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River Of Smoke (2011)

by Amitav Ghosh(Favorite Author)

3.84 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

0719568986 (ISBN13: 9780719568985)

languge

English

genre

Historical Fiction

publisher

John Murray Publishers

series

Ibis Trilogy

review 1: A marvellous sequel to sea of poppies. New characters were born, new stories intertwined with those which existed already and a completely different suspense lurks in the wake of the last pages of this book. The detailing of the incidents and their fair reflection from the travelogues, edicts and books of the contemporary historians. The timeliness of events and facts has been beautifully mixed and served by Ghosh with a aromatic seasoning of his awe inspiring story telling ability. In all, this is an absolute unputdownable. cheers!
review 2: Alright, so maybe there is something to Amitav Ghosh and his writing. Long considered to be one of the foremost voices of English fiction from the subcontinent, he had nevertheless left me a bit cold on my previous two att... moreempts at his acclaimed fiction. Both The Hungry Tide and The Circle of Reason had exceptionally intriguing premises, but the execution left me unmoved. This would probably have been my last attempt at a Ghosh, and that too because of the hardcover I found lying around in my workplace library, but I’m glad I picked up the daunting tome.Be warned, this is not a quick read. Ghosh goes into the finer details of his time and place and fascinates with the extent of dedication to his research of a forgotten time. The time being talked of is 18-19th century Canton (mostly) in China, a hotbed of foreign merchants and other travelers, and a melting pot of cultures. Here the Western empires arrive to deal in their wares, and among these is the highly profitable industry of addiction epitomized by the Opium trade. The merchants and their governments have been making merry in the dubious (on the conscience) profits being earned by this industry and secure in their belief of the laws of free trade and their own immunity as the Queen’s subjects from action by the local authorities. However, that all is about to change with the Chinese Emperor deciding that he wants to once and for all put an end to the gradual disintegration of his subjects from within by the ill effects of this trade and starts to enforce restrictions on the foreign merchants. Predictably, the traders refuse to quietly go away, convinced of their moral high ground, a position which increasingly points to mere hypocrisy in their lust for profits. Among these merchants is Bahram Modi, a Parsi merchant from Bombay who stands to lose more than most from the shutdown of the business. From humble backgrounds, Bahram married lucky into a wealthy business family and made his own path at his in-laws through his entry into the Opium trade. The trade which gave him respect, fortune and a life he cherishes is now to be taken away from him and despite his moral ambiguities on the trade and its ill effects, he joins the merchants desperate to avoid the banishment of the business. It is thorough his visits to Canton for selling his Opium that he also came in touch with the boat woman, Chi Mei, who becomes his second wife and through her, his illegitimate son, Ah Fat. The story, of course, is supposed to be a part of the Ibis trilogy, the first of which was the acclaimed Sea of Poppies. I haven’t had the chance to read that yet, so I am approaching this one as a stand alone work at the moment. From what I’ve heard, the first one had a cliffhanger ending on a ship, and some of its fans were quite disappointed that the majority of the characters in that one were marginalized in this installment of the series, where the focus is mainly on the Opium trade and Bahram Modi. There are other parallel storylines with some of the erstwhile characters though. Paulette (Puggly), a young woman from the Ibis, found by a renowned botanist and asked to be his helper. Their search for the elusive Golden Camellias drives a large part of the story. Since the embargos imposed by the local authorities have made travel for most difficult into the mainland, their search is conducted instead through a childhood friend of Paulette’s, Robin Chinnery, fictional illegitimate child of a real life English painter, George Chinnery. The plot device of having letters from Robin to Puggly to take the story forward does seem at times as a convenient way of getting around the places Bahram cannot be in, and at times his various ways of affectionately addressing Puggly does grate on the nerves.Another character from Sea of Poppies, the disgraced raja, Neel also finds a role here. Having escaped with Ah Fat from the ill fated ship, in the ensuing reunion of the estranged father and son, he partakes employment as Bahram’s munshi and is privy to the turbulent happenings in the household and the trading world of Canton from close quarters. So, is it worth all the time and patience the reader has to inevitably put in to complete this lovingly researched work? The going may be slow and the historical information on everything from the fanqui zones in Canton to the botanical descriptions may get tiresome to some – but at the end of the day this is a fascinating addition to the historical fiction genre by Amitav Ghosh. Funnily enough, this is the third Opium themed book I’m reading in the recent past, and is far superior to the lethargic prose of The Opium Clerk, while just as fascinating as Narcopolis (though both are set in different times and deal with the theme differently). In fact, I may just rush to pick up my next opium themed book now – ‘Sea of Poppies’ of course! less

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