Sea of Poppies (Ibis Trilogy, #1)

Posted on 18 July 2018 by Amitav Ghosh

At the heart of this vibrant saga is a vast ship, the Ibis Her destiny is a tumultuous voyage across the Indian Ocean shortly before the outbreak of the Opium Wars in China In a time of colonial upheaval, fate has thrown together a diverse cast of Indians and Westerners on board, from a bankrupt raja to a widowed tribeswoman, from a mulatto American freedman to a free spirited French orphan As their old family ties are washed away, they, like their historical counterparts, come to view themselves as jahaj bhais, or ship brothers The vast sweep of this historical adventure spans the lush poppy fields of the Ganges, the rolling high seas, and the exotic backstreets of Canton. Best Read Sea of Poppies (Ibis Trilogy, #1) [ Author ] Amitav Ghosh [ Kindle ePUB or eBook ] – kino-fada.fr This rollicking adventure story about colonial India was beaten to the 2008 Booker Prize by The White Tiger, a novel that trades on its gritty realism but which is actually just as much a fantasy of Indian life as this one On the face of it, Sea of Poppies seems theenjoyable It has a huge, Dickensian cast that includes a fallen Rajah, a Chinese opium addict, a European girl gone native, a cross dressing reincarnated saint, an American freedman and a poppy farmer s widow, and its plot tak This rollicking adventure story about colonial India was beaten to the 2008 Booker Prize by The White Tiger, a novel that trades on its gritty realism but which is actually just as much a fantasy of Indian life as this one On the face of it, Sea of Poppies seems theenjoyable It has a huge, Dickensian cast that includes a fallen Rajah, a Chinese opium addict, a European girl gone native, a cross dressing reincarnated saint, an American freedman and a poppy farm...I give a high place to Ghosh among contemporary English Authors from India.A saga of a ship, the Ibis, in the Indian Ocean and beautiful depiction of local characters in typical Indian way enthralled me and it kept me engaged with its characters and story.This is a sprawling novel and its historical treatment is wonderful.I am sure, as Ghosh also acknowledges that he has toiled really hard, doing research of this certain period from the past He has masterfully woven the economic hardship and el I give a high place to Ghosh among contemporary English Authors from India.A saga of a ship, the Ibis, in the Indian Ocean and beautiful depiction of local characters in typical Indian way enthralled me and it kept me engaged with its characters and story.This is a sprawling novel and its historical treatment is wonderful.I am sure, as Ghosh also acknowledges that he has toiled...It has been said that the Ibis, a seafaring schooner, bound from Balti to Calcutta and destined to transport opium to China lay at the heart of this story and while I agree that the Ibis is central to the tale being told, the true heart of this saga and what ultimately brings together a diverse cast of characters is opium Rich in historical detail and panoramic views of land and sea this story is set in the 1830 s just on the cusp of the opium wars in China Ghosh expertly weaves together t It has been said that the Ibis, a seafaring schooner, boun...Sjajan pisac, divan ovek i prelepa knjiga Imala sam to zadovoljstvo da se dva puta sretnem s autorom, jednom na sajmu knjiga u Frankfurtu kada sam kupila prava za njegove knjige i kasnije na sajmu knjiga u Beogra...donald harington recommended this book to me and now that he s gone, i can t even talk about it with him, and that is what i was thinking the whole time i was reading this book if i hadn t had to read it for school, i would have waited until the other two books in the trilogy were published, so i could have had at them all at once, but again, school screws up my plans it s an amazingly quick read i was under the impression that i was supposed to have read it for yesterday s class so i zipped donald harington recommended this book to me and now that he s gone, i can t even talk about it with him, and that is what i was thinking the whole time i was reading this book if i hadn t had to read it for school, i would have waited until the other two books in the trilogy were ...The title of this book is so spot on While an interesting cast of characters populated the story of opium from the empoverished villages of India, to the compromised users in China, with the movers and shakers of colonialism in between, only one element dictated the outcome, and that was poppies These happy little flowers invaded every single aspect of land, sea and all things alive, even innocent animals There was not a soul, psyche or physical body devoid of its impact in the nineteenth ce T...A beautifully written historical novel about 1830 s India in the grip of the opium trade The characters are just as diverse as the British Empire itself, each with their own dialects and idiosyncracies, all brought together by the opium trade s many tentacled hands into the Ibis, on a voyage that will irrevocably changed them forever The author has obviously done a massive amount of research into the period, and this novel is so rich with details that it could veritably serve as an encyclopaed A beautifully written historical novel about 1830 s India in the grip of the opium trade The characters are just as diverse as the British Empire itself, each with their own dialects and idiosyncracies, all brought together by the opium trade s many tentacled hands into the Ibis, on a voyage that will irrevocably changed them forever The author has obviously done a massive amount of research into the period, and this novel is so rich with details that it could veritably serve as an encyclopaedia of early 19th century Indian life, both at sea and on land However, this was n...Sea of Poppies is a story of indentured laborers We see all sorts of Indians huddled together in a ship called Ibis We get to know the story primarily through its main characters Kalua and his wife Deeti On this ship, there are people of different persuasions and background Kalua and Deeti are no exception in this.Both Kalua and Deeti are running away from persecution They have secrets Kalua is a lower caste man, and Deeti a young widow Soon after her husband dies, her in laws want to d Sea of Poppies is a story of indentured laborers We see all sorts of Indians huddled together in a ship called Ibis We get to know the story primarily through its main characters Kalua and his wife Deeti On this ship, there are people of different persuasions and background Kalua and Deeti are no exception in this.Both Kalua and Deeti are running away from persecution They have secrets Kalua is a lower caste man, and Deeti a young widow Soon after her husband dies, her ...And this is how you write a historical fiction.If I had known this book was the first part of a trilogy the other books as yet unwritten and that the book was not complete unto itself, in other words, this saga is a serial rather than a series, I would probably not have bought it And then I would have missed a book interesting for its historical period the Opium Wars with China about which I knew nothing, for its finely drawn characters and general good all round storytelling This is really a 5 star book, but I am only giving it 4 st If I had known this book was the first part ...

English
18 July 2018

Amitav Ghosh