in this trilogy around which a host of colorful characters revolve. Along with the rich plot, its also a telling account of how the British sucked the lifeblood out of many a Indians via the very profitable Opium trade in the early 1820s, before the 2 Opium wars with China.
Another very interesting thing, is the language used. Its a nice mixture of English and Hindusthani languages prevalent then. So I guess this Hinglish culture is nothing new :)
Recommended reading for one and all! I am already looking forward to the remaining of the 2 books, dont know when they will come out yet though considering that this one is just out this year.
Check out the website of this trilogy for more information about the characters and the fascinating language too! It's good to have a master Indian English storyteller like Amitav!
2 comments:
I am a regular at the street stalls myself when it comes to buying books. Did you like Sea of Poppies? Hmm, I found Amitav's other novel The Hungry Tide disappointing,so was thinking whether to get his latest one or not
Hey Rambler:- I LOVED it! Am eagerly looking forward to the next in the trilogy. And I have another Xword gift voucher already on me :D
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