≡ [PDF] Gratis The Glass Palace A Novel Amitav Ghosh 9780375501487 Books

The Glass Palace A Novel Amitav Ghosh 9780375501487 Books

Download As PDF : The Glass Palace A Novel Amitav Ghosh 9780375501487 Books

The Glass Palace A Novel Amitav Ghosh 9780375501487 Books

The brilliant Indian author Amitav Ghosh is one of India's greatest gifts to readers the world over. His deeply affecting historical novels relate the history of South Asia in fascinating detail, reflecting years of intensive research, both on-site and archival. Anchored securely in time and place, Ghosh's characters virtually leap off the page. They're hard to forget.

The Glass Palace is a case in point. The novel sprawls across more than a century of Burma's history, from the British invasion of northern Burma in 1885 until 1999. The story opens in the Mandalay neighborhood surrounding the residence and seat of government of Burma's last king, Thebaw Min. In the palatial surroundings of his palace, Thebaw awaits the arrival of British troops who have moved up from the south to incorporate the kingdom as a whole in their empire. With little ceremony, he, his ruthless queen, and their daughters are hustled down the Irawaddy to Rangoon. Then they are bundled onto a ship and sent to a small town on India's west coast. There, Thebaw lived out his days in exile.

The central characters are Rajkumar Raha and Dolly, a handmaid to the Second Princess. She is ten years old as the novel opens. Dolly is "a timid, undemonstrative child with enormous eyes and a dancer's pliable body and supple limbs." Rajkumar, who is just one year older, is a poverty-stricken orphan stranded in Mandalay by the captain of the ship he had crewed. When the two are briefly thrown together in the chaos surrounding the British invasion, Rajkumar instantly falls in love with Dolly. He remains smitten for many years until they meet again near the residence of the exiled king in India.

Though the focus in The Glass Palace is the history of Burma, the conflict at the core of the tale is the three-way tension between the Burmese, the British, and the Indian businessmen such as Rajkumar became as an adult. It's essential to the story to note that two-thirds of the troops in the British invasion force were Indian as well, a great many of them Sikhs from the Punjab. The story leaps from 1885 to 1905 to 1914 to 1941 to the 1960s, 70s, 80s, and 90s, through four generations of the descendants of Rajkumar, Dolly, and their close friends. The key chapters devoted to the Second World War in Burma and Malaya are especially affecting. If, like me, you had no prior knowledge of Burma's history, you're sure to get a vivid picture of the events that most deeply shaped its evolution before the 21st century.

In addition to the Burmese King and Queen, there are several other historical figures that enter into this story: Mahatma Gandhi; Subhas Chandra Bose, the right-wing extremist who led the Indian National Army against the British in the Second World War; General Aung San, Burma's independence leader, who was assassinated before taking office as president; and Aung San's daughter, Aung San Suu Kyi, who now serves as the country's preeminent elected leader.


Tags : The Glass Palace: A Novel [Amitav Ghosh] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Brilliant and impassioned, <b>The Glass Palace</b> is a masterly novel by Amitav Ghosh, the gifted novelist Peter Matthiessen has called an exceptional writer. This superb story of love and war begins with the shattering of the kingdom of Burma and the igniting of a great and passionate love,Amitav Ghosh,The Glass Palace: A Novel,Random House,0375501487,General,Burma,Burma;History;Fiction.,Domestic fiction,Domestic fiction.,English Mystery & Suspense Fiction,Fiction,Fiction - Historical,Fiction General,Historical - General,History,Mandalay (Burma),Mandalay (Burma);Fiction.,Historical fiction

The Glass Palace A Novel Amitav Ghosh 9780375501487 Books Reviews

This book covers several generations of several families and tells the story of Burma (Myanmar) from the days of the royalty to the British invasion and the exile of the royal family in India to the participation in WWII and forward into the 21 century. Along the way, the author exposes the reader to Burmese cultural values and everyday conditions. The ending part seemed rushed, bringing the characters up to current times. There's enough material for three or four books -- and they would all be interesting. I loved learning about that part of the world Burma, India, Malaysia, Singapore. It was a 'trip' I won't forget!
This is a sweeping story of Burma from about the turn of the century when the British Empire defeated the Burmese King Thebaw's forces and annexed the country to its eastern empire. The king, his wife and children, along with a few female retainers, was exiled to Ratnagiri, India, and its between the two countries that this story plays out.

The story is told through Rajkumar, a poor boy who creates an empire in the Burmese teak forest, sho befriends Dolly, one of the Queen's retainers. Years later, he searches Dolly out to marry her. It is his family, and the close friendship Rajkumar has with his mentor Sara John and his family that are the common thread through this epic on the place and times as this tale marches forward to another century mark.

The story begins very slowly but it fascinating because of the richness of the history and the descriptions of a country few of us have visited or know much about. But as children grow into adulthood and face a changing world, the story quickens pace. We see the winds of change come through the violence of World War II, the political tides that are turning again colonial oversight and the battle for independence. It is a good story.

But .... you never really get to know the characters well, a bit too sketchy, and at times they seem to disappear. Why does Uma do the things she does, what happens in her later years? What is the motivating factor in Matthew's life?

And I was completely at sea when I read the ending. It was abrupt considering how slowly the author had moved through the beginning of the book to set the time, the people and the place.
The brilliant Indian author Amitav Ghosh is one of India's greatest gifts to readers the world over. His deeply affecting historical novels relate the history of South Asia in fascinating detail, reflecting years of intensive research, both on-site and archival. Anchored securely in time and place, Ghosh's characters virtually leap off the page. They're hard to forget.

The Glass Palace is a case in point. The novel sprawls across more than a century of Burma's history, from the British invasion of northern Burma in 1885 until 1999. The story opens in the Mandalay neighborhood surrounding the residence and seat of government of Burma's last king, Thebaw Min. In the palatial surroundings of his palace, Thebaw awaits the arrival of British troops who have moved up from the south to incorporate the kingdom as a whole in their empire. With little ceremony, he, his ruthless queen, and their daughters are hustled down the Irawaddy to Rangoon. Then they are bundled onto a ship and sent to a small town on India's west coast. There, Thebaw lived out his days in exile.

The central characters are Rajkumar Raha and Dolly, a handmaid to the Second Princess. She is ten years old as the novel opens. Dolly is "a timid, undemonstrative child with enormous eyes and a dancer's pliable body and supple limbs." Rajkumar, who is just one year older, is a poverty-stricken orphan stranded in Mandalay by the captain of the ship he had crewed. When the two are briefly thrown together in the chaos surrounding the British invasion, Rajkumar instantly falls in love with Dolly. He remains smitten for many years until they meet again near the residence of the exiled king in India.

Though the focus in The Glass Palace is the history of Burma, the conflict at the core of the tale is the three-way tension between the Burmese, the British, and the Indian businessmen such as Rajkumar became as an adult. It's essential to the story to note that two-thirds of the troops in the British invasion force were Indian as well, a great many of them Sikhs from the Punjab. The story leaps from 1885 to 1905 to 1914 to 1941 to the 1960s, 70s, 80s, and 90s, through four generations of the descendants of Rajkumar, Dolly, and their close friends. The key chapters devoted to the Second World War in Burma and Malaya are especially affecting. If, like me, you had no prior knowledge of Burma's history, you're sure to get a vivid picture of the events that most deeply shaped its evolution before the 21st century.

In addition to the Burmese King and Queen, there are several other historical figures that enter into this story Mahatma Gandhi; Subhas Chandra Bose, the right-wing extremist who led the Indian National Army against the British in the Second World War; General Aung San, Burma's independence leader, who was assassinated before taking office as president; and Aung San's daughter, Aung San Suu Kyi, who now serves as the country's preeminent elected leader.