Pg 400, Harper Collins
Gripping Beginning, Mundane End
The novel set in the beautiful archipelago of Sunderbans has a riveting start. Kanai, a translator by profession spots Piya, an American-Indian cetologist on a train platform. They strike a conversation and Kanai invites her to visit him in Lusibari. His aunt, Nilima, fondly called as Mashima runs a Trust in Lusibari and has invited him especially to hand him over a parcel marked for Kanai left by her late husband, Nirmal who was a radical. From the beginning you would start feeling a curiosity for that packet found after years of Nirmal's death. Those do become a central point of the novel unveiling the plight of squatters in Morichjhapi, existence of fresh water dolphins and a legend of Bon Bibi, the guardian goddess of the tide country. However, Nirmal writes them with an urgency, as a reader you might not feel an urge to read those. Piya has come to India for her research in rare species of Irrawaddy dolphins. She meets Fokir and her son Tutul when the forest guards, the typical crude 'sarkari karamcharis', throw her out of the boat, Fokir saves her life. Since this time, Fokir and Piya would develop a special bond surpassing language barriers. Piya spots some of the rarest pair of dolphins and Fokir's knowledge about them becomes key in her research. She decides to return to the waters again after reaching Lusibari and Kanai accompanies her as a translator. They hire local fishermen Horen's Bhonbhoti and they set on their voyage.
The novel has a natural flow of events but there is a disconnect in the plot throughout. It seems each parallel story described by Ghosh here either has an abrupt end or doesn't relate to the main story. For eg: Kanai had known Fokir's mother Kusum when he had to come to Lusibari in 1970. It seems he develops a friendship with her but then later on when he gets to find out through Nirmal's notebook how she died and Fokir is her son, he seems unaffected. Another is Horen and Kusum's unexpected love for each other which is revealed towards the end. Horen also hints that Nirmal might be in love with Kusum which doesn't relate to Nirmal's character. Basically, there are loose ends in establishing characters' relationships with each other.
Like Ghosh's other novels (I have read The Sea of Poppies & The Glass Palace) set against the backdrop of history, this is about a time when the Indian government had cracked its whip on squatters coming in and settling near Sunderbans. It also gives a picturesque view of a fictional island, Lusibari and Sunderbans and the rare dolphins are described through Piya's research.
Almost each chapter alternates between pages of Nirmal's notebook and the present. It drags on at quite a few places, definitely not a page turner. Some parts are interesting like the letter written to Piya by Kanai is beautifully metrical. "The firewood was wet and the pots would not boil - tears were the result of his unrewarded toil."
The novel is largely about how the characters like Nirmal are in an identity crisis. There is a 'tide' turning in each one of them. Nirmal, a radical since the beginning always has an itch to revolutionise but fails to help the settlers. Kanai feels the same when he is confronted by a tiger or he feels he saw a tiger. There is an abrupt change in his ways after that. Fokir who is illiterate but knows the river well, has a keen eye but isn't anything substantial in his wife's eyes, Moyna who want to become a qualified nurse.
But unlike it's gripping beginning, the novel doesn't have a gripping end.
Gripping Beginning, Mundane End
The novel set in the beautiful archipelago of Sunderbans has a riveting start. Kanai, a translator by profession spots Piya, an American-Indian cetologist on a train platform. They strike a conversation and Kanai invites her to visit him in Lusibari. His aunt, Nilima, fondly called as Mashima runs a Trust in Lusibari and has invited him especially to hand him over a parcel marked for Kanai left by her late husband, Nirmal who was a radical. From the beginning you would start feeling a curiosity for that packet found after years of Nirmal's death. Those do become a central point of the novel unveiling the plight of squatters in Morichjhapi, existence of fresh water dolphins and a legend of Bon Bibi, the guardian goddess of the tide country. However, Nirmal writes them with an urgency, as a reader you might not feel an urge to read those. Piya has come to India for her research in rare species of Irrawaddy dolphins. She meets Fokir and her son Tutul when the forest guards, the typical crude 'sarkari karamcharis', throw her out of the boat, Fokir saves her life. Since this time, Fokir and Piya would develop a special bond surpassing language barriers. Piya spots some of the rarest pair of dolphins and Fokir's knowledge about them becomes key in her research. She decides to return to the waters again after reaching Lusibari and Kanai accompanies her as a translator. They hire local fishermen Horen's Bhonbhoti and they set on their voyage.
The novel has a natural flow of events but there is a disconnect in the plot throughout. It seems each parallel story described by Ghosh here either has an abrupt end or doesn't relate to the main story. For eg: Kanai had known Fokir's mother Kusum when he had to come to Lusibari in 1970. It seems he develops a friendship with her but then later on when he gets to find out through Nirmal's notebook how she died and Fokir is her son, he seems unaffected. Another is Horen and Kusum's unexpected love for each other which is revealed towards the end. Horen also hints that Nirmal might be in love with Kusum which doesn't relate to Nirmal's character. Basically, there are loose ends in establishing characters' relationships with each other.
Like Ghosh's other novels (I have read The Sea of Poppies & The Glass Palace) set against the backdrop of history, this is about a time when the Indian government had cracked its whip on squatters coming in and settling near Sunderbans. It also gives a picturesque view of a fictional island, Lusibari and Sunderbans and the rare dolphins are described through Piya's research.
Almost each chapter alternates between pages of Nirmal's notebook and the present. It drags on at quite a few places, definitely not a page turner. Some parts are interesting like the letter written to Piya by Kanai is beautifully metrical. "The firewood was wet and the pots would not boil - tears were the result of his unrewarded toil."
The novel is largely about how the characters like Nirmal are in an identity crisis. There is a 'tide' turning in each one of them. Nirmal, a radical since the beginning always has an itch to revolutionise but fails to help the settlers. Kanai feels the same when he is confronted by a tiger or he feels he saw a tiger. There is an abrupt change in his ways after that. Fokir who is illiterate but knows the river well, has a keen eye but isn't anything substantial in his wife's eyes, Moyna who want to become a qualified nurse.
But unlike it's gripping beginning, the novel doesn't have a gripping end.
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