Sea of Poppies - Book Review (9/10)

The Sea of Poppies had a hype surrounding it, when it was released, obviously because it was the work of Amitav Ghosh, one of the most acclaimed writers of Indian English Literature. His other books that I read were simply superb. And I knew that I could trust Ghosh to deliver this time too. The Sea of Poppies was nominated for the Man Booker, but sadly it lost out to the White Tiger. The White Tiger is an equally captivating book, but the vastness of the Sea of Poppies, its language, the research that has gone into the book, the wide variety of characters, the story, the exciting moments all scream and shout that the Sea of Poppies deserved this award more.

The book, the first of the trilogy that Ghosh is working on, is set in India, in the first half of the 19th century, just around before the opium wars. It has an immensely interesting amalgam of extremely diverse characters from diverse backgrounds. Deeti: the runaway sati candidate and murderer of her mother-in-law, Zachary: the son of a freed slave, then a carpenter, now a sailor, Raja Neel Haldar: A rich linguist of a zameendar, now convicted of forgery, Bhairon singh: A primary evil antagonist and a bodyshopper, Captian Chillingworth: A controlled opium addict and Captain of the Ibis, Mr. Burnham, . These characters lay the foundation of the book. The story is fiercely interconnected, more than some of his earlier books, and can be said to be slightly complex. But yet, it does not fail to enthrall.

The story is divided into three books. Land, River, Sea. The divisions make sense, though they are primarily based on just a couple of characters, Kalua and Deeti (my opinion). The story, largely, is about a journey that many of the above mentioned characters take across the black waters (on the Ibis), something that was considered taboo and forbidden for the Indians in those days. Some because they want to, some because they are forced to, some because they have to. The amount of research that Ghosh has put into this book is astounding. Ships, sailors, the Laskar language & lingo, history, etc. etc.Phenomenol. It is very difficult to imagine how one person could write a book like this. Initially, I found the Laskar lingo very irritating, and there were many lines I chose to pass through, just because I couldn't decipher the language. It is a strange combination of English and Hindi. I know both languages, yet I found it tough. I wonder how people who do not know Hindi would manage. But then there are just a couple of characters who speak that way in the book. So not much of an issue. On the contrary it just adds to the spice.

The book is more like a story in progress and has no end. I guess it would be more like a three part novel than a trilogy. Something like the LOTR. Ghosh hasn't fixed the no. of volumes that he would write to complete the story. As of now it is 3. But this may turn out to be one of the biggest epics of modern Indian literature. Truly brilliant, this book deserves a 9/10.