The Glass Palace (2000)

This book starts in Madalay and follows the exile of the Burmese royal family to India. This book goes across three generations and looks at tradition and Empire.[return][return]Enjoyable in parts, beginning was good, though later in the book lots of history was covered in paragraphs which was unfortunate......

The frustrating thing about this book was that I enjoyed it. I dislike the style, too much history, not enough character development, too much telling and not enough showing. The book strays too far away from the emotions of the characters, but there' something about the writing that kept me reading.

It's a tale that passes through multiple generations of a sprawling family. There's something discomforting about attaching yourself to a character who grows old and eventually dies. It's a reminder that I too am growing older. One day I'll be old and grey and my life will pass into history. ( )

I was sorely tempted to review this in conjunction with Ishiguro's The Buried Giant, which if I had to put it in a genre, I would call historical fiction. Yet the two books could scarcely be more different. Ishiguro gives you an idea of a period, it's hazy, impressionistic. Ghosh is very precise about historical themes. The book is sweeping - panoramic - but his focus is not on detail. If one might call World War one, for instance, a 'detail', it is noted in passing, perhaps in no more than a sentence, whilst the process of logging teak in Burma (as it was for most of the story) is told in depth over various settings and periods.

rest here: https://alittleteaalittlechat.wordpress.com/2019/12/01/the-glass-palace-by-amita... ( )

Faszinierende Familiensaga und dramatische Liebesgeschichte in einem, das ist der neue Roman von Amitav Gosh. "Der Doktor Schiwago des Fernen Osten" (INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY) fand mit seinem farbenprächtigen Epos über Liebe und Krieg in einem exotischen Land auf der ganzen Welt begeisterte Leser und war auch bei den Kritikern ein Riesenerfolg. Dieser erste große Roman über das geheimnisumwitterte Birma erzählt die Geschichte des jungen Rajkumar, der in einer Imbissbude auf dem Markt von Mandalay 1885 Zeuge des Einmarsches der britischen Truppen wird. Entsetzt beobachtet er die Plünderung des Glaspalastes und muss mit ansehen, wie die Königsfamilie ins Exil gejagt wird. Im Gefolge sieht er die Dienerin Dolly und ist von ihrer Schönheit so bezaubert, dass er ihr Gesicht nie mehr vergisst ...

A weaker book than many of his others, the settings are the most enticing elements, while I failed to connect with characters. It feels almost like a practice attempt for the Ibis trilogy - doesn't feel quite as rich in detail, despite his five years of research, nor do I find the voice of the characters quite as realistic. Here his characters seem unnaturally politically aware - their critique of the Empire, the INA or other things they come across during their migrations across South Asia, is spelled out much too clearly and obviously - rather than seeing it through their eyes and drawing your own conclusions (such as I felt you could do Deeti in Sea of Poppies) the characters are directly criticizing the political and other ills they're witnessing. Some characters (Dinu, Thibaw Min) and some parts of the book stand out though and I especially enjoyed the last ten or so chapters towards the end of the book. ( )