It is almost exactly a year since I began this bookstagram account and the very first book I reviewed was Amitav Ghosh's Sea of Poppies. It only feels fitting that I return to the series that started it all for me (in more ways that one). River of Smoke is the second book of the Ibis trilogy. It starts off where Sea of Poppies concluded, with a few characters less, and follows the stories of some of the remaining main characters from the first book, as they make their way off the Ibis to Mauritius, Canton and Hong Kong. It was interesting to see the development of the characters whose journeys continued in this book as well as the new ones who were introduced. Paulette Lambert, the runaway daughter of a French botanist, was a character who already stood out, and her onward journey alongside her European compatriots in search of the Golden Camellia places her character arc in the crossroads of European scientific exploration and imperial expansion in the nineteenth century. Bahram Mody, a Parsi merchant and his illegitimate son and former pirate Ah Fatt proved the most complexly and intriguingly written in the current instalment. The characters' biographical details mesh with the social and historical realities of the setting of the novel to present a picture of the commercial and political intrigues of the South China Sea a year before the Opium Wars would begin. With Ghosh, I often find characters playing second fiddle to plot and setting, and this is especially true of his historical novels, perhaps because of the constraints of the genre. While Sea of Poppies veered away from this tendency, which I had found immensely enjoyable, River of Smoke seems to go back to his usual modus operandi. The difficult middle novel of a trilogy notwithstanding, Ghosh convincingly maintained a level of excitement and tension as the course of his story moves towards the first signs of trouble in Hong Kong which would lead to the Opium Wars. #bookstagram #oneyearanniversary #bookreview #riverofsmoke #seaofpoppies #ibistrilogy #amitavghosh #indianenglish #indianliterature #indiannovels #bookstagramindia #bookstagrammer #historicalfiction #opiumwar #britishcolonial #history https://www.instagram.com/p/CetK7b1L3A1/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Book Review-Sea of Poppies

Book Review-Sea of Poppies

Book -Sea of Poppies

Author-Amitava Ghosh

I immensely enjoy Amitava Ghosh’s writings. Of the contemporary Indian authors who write in English , I rate him highly . And so ,I was really looking forward to reading the Sea of Poppies . This book is the first in the Ibis Trilogy .

The story is set in the 1830’s when China is on the cusp of the Opium Wars . The beautiful ,gay ,white flowers of poppy…

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Book 39 of 2018. Starting my #AllBengalBooksinApril (for Nobo Borsho/ Bengali New Year- I intend to read both books by Bengali writers and books originally written in Bengali) with the best- Amitav Ghosh! He is hands down one of my absolute favourite writers and I don't know why I haven't read #SeaofPoppies yet?! But that changes this month. My goal is to read the entire trilogy this month. And starting the month with this book is the best way to start my monthly reading. . . . #bookstagram #AmitavGhosh #readingnow #currentlyreading #currentreads #literature #literaryfiction #bibliophile #indianwriting #indianbooks #booklovers #bookish #bookishfeatures #bookphotography #bookworm #Monday #booknerdigans #bookblogger #bookblog

regram @ananyaghosh67 I had finished reading this about 2 weeks ago but I didn't know how to talk about it. I think I'm going to give it 4.9/5★, and why the 0.1, you ask? Well, I don't know. 😂 The story revolves around an assortment of characters uprooted from their lives and literally chucked on to a ship to Mauritius. It takes place in the British colonial India during the height of opium trade and indentured labour and shows the previously suppressed realities of the British trade and rule. It has racism, casteism and class conflicts and characters from different countries and social stratas, with some pirates thrown in, it's a classic masala. The book is the first part of a trilogy, and I'm so excited because this is not the end! This is a historical fiction, my favourite genre. Also, it does amazing things with the language and it ends up being so delicious and hilarious that I was in awe. I admit I wouldn't have been able to grasp all that fully had it not been for our class discussions and our professor's pointing out of the little nuances. And I believe it would be difficult for people unfamiliar with Indian languages, but it still would make for an amazing read. My favourite character was Zachary Reid and my favourite part was the exchange between Zachary, an American and Paulette, a French born in India knowing little English, and they both, in trying to find a word for "butt" end up using ship slang "poopdeck" and it's hilarious. I loved the book so much that halfway through it, I wanted to re-read it! And though the 535 pages can make it look bulky, it was steady paced for me and I loved every bit of it, unlike The Glass Palace which dipped at places. Highly recommended! #seaofpoppies #amitavghosh #literarure #booksruletheworld #Bookstagram #books #Booklove #literaturestudent #Booklover #bookgram #bookstagramindia #review #igreads #booksofinstagram #bookreview #booksmagazine #Booklove #booksmadness #chocomocha #IndianEnglishFiction #indianbookstagrammer #IndianLiteratureinEnglish #bookreviews #book #coffee #Bibliophile #bookholic #HistoricalFiction #indianbookblogger http://ift.tt/2h86bAZ

Amitav Ghosh’s 2008 novel Sea of Poppies has long been my comfort book. So it only makes sense that it will be my first book recommendation. Set partly in Colonial Bihar and Bengal, and partly in the waters of the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean, Sea of Poppies opens in 1838, on the eve of the Opium Wars. A former slave ship called the Ibis has been refurbished to transport indentured labourers from Calcutta to the sugar plantations of Mauritius; the story follows the lives of its crew and passengers as they find their way on board the Ibis. More often than not, nationalist history writing paints the history of indenture as a history of lost identities and homelands. In such broad ideological generalizations, the personal histories of individual experiences are often neglected and undermined. What I love about this novel is that it attempts to imagine the “lost” histories of these people through fiction. Fiction is obviously not a placeholder for history. Nor does a novel fill the gaps in the archives. What it does, however, is that it humanizes the names and numbers that appear in the maritime and immigration records of the colonial archive, bringing to life those who remain otherwise separated by so much time that they inhabit a very different world from our own. #bookstagram #bookrecommendations #booklover #igbooks #indianliterature #indianenglish #indianhistory #diaspora #southasianart #southasianliterature #southasianhistory #asianhistory #amitavghosh #seaofpoppies #indenturedlabourers #indenture #migration #postcolonialliterature #worldliterature #laborhistory #britishcolonial #colonialhistory #historicalfiction #colonialindia #calcutta #mauritius https://www.instagram.com/p/CP99GMMly8J/?utm_medium=tumblr

Still reading #SeaofPoppies by #AmitavGhosh and slowly ssavouring it. I love my #AllBengalBooksinApril reading theme. I read only Bengali books- ones written originally in Bangla and those written by Bengali authors. It's my little way to celebrate all things Bengali in the honour of Nobo Borsho- Bengali New Year. If you want to join in, even in reading a few Bengali books, please do. I'd love some company 🤓 And not to brag or be all Bong proud, we (Bengali) do have some pretty amazing writers to choose from! Just saying! 😁 Some of my favourites are.. Saratchandra Tagore Jhumpa Lahiri Amitav Ghosh Satyajit Ray Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni Bankim Chandra Saradindu Bannerjee See so much to choose from. If you have some other writers to recommend, please do tell. Happy Reading folks! . . . #bookblog #indianwriting #indianwriters #readingchallenge #reading #bookmark #whale #bookish #bookishfeatures #booklovers #bookstagramindia #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #igreads #moodygrams #pages #indianbooks #diversebooks #bookrecommendation #bookreview #booknerd #booknerdigans #instabook

Congratulations, #AmitavGhosh on a very well deserved #jnanpithaward His books are magic! . . . #bookish #seaofpoppies #light #bookstagram #unitedbookstagram #bookstagramindia #bookphotography #bookworm #literaturelover #literaryfiction #literature #fiction #indianwriting #indianwriters #indianliterature #historicalfiction #bibliophile #bookblog #bookblogger #indianblogger #readersofinstagram #igreads https://www.instagram.com/p/BragMXrHLRo/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=kpy537d08zmd