Amitav Ghosh — #100FavouriteAuthors
I’ve only read the Ibis Trilogy
I’m back after a rest day!
As I’d mentioned earlier, it’s not necessary that I will speak about an author every day. Today, I will talk about Amitav Ghosh, the author behind the Ibis Trilogy.
The Ibis Trilogy is a fascinating series of books.
It comprises of Sea of Poppies, River of Smoke and Flood of Fire. Combining non-fiction elements (the story is basically a retelling of the opium trade between India and China in the early half of the 19th century) with a bit of fantasy and a whole lot of fiction, Amitav Ghosh weaves one of the best Indian tales I’ve read in recent times.
The trilogy gets its name from the eponymous ship, Ibis.
The Ibis is almost a living, breathing character of its own. It sees everything, like an observer at sea – it is initially headed for Mauritius, loaded with slaves, but there’s a storm, a mutiny, and hordes of people of various cultures and accents hop aboard. While some passengers eventually make it to Mauritius, others get caught up in events that lead up to the Opium War.
What Amitav brings out so beautifully is the diversity in India.
Even during the early 19th century, there were Bengalis, Parsis, Biharis et al. coexisting. We also have the British, Cornish, and even Cantonese. This delightful story also introduces us to pidgin language – variants of the English language, so everyone aboard the Ibis could communicate with each other.
I won’t say anything more – go read all three books. You can thank me later. That’s all for favourite author #21.
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Neil Gaiman | Agatha Christie | Jeffrey Archer | Sidney Sheldon | Enid Blyton | Ruskin Bond | Roald Dahl | Stieg Larsson | RK Narayan | Mario Puzo | J.R.R. Tolkien | Isaac Asimov | Alan Moore | Bram Stoker | Mary Shelley | Dan Brown | Edgar Allan Poe | Sir Arthur Conan Doyle | Robin Cook | Michael Crichton | Amitav Ghosh
