Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh
Release date: 2008 / 468 pages
Synopsis (from back cover): “At the heart of this vibrant saga is an old slave ship, the Ibis. Its destiny is a tumultuous voyage across the Indian Ocean, its purpose to fight in China’s vicious nineteenth-century Opium Wars. As for the crew, they are a motley array of sailors and stowaways, coolies and convicts.”
First line: “The vision of a tall-masted ship, at sail on the ocean, came to Deeti on an otherwise ordinary day, but she knew instantly that the apparition was a sign of destiny, for she had never seen such a vessel before, not even in a dream: how could she have, living as she did in northern Bihar, four hundred miles from the coast?”
Review: This will be a two-part review — concluding next Sunday — and I’m afraid the review will be to benefit myself as much as any interested readers. I am half-way through the novel and need to figure out exactly what I think so far.
There is a lot about this highly-heralded novel that I like. But I feel as if I should — even could — like it and appreciate it even more, but it is as if the novel is a shining beacon on a distant hill and the weather is quite foggy at times, with occasional clearings.
First, what I really enjoy: the characters, the setting, the story. The vast majority of the characters are fascinating and their individual narratives engrossing. Ghosh switches from one parallel story to another and the connections and relationships that develop between very disperate lives — from an imprisoned Raja to a tribeswoman running for her life to freed slave on the rise to a precocious French orphan (to name only a few) — are interesting and extremely well-crafted.
The snapshot of India in the early 1800′s, still colonialized but on the edge of great upheaval, is fascinating, too. The destructive power of opium saturates the narrative, and I may never look at those beautiful posies in my garden the same way again. In addition, the power of the caste system is so beautifully portrayed, and I loved learning about the beautiful and tempestuous history of this complex country.
My primary stumbling block, so far, is the occasional use of a hybrid language. This is frustrating and surprising since I usually do not struggle with colloquialisms or hybridization when reading. In the past I have been able to read “phonetically” quite effectively (with regard to say, Zora Neale Hurston) and enjoyed the challenge of Diaz’s Pulitzer-winning Oscar Wao.
Language is one of my passions, so experimentation (ala Virgina Woolf or Gertrude Stein) is always welcome. But in this case, I am struggling to understand the content of certain characters’ words, although I think I am able to interpret the tone. Ghosh includes a “Chrestomathy” at the end, but so far I have found this to be frustrating rather than helpful.
However, I am only half-way through the novel and look forward to finishing it this week. While it is a novel that I am reading by allotted pages (100 a day), and I do not read past my daily dose, the rewards outweigh the frustrations.
Has anyone else tackled this novel yet?
I’m waiting on a library copy of Sea of Poppies. I hope it is not too complex for me.
I would suggest giving it 100 pages… The characters seem hard to know initially, but background is provided soon after — thankfully! I bet there will be at least one character who grabs you right away, and then others who grow on you… I look forward to hearing what you think!!
I am reading this right now too. I am about 200 pages in. The language also threw me off a big, as did the lack of quotation marks when they are not speaking English (which I now think is a clever device). But the characters and setting also caught me up. My strategy is to not to read so much for meaning of each individual word, but just let the general sense come from context. The language is beautiful and does contribute an exotic, fantastic element to the story. Keep reading! I’d love to see your further thoughts.
Thank you, Shannon! I really was hooked today! I have about 100 pages left… I think once I became accustomed to the language and style, I stopped noticing it — at least as a distraction. I actually hadn’t noticed the missing quotation marks until I read your comment — then I couldn’t help but see this!
I’m looking forward to reading the second half of your review. This is one I want to read.
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