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With each generation the characters' lives and personalities contrast and intertwine according to the rise and fall of the countries'--and the world's--politics. Rajkumar, the Indian peasant who makes a fortune through teak and his wife Dolly, the breathtakingly beautiful maid of the Burmese royal family, contrast to Uma the Indian widow who becomes a champion for Indian independence after her liberating time in the USA and the Americanised Matthew who makes a life in his half-native Malaya as a rubber plantation owner, while Uma's Bengali nieces and nephew contrast to Rajkumar and Dolly's newly wealthy sons. Yet they all suffer in the Second World War, whether as a soldier, refugee or evacuee discriminated against because of their skin colour. Ghosh's focus on the war in Burma, from the viewpoint of Indian officers in the British army, who have been imbued through their regimental history to believe in their allegiance to "their" country (i.e. Britain and not India), reveals a side of both world wars that is rarely told. The struggle these British subjects experience, as to whether colonial or fascist masters are better, is not something that shaped the general European knowledge of the Second World War, where "good" and "evil" seemed much clearer.
However, The Glass Palace is not only about war; and the full circle it travels, from one glass palace in the lush and rich 19th-century Burma to another glass palace in repressed and impoverished Myanmar is, seemingly with ease from the lush and rich prose, satisfying and informative. It is a novel in which the characters will always go on living, and whose ideals will never die. --Olivia Dickinson --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Publishers Weekly
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Finely Crafted Work,
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.
5.0 out of 5 stars
An incredible story, completely engaging.,
By
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.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Ultimately forgettable.....,
By 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.
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