The Glass Palace: A Novel: Amazon.ca: Books

Inside This Book (Learn More)

First Sentence
There was only one person in the food-stall who knew exactly what that sound was that was rolling in across the plain, along the silver curve of the Irrawaddy, to the western wall of Mandalay's fort. Read the first page

Explore More
Concordance

Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt

Suggested Tags from Similar Products

(What's this?)

Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)

aaron jennings(2)

Customer Reviews

45 Reviews

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

Average Customer Review

4.1 out of 5 stars (45 customer reviews)

Share your thoughts with other customers:

Create your own review

Most helpful customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Finely Crafted Work, July 2 2003

By

JSollami (Stamford, CT) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Glass Palace: A Novel (Paperback)

Be prepared to learn about a part of history and an area of the world about which you know next to nothing. Ghosh has done a great deal of research to give his novel lush detail and historical accuracy, and then provides a rich family saga which delivers the fruits of his labors. More than that, he makes us think about the evils of empires, and the implications of personal decisions to serve masters other than those of our own making. He tells the story of displaced peoples, manipulated by the British not just physically, but mentally and spiritually as well. One final comment: The book is damn entertaining, and will stay with you long after you've read it. Instead of what most novels do, which is fade out after the first 100 or so pages, this book builds on itself and expands in richness as it draws closer to the present day. I highly recommend it as a work in which you can lose yourself and come away entertained as well as educated about a part of the world you may never have thought about.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Report abuse

5.0 out of 5 stars An incredible story, completely engaging., Jan 25 2003

By

Richard Sawyer (Washington, DC United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Glass Palace: A Novel (Paperback)

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.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Report abuse

3.0 out of 5 stars Ultimately forgettable....., Mar 21 2001

By

L. Alper (Englewood CO) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

"The Glass Palace" by Amitav Ghosh is a perfect example of what happens when an author writes a book to illustrate a point. It ends up ultimately disappointing on a story-telling level, & due to the reader's lack of involvement, the author's point fails to move.

I admit, I was hoping for a different book when I started "The Glass Palace". From the reviews & jacket description I was expecting another "The Far Pavillions" only from the Indian point of view. MM Kaye's masterful evocation of colonial India has been one of my favorite books for nearly 25 years. "The Glass Palace" will not be joining it's ranks.

The primary fault of this book is that Ghosh seems to have created each character to illustrate a specific aspect of the Indian/Burmese experience. The protagonists never seem to come alive & their actions do not spring from a logical progression, but rather from Ghosh's need to introduce a plot point. Compounding this problem is the author's tendency to skip over entire decades that effect the characters in single sentences. For instance, World War I is dismissed as "The worlds need for rubber would make them rich beyond their wildest dreams". That's it???!!!

Ghosh also makes the mistake of assuming the readers' familiarity with Burmese history as well as customs & clothes. Frequently the characters are referred to as wearing "htmeins" or "longyis". Personally, I have no idea what either garment is or looks like. Some sort of description would be helpful! We are told a leading protagonist, Dolly Sein, is an orphan adopted by Queen Supayalat as a servant. Personally I wondered how she got the name of Dolly. Is this a traditional Burmese name? Were her birth-parents of European origin? No explanation for this odd name is given.

Although I was not bored while reading "The Glass Palace" I never felt swept away either. This is a book that is ultimately forgettable.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Report abuse

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 45 customer reviews on Amazon.ca

Want to see more reviews on this item?

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 92 reviews 4.1 out of 5 stars

Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book
Great book, great story, a really compelling mix between History of a part of the world the westerners tend to don't know a lot about, and the family and love stories of three... Read more

Published on Feb 20 2010 by Judith Cossette

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Writer and Book
This book led my wife and I to travel to Burma. We even spent nearly 2 years living there and we lay it all to the curiosity kindled by "The Glass Palace". Read more