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The Glass Palace: A Novel |  | Author: Amitav Ghosh
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Category: Book
List Price: $15.00
Buy Used: $1.26
as of 9/9/2010 15:37 CDT details
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New (37) Used (71) from $1.26
Seller: abmediaservices
Rating:  85 reviews
Sales Rank: 31730
Media: Paperback
Edition: X
Pages: 512
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.1 x 5.3 x 1.1
ISBN: 0375758771
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.914
EAN: 9780375758775
ASIN: 0375758771
Publication Date: February 12, 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Set in Burma during the British invasion of 1885, this masterly novel by Amitav Ghosh tells the story of Rajkumar, a poor boy lifted on the tides of political and social chaos, who goes on to create an empire in the Burmese teak forest. When soldiers force the royal family out of the Glass Palace and into exile, Rajkumar befriends Dolly, a young woman in the court of the Burmese Queen, whose love will shape his life. He cannot forget her, and years later, as a rich man, he goes in search of her. The struggles that have made Burma, India, and Malaya the places they are today are illuminated in this wonderful novel by the writer Chitra Divakaruni calls “a master storyteller.”
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 85
A Captivating Read to Learn about the History of Parts Burma, Malay, and India July 22, 2010
Robert Brooks
The Glass Palace is the story of three generations of Indians that weaves its way through Burma, Malay, and West and East India. The plot itself has been covered in other reviews, so I will limit my comments to the story-telling and character/history development.
As the story develops you learn the history of the Burmese people, their rulers, and culutre. Amitav Ghosh, as usual, provides fascinating insights into each of the characters and what develops their perspectives. I have always found historical fiction to be one of the most enjoyable ways to learn the history of a region, and Ghosh rarely disappoints. The narrative flows smoothly throughout the book and you find yourself cheering on each of the characters as businesses rise, and fail; few of the characters are left undeveloped, leaving the reader feeling invested in each character's actions.
Amitav Ghosh's prose is descriptive and helps the reader to truly be able to picture the scene, whether past or present, in their mind. This is especially helpful when the story turns to a location that the reader has never visited or studied on their own. Further, Ghosh really helps the reader to understand the cultural developments of the time, and some of the idealogical struggles that Indian soldiers went through under the British Raj.
The only reason I gave this book four instead of five stars was my sense that Ghosh felt the length of the book and cut off the story more quickly. The last generation in the story is given much less time and development than the first two generations, and made feel as if I never became invested in them, or knew them, the way I knew the earlier generations. On its own, the final generations story probably would have been fantastic, but compared to the beginning 4/5 of the book, it felt rushed and not as polished.
Fine but flawed June 4, 2010
bookworm1858 (San Diego)
I bought and read this book for a class I took on Southeast Asian history. It begins as the British army invades Burma roughly 1885 and ends in 1996. The action primarily takes place in Burma and India with brief trips to Malaysia/Singapore.
Summary: Rajkumar is a poor orphaned Indian boy in Burma as the British invade. He sees Dolly, a servant of the Queen and vows to find and marry her. As the story continues he becomes a rich man, marries Dolly, and the plot shifts to their children.
I was engaged by the story almost immediately and found it a pretty easy read. It moves quickly and is pretty good historical fiction although if you might have problems if you are unfamiliar with the region. I was studying this in class but if I was reading it on my own I would definitely want to do more research. The reader meets many characters who represent some of the people, actions, and reactions of the region to war, colonialism, and economics. Interestingly while much of the book takes place in Burma the main focus is on Indians rather than the Burmese.
I had two problems with this book. First there is not enough time spent on each character and too many characters are introduced too rapidly meaning that sometimes the relationships were blurred in my head. Second huge amounts of time are passed over in sentence or two. 1914-1929 goes by in a blink and post-WWII receives only cursory attention while still important to the story. Although the book is already quite long (my paperback is 470 pages), I felt it could have been longer and then the story could have been fuller.
Overall: 3 1/2 out of 5 I enjoyed it and I'm recommending it to my mom but I feel there are serious flaws that detracted from the book.
 History Personalized through Family History December 5, 2009
Loves the View (Hawaii)
This pageant of history reminds me of James Michener's sagas. It traces over 100 years spanning colonialism, the end of the Burmese monarchy, two wars and the ultimate implantation of a police state in Burma through the fictional stories of people bound together by business, marriage and friendship.
There are several protagonists, each involved in and affected by the events of their respective times. Through them, Ghosh draws a picture that helps readers like me, who have little knowledge of this area's history, understand its dynamics.
The characters have various relationships with the exiled Burmese royal family, they build teak and rubber industries, become involved in independence movements, they are early users of new technology (the motor car, the camera) and debate the issues for their countries following World War II. Fittingly, the novel ties up the family stories as it ends in Rangoon with a description of Aung San Suu Kyi's speeches and her philosophy.
The author has obviously pruned issues that span these 3 countries (Burma, India and Malaysia) and serveral eras to something manageable. For this I am glad, since this was about the limit I could absorb.
I was surprised by the high level of literacy and nutrition accorded to the age of the monarchy. It stands in total contrast to Burma today, best described in Finding George Orwell in Burma
I highly recommend this book to those anyone who enjoys big epics. I hope, one day, to see this on film.
 Good history, a bit jumpy, torrid romance. November 30, 2009
R. Ross Rodgers
As historical fiction that describes the conflicting loyalties of British colonialists and their subjects in India and Southeast Asia before, during, and after WWII, this is a great and informative read. Ghosh provides us with a fascinating account of the Japanese attack on Malaya (now Malyasia), Burma, and Singapore and the varied responses of the several races of people who were caught up in that turmoil. I learned a lot about the attitudes that drove many ethnic Indians to join the Indian Independence military units that joined the Japanese in fighting Allied units, including units of Indian troops, in Malaya and Burma.
The disappointing aspects are that he jumps, usually without warning, five or ten years at a time in his story, and that he frequently resorts to torrid romantic scenes to enliven a text that doesn't really need them. As in any work of fiction you will need occasionally to suspend disbelief over improbable twists of fate, but Ghosh requires us to do so more than is acceptable by having his characters run into each other in places hundreds of miles apart in crowded cities where such encounters would be extremely unlikely. The intertwined romances and marriages of the several families that inhabit this novel defy the extremes even of TV soap opera standards.
As haunting as its setting September 10, 2009
J. A Magill (Sacramento, CA USA)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
What exactly can one say about "The Glass Palace?" Amitav Ghosh, with his lyrical prose, intricate characters, and extraordinary gift for research, never ceases to amaze. How many other writers could offer a work of such sweep -- following an extended family's triumphs and travails through 115 years of Burmese history - enwrapping the reader in each moment and personality so completely that you find yourself holding your breath?
If you consider yourself reasonably well educated and have only thought about Burma in so much as is ruled by a murderous junta with an endless appetite for superstition and poor taste in names for their country, Ghosh has a lot to tell you. As with all of his novels, this is no small part of the pleasure that comes with reading "The Glass Palace," receiving a fascinating education folded so delicately into a great story that you often fail to realize how much you are learning. Who knew that Burma was considered the most valuable province in the British Empire for much of the 20th century, worth more than all of India? I didn't. Likewise, I was as ever mesmerized by Ghosh's treatment of the complex social dynamics of colonial India.
Yet more than an education, this novel shines for its perfectly constructed characters and their wonderful, complex relationships. The love stories which thread through the story come as touching, warm, and as often as not, heart rending. At times I found myself almost weeping for their failures, even as I cheered their successes. At times, one feels an almost Tolstoy like intricacy in these characters' relationships.
For those unfamiliar with Ghosh, "The Glass Palace" is a great place to begin a journey with one of the world's great living novelists. Once you take this one step with him, you really won't want to stop, and will run to read another of his novels. Yes, he's that good.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 85
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