{"id":347,"date":"2021-09-09T08:22:00","date_gmt":"2021-09-09T08:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/?p=347"},"modified":"2024-10-23T14:48:00","modified_gmt":"2024-10-23T12:48:00","slug":"gun-island-by-amitav-ghosh-book-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/2021\/09\/09\/gun-island-by-amitav-ghosh-book-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Gun Island by Amitav Ghosh \u2013 Book Review"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"Gun<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Here we go, Gun Island<\/em> is one of those truly engaging reads that you can really get lost in\u2014it’s not every day you come across a book like this. Though Amitav Ghosh’s style feels a bit reserved and occasionally odd, as if he’s only 99% comfortable with the language he’s using, the interwoven stories soon become captivating. Whenever a new character appears, you can bet the plot will immediately take a turn and wander off. Yet these digressions aren\u2019t true detours, because sooner or later, it becomes clear that everything is connected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The mysterious and the everyday India<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Deen Datta, a New York-based bookseller, stumbles upon an Indian legend. Deen is an unlikely protagonist (okay, not quite as much as the charming Alvina in Mad by Chlo\u00e9 Esposito), and sometimes you\u2019d just love to give him a smack, he’s that hopeless. It\u2019s a peculiar authorial choice to place such an inept character at the center of events. But, to Deen\u2019s credit, he\u2019s a lovable loser.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And just like Deen, the reader gets swept up in the events. The story begins in India, a land of exotic appeal\u2014though here it mostly shows its everyday face, where profound poverty meets modernity (even the poorest souls seem to have a cell phone). Human trafficking and mass migration are as much a part of daily life as the centuries-old legends, not to mention the rampant environmental pollution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Thoroughly Cultural-Historical Investigation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The story of Gun Island<\/em> is complex, and the Ghosh\u2019s thoroughness is impressive across all themes he touches. It\u2019s a curious feeling (at least for us here*) to read about love for language and homeland in a way that\u2019s jingoistic but rather like the simple, joyful thrill of meeting a fellow countryman abroad, who, incidentally, speaks to you in the dialect your grandmother used half a century ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The author is just as well-versed in global warming as he is in Venice\u2019s distant past, where our hero finally winds up in his journey across cultures\u2014a journey that\u2019s at times heartwarming, other times eerie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(It\u2019s a fascinating coincidence that, two books ago, in an entirely different genre [see Donna Leon\u2019s Earthly Remains], the same problems came up in this identical setting.) Venice was built on wooden foundations, and believe it or not, these are now being devoured by shipworms that have appeared due to global warming. So, if you\u2019ve yet to visit the Queen of the Seas, which is slowly sinking into herself, it\u2019s time to hurry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The essence of the book:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We live in a new world. No one knows where they belong anymore\u2014neither people nor animals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Gunpowder Runs Out by the End<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The lines of Gun Island<\/em> and the fate of its characters mirror each other; the trader fleeing from the wrath of Manasa Devi, the goddess of snakes, and the Indian migrants setting out in hope of a better life share numerous parallels. However, as the story unfolds, the legend\u2019s unraveling is increasingly overshadowed by the issue of migration, depicted with Ghosh\u2019s empathetic understanding. (It\u2019s worth noting that Ghosh also presents a fact-based background, tracing these events back to the colonial era.) This is Gun Island<\/em>\u2019s alpha and omega, where everything leads. But\u2014regardless of your stance on mass migration\u2014this is also where the book begins to lose steam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the end, you\u2019ve learned all there is to know about the gun merchant, and the remaining afterthoughts simply lack impact. Deen\u2019s romantic developments feel forced, Cinta\u2019s fate is storybook-like, and the ultimate \u201cgrand miracle\u201d is simply dull, despite the author\u2019s intent to make it universally significant. But that\u2019s only the last 50 pages; until then, everything is pretty much on point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rating: 7.8\/10<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Gun Island<\/em> by Amitav Ghosh
288 pages, Hardcover
Published in 2019 by Hamish Hamilton<\/a>
—
You may also be interested in:
The Year of the Runaways by Sunjeev Sahota<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here we go, Gun Island is one of those truly engaging reads that you can really get lost in\u2014it’s not every day you come across a book like this. Though Amitav Ghosh’s style feels a bit reserved and occasionally odd, as if he’s only 99% comfortable with the language he’s using, the interwoven stories soon … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[225,142,226,38,224,223,72,222,55,130,205],"class_list":["post-347","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book","tag-climate-change","tag-cultural-history","tag-environment","tag-fiction","tag-globalization","tag-india","tag-literary-fiction","tag-migration","tag-mystery","tag-mythology","tag-venice"],"yoast_head":"\nGun Island by Amitav Ghosh \u2013 Book Review - minimal-Critiques<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Gun Island is a meticulous cultural-historical investigation. 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