The novel "The Shadow Lines" by Amitav Gosh paints a picture of symbolism and realism that covers both time and space. The title itself is an example of symbolism and realism. From the image conscious character of the grandmother to the riots that takes place in the streets, the author Gosh takes the reader on a fascinating journey of exploration. He takes apart the characters of the story while doing so to the human race. The title of the novel 'The Shadow Lines" is the best statement Gosh makes. To state that "The Shadow Lines," or the lines that not only define our human shape but our inner struggles to choose between dark and light, and plays a major part of all human existence. Gosh uses shadow lines as a way of telling us that the way we view ourselves is not always the way that others view us, and until we can get a deeper understanding of ourselves we will remain in the shadows of our enlightenment. The author Amitav Gosh was born in Calcutta in 1956. He grew up in Bangladesh then East Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Iran and India. "The Shadow Lines" is his second book published in 1988. This book opened up eyes to know how it must be like to live in India with your entire family under one roof and the joys and pain that can bring.

The novel "The Shadow Lines" by Amitav Gosh paints a picture of symbolism and realism that covers both time and space. The title itself is an example of symbolism and realism. From the image conscious character of the grandmother to the riots that takes place in the streets, the author Gosh takes the reader on a rollercoaster journey of exploration. He takes apart the characters of the story while doing so to the human race. The title of the novel "The Shadow Lines" is the best statement Gosh makes. To state that "The Shadow Lines,"or the lines that not only define our human existence but our inner struggles to choose between darkness and light, and plays a major part of all human existence. Gosh uses shadow lines as a way of telling us that the way we view ourselves is not always the way that others view us, and until we can get a deeper understanding of ourselves we will remain in the shadows of our enlightenment. The author Amitav Gosh was born in Calcutta in 1956. He grew up in Bangladesh then East Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Iran and India. "The Shadow Lines" is his second book, and was published in 1988. This book opened up my eyes to know what it must be like to live in India with your entire family under one roof and the joys and pains that can bring.

The Shadow Lines is a book so beautiful that it has the power of being life-altering. It examines and delves into national, familial and personal issues with equal delicacy and insight. "Shadow Lines" is a reference to the hazy lines of division between nations that are erected by human beings, the books talks about how easy it is to transcend them - this can cause confusion but also bring peace.
The characters are people the readers can totally relate to, as are the circumstances and events in their lives. All of this is handled with the most expert writing skill and command over the English language.
The book is thus, by far not only the most mature of Amitav Ghosh's writing, but also one of the greatest works of Indian fiction.

i picked this book after hearing a friend talk about his trip to egypt.. i expected a more descrptive kind of book about egypt and was pleasantly surprised with the novella flavour that it actually has.. the author introduces very ordinary characters from present times living through their life.. he juxtaposes this with accounts of the life of a jewish merchant and his indian slave from the 10th century.. and then draws parallels between the social issues during the two time periods which seem surprisingly similar..
but the part that i thourougly enjoyed in this book was the village life and characters from the egyptian village and the real life struggles that they were going through.. made me want to hop on the next plane to egypt and see these ppl for myself..

A stupifying experience to read about the experience of one ofthe most prolific, original, fantasy writers from India. This bookdeals with the delicate norms of the life led in the rural Egypt. The book catches the knowledge even though little, of the people about India in Egypt. And to compare the lifestyles which existed between the two countries in two different periods of history has been done to the delight of the aged historian. The subtle existence of similarity in two proclaimed dis-similar cultures is definitely a forte for the mastercraftsman called Amitav. Surely, a delight for all the readers who want to have an alternate view of travelogues and who love to read about cultures which exists in the deepest parts of the world. A well-written book in general. Let us expect some more interesting writings from the author in the area of travel literature!!!

This is a must read book. Ghosh somehow weaves together the history of Cairo, a traveling Jewish merchant, marginalization, the fate of 2nd world countries, and a diary of his time in Egypt-- and makes it really, lively, and relavant to anyone's life. and it is written in a lovely, lyrical style

Like his previous book, In an Antique Land, The Glass Palace is about Indians living in other countries. It starts with the British invasion of Burma in the 1880's and follows a young Indian boy, Rajkumar and his rise from poverty to wealth. Set in Malaysia, Burma and India, the first part of the book concentrates on a small set of characters over a relatively short period of time. The second half of the book moves faster, across most of the 20th century, and moves the novel from an adventure story to thoughts on imperialism, nationalism and family. I've traveled in both India and Burma, and once more, Ghosh vividly brings these countries to life. Some sections recall The Jewel in the Crown, with the important difference that this story concentrates on the views of the Indians and Burmese, with few British characters, and no named Japanese ones. The book is not without its set pieces, though, and the section on elephant teak logging is fascinating on its own. A great book, well written, hard to put down.

I love historical fiction, and, in general, can be somewhat picky about what I read. The Glass Palace is one of the finest works of its kind I have ever read. From the first page, I was totally engaged. Ghosh is a master story teller. He has done a very impressive job of providing an exciting historical background of Burma, Malaysia, and India over many decades, interwoven with well developed characters across generations. I will read this book again someday. I very highly recommend this book.

I can't often be bothered to spend my time writing reviews for Amazon, but in the case of this book, I'll make an exception.

Ghosh writes a wonderful story. His style is fluid, easy to read and at times poetic. His words create the most vivid and accurate pictures of people and places. It is hard not to be caught up with the characters, and the wonder of the events that took place.

Having just returned from a month in Myanmar, his writing seemed incredibly accurate. - Not only a wonderful story, but a great historical account.

Top marks!

The Calcutta Chromosome tries to marry an engaging plot with IT and medical science and, as such, it compares to Michel Houellebecq’s masterpiece, the ‘Particules élémentaires’. ...the Calcutta Chromosome is a well-written book, with a fascinating premise.

The central story line initially follows an obscure 1902 Nobel-prize winner of Medicine, Ronald Ross, who achieved major breakthroughs in malaria research he did in India. However, after reading Ross’s biography ...Amitav Ghosh puts some pertinent question marks behind Ross’s achievements.

Ghosh argues that Ronald Ross was a man of rather mediocre abilities. Until he started doing his malaria research, Ross had unsuccessfully pursued a literary career, being an ungifted, uninspired and unsuccessful poet and novelist. In a bizarre career switch, Ross started doing medical research in India. Yet, entirely on his own, he revolutionized our knowledge on malaria – by concluding his solitary research in the ridiculously short time-span of just three years.

This tale is told engagingly by Amitav Ghosh. To explain Ross’s success, Ghosh suggests the Ross was unknowingly manipulated by a mysterious gang of Indian beggar thugs, led by an old beggar queen invested with special powers.

But when the novel has reached this stage, somewhere halfway, Ghosh has clearly lost control over the storyline. There are sustained, but contorted and far-fetched attempts to link Ross’s adventures with New Yorkers living in a not-too-distant 21st century. To bridge this 100-year or so time gap, the story wildly jumps through space and time, leading the reader, in a haphazard fashion, to Egyptian villages, Finnish spiritists, Indian novelists and endless and utterly boring monologues. I flipped quickly through the last 90 pages to see where the novel would end. Unfortunately, nowhere.

This is one of the most fascinating books that I have read. Although the plot is sometimes abstruse, the story is almost always taut. There is a constant feel of suspense and mystery that surrounds the characters. The concept itself, that personalities can be transferred and, in effect, immortality gained through the malaria parasite is nothing short of spellbinding. When I finished the book, the first word that came to my mind was: wierd. But as I glossed over what I had just read and the emotions I had experienced while reading it, I realised that it was nothing short of a gem of modern science fiction. The story is vast in it's scope. Ghosh simultaneously handles three points in time, but keeps the reader equally engrossed in all three. The characters are real (one in fact is based on an Indian film maker) and totally believable. Having lived in Calcutta all my life, I can tell you that the situations depicted are absolutely authentic and real. Nothing is wasted in the book. Every syllable, every event, however insignificant it may seem, will come back later. The ending is incredible, dealing you a sledgehammer blow in the last couple of lines. All in all, a must read for SF fans, and indeed for fans of good, albeit populist, literature.

What the heck is this book anyway? Is it a medical thriller, historical fiction or a futuristic warning? A ghost story? The unusual historical aspects of Amitav Ghosh's In an Antique Land drew me to The Calcutta Chromosome, but what I found here was completely different, although no less enjoyable. An Eqyptian living in New York, Antar's deadly job is to watch the huge screen of his computer, Ava, as it sifts through all sorts of pointless information. Ava is like a know-it-all older sister-obviously as bored with its job as Antar is with his, it is learning to speak with him in his regional dialect (which he has nearly forgotten) and waves arms across the screen to practice its Body Language of the Upper Nilotic Region, which Antar doesn't remember very well either. Then across the screen drifts the tattered I.D. tag of a former co-worker of Antar's, a noisy and irritating man named Murugan ("Call me Morgan!") who vanished into India, where he had gone to research a British scientist who discovered how malaria is transmitted to humans. The reader follows Murugan, the scientist Robert Ross, Urmila, a Calcutta journalist and tales of a mysterious train station to . . . well, it is hard to say. The Calcutta Chromosome goes down a number of delicious paths, some more tantalizing than satisfying. The end is rather rapidly wrapped up and leaves the reader wishing for at least another twenty-five pages, for a better chance to visit with Urmila and her awful family, to learn more about the relationship between Sonali and her powerful lover Romen, between Antar, his village and his computer. A throroughly enjoyable book, but one that pulls its punches at the end.