I dont think i really like this book but the fact that it makes me think and ponder over many issues made me glued to this book. There are a few parts that i did not understand like the issue about Uma's role in the India politics but i will google it anyway. The colonialism, the road to independence are heavy for me, but i want to read about it. This is the first book by Amitav that i read, i may want to read some more books by this author. ( )

Moving between Burma, India, and Malaya from 1985 (Third Anglo-Burmese war) to the 1990s, this book follows the fortunes of a few interconnected families that today would be called 'Third Culture'. It investigates personal identity and shifting loyalties in a setting where there is no solid ground of belonging.

Although it starts and ends in Burma, most of the main characters are not Burmese, and many have mixed national and/or racial backgrounds. I have tagged this India, and it is certainly as much about Indian identity and history as Burmese. ( )

Covering the period of time between the mid-19th century to the present, set mostly in Burma, The Glass Palace is a story of two Indian/Burmese families over a period of generations during times of vast political and social changes in Burma. It is a fascinating account of the large Indian migration to Burma in the 19th and early 20th centuries, first to harvest teak, then to work the rubber plantations. The Indians imported into Burma--and “imported” is a euphemism for economic slavery--were mostly exploited by other Indians, who were able to become wealthy by contracting to supply labor for the teak and rubber plantations mostly (but not entirely) owned by foreigners, especially the English.

Rajkumar Raha enters Burma in the late 19th century as an illiterate worker. He is present during the British invasion of Burma in 1885, when teh English deposed the Burmese royal family, ousting them from the Glass Palace, and forcing them into exile in India. Rajkumar sees and is immediately obsessed by Dolly, a young Burmese attendant of the Queen; many years later as a wealthy man, he pursues Dolly into India and persuades her to marry him and return to Burma.

The story line follows Rajkumar and his family, along with those of his mentor Saya John and his family. Their fates follow that of Burma and India, as the rising movement for Indian independence, one of whose factions is led by Gandhi, affects the politics of Burma as well, with its large Indian laboring class.

One of the best sections of the book covers the Japanese invasion of Burma in World War II. It is impossible not to compare it with J.G. Farrell’s The Singapore Grip, which covers the exact same event, since it led to the invasion and fall of Singapore. Farrell, an Irishman who had no love for the British colonial policies in any part of the Empire, and Ghosh, writing from the Indian point of view, tell almost exactly the same story, differing only in the details of separate events in Burma and Malaya. Of the two, Ghosh is the more forgiving of British military blunders and failures, simply because his point of view is that of the Indians caught up in the invasion; Farrell is far more scathing, given his British protagonists.

The best way I can describe Ghosh’s writining is that is is “old fashioned,” far more formal than that of most contemporary Indian writers. This serves very, very well for the story up until the present day, including the military coup that took over Myanmar (Burma). Perhaps because Ghosh was not that invested in the modern story, the tale loses momentum and impact at the end. However, the contemporary section is not that long--it's almost an epilogue-- and should not deter anyone from reading what is a very fine historical novel. Highly recommended. ( )

Amitav Ghosh is a great story teller and a polished writer. In the Glass palace he has created a wonderful novel that tells of the lives, times and interrelationships of a group of people and their families over three generations. Starting in the 19th century and spanning the 20th in India, Burma and Malaya this is a tale that draws you in and makes itself hard to put down. ( )

http://nicolevlozano.blogspot.com/200... ( )