For quite sometime I wanted to read Amitav Ghosh. So when my friend offered to lend me The Calcutta Chromosome, I jumped at it.A quick summary (no spoilers): Antar is some guy who does something on his ultra-psued computer Ava and tracks listing of some objects. Doing this he comes across a certain Murugan’s i-card, who has been missing for some years. He soon remembers that this Murugan was his colleague and gets into the search. Murugan had come to
Filled with innumerable characters, who are all some how linked to the story, the plot moves on. The mystery remains intriguing for almost two-thirds of the book. However, there is too much going back and forth in time. The mix of the past and the present and the scientific and the supernatural becomes too giddy. I had to keep going back; I had to keep checking who was who and what was happening. And then comes the end! I actually re-read the last two chapters hoping that I would find out what I missed. After reading the whole book, I found that the end was as good as missing!
I think the author himself got lost in the twists and turns and just gave up on the end. He himself must have lost the link between all those bits and pieces and clay models and Renupurs and Sealdahs.
Wait, wasn’t I summarizing the book? I was, but it is just not possible.
Still, I do not completely regret reading this book. Oh, I do regret leaving a book incomplete (after all, the end was missing) but there is a certain railway station scene that is worth mentioning. I would have struck off Amitav Ghosh’s writing as not-for-me if not for that. The eeriness, the mystery, the ghost-ness of that particular scene was chilling. Just for that, I will read Amitav Ghosh again; of course, this time I will be more careful in picking the book.
Any suggestions?
6 comments:
yeh, read The Hungry Tide. I found it moving. or you could be brave and try Sea of Poppies!
The Shadow lines is the only Amitav Ghosh novel that I have read. I liked it so much that I could not take the risk of reading any other novel lest I may be disappointed. Shadow lines is not a simple novel. I would admit that I was able to grasp the real essence of the book only after a second reading of the entire novel and numerous readings of parts of it. However, the exercise seemed effortless. It was like unraveling a puzzle. And believe me it was worth it. It's not casual reading. It's a book to treasure.
Hey..Try the hungry tide..I also did not like calcutta chromosome that much..but decided to give the author one last chance and picked up the hungry tide..I am only past the first 2 chapters, but the narration style is to die for..I have never enjoyed descriptions so much before..
Having read nearly all of AG's novels (minus SoP), I can verify that Shadow Lines is indeed the best of them by a distance (sorry, Heidi, you're going to be disappointed, though the others are still worth reading :)). It's also a much less convoluted and much more sensitive story than CC.
PS: Am a friend of Zishaan's, found my way to your blog from his FB page.
Yes, many of the elements do not converge in the end. The end is very foggy, and the looseness of the term 'chromosome' is irritating. However his other books are good. I've read 'The Hungry Tide' and it's a much better read. The Calcutta Chromosome, however, is a wonderful idea with a struggling backstory. More about this on my blog.
I'll try the Glass Palace next, I think.
Read the Hungry Tide and The Shadow lines... both are awesome n u will feel enthralled n enriched by the end of these books... Amitav Ghosh is definitely one of d best writers today.. read him
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