BooksThe Glass Palace
Amitav GhoshHarperCollins £6.99, pp551
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Amitav Ghosh came to the attention of the literary world earlier this year when he refused the Best Book Prize from the Commonwealth Foundation. He resented being categorised as a Commonwealth writer, and also objected that the only works considered for the prize were those written in English.
The Glass Palace chronicles the fortunes of a Burmese man, Rajkumar Raha, and his family. Beginning in Mandalay at the end of the nineteenth century, when the British forcibly deposed the Burmese King Thebaw and moved him and his family into exile in India, the novel addresses the enormous changes which took place in the country in the twentieth century.
The story gets off to a slow start: Ghosh re-creates Rajkumar's childhood in an almost fairy-tale way. His success as a trader in teak (the lucrative motivation behind the British invasion) is achieved with apparently little effort, and Rajkumar journeys across India to find Dolly, a woman he met as a child in Mandalay. The pair are married and settle in Burma. Parentless, but with a strong guiding force in his mentor, Saya John, Rajkumar starts to make a life for himself, his new wife and young family.
It is worth persevering and reaching the depths of the narrative; after a couple of hundred pages, the book begins to quicken its pace. International events wreak untold damage on Burma as it is catapulted on to the international stage and it becomes clear that the medieval traditions upon which the country's culture is based cannot compete with the organisational discipline and superior technology of the Western world.
Juxtaposed with folk tales, chaos and violence dominate as the twentieth century brings new challenges and hardships. The comparatively gentle beginning contrasts with later depictions of war and violence and the two elements to the work combine to paint a picture both melancholic and uplifting.
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