River of Smoke (2011)

This is the second of a planned trilogy, I believe, about the Opium Wars in the 1800's. 'Sea of Poppies' is the first novel which told how all passengers of a ship loaded with opium and convicts for transport came to be there. This continues the story with several of the Ibis' inhabitants as well as adding some new ones. We are mostly with Neel and Paulette. We are also introduced to Ah Fat's father Bahram Moddi, a Parsi opium dealer. The action takes place in 'Fanqui-town' -- essentially a foreign enclave outside of the walls of the forbidden city, Canton.

We get much more into opium in this novel and some of the politics leading up to the Opium Wars. Frankly, this was all fairly fascinating to me as I knew little of what I believe is true history with many real historical personages. The language feels authentic especially the Chineese-Indian-English pidgin which perplexed and annoyed me at the beginning but was strangely intelligible and delightful by the end.

Ghosh is an excellent writer in terms of setting a scene and transporting one there with such foreign sights, sounds, foods, customs. I think though structurally the book seemed a bit all over the place - hard to know where it was really going and who was really the protagonist. Alot of repetition and uneven dramatic tension. It took me quite some time to get through this novel - very similar to my feelings about 'Sea of Poppies.'

I only hope the third novel comes out quicker than 'River of Smoke' because I really had forgotten alot in three years and therfore struggled some getting into it. But overall, a worthy read, a fascinating look at a place and time I knew nothing about, (always thought the Chinese brought opium to the rest of us), funny, sad and transporting but does require some patience. ( )

Old News: BAH! I am going to have to come back and fix (may be rewrite) this review later.

Current News: Review updated.
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Where were we? On the Ibis, after the storm, right? Amitav Ghosh picks up the threads from there, tells us about the different directions in which the characters were scattered and then we continue to follow Neel who brings us to Canton to witness the drama and politics surrounding the opium trade (psst! smuggling), and an account of the events which will eventually lead to the First Opium War.

Canton's foreign enclave was the hot-spot of trade between China and other countries. Made in China / brought from China goods have been making their way into households all around the globe since back then. A huge amount of goods were imported from China, so much so that Chinese had come to believe that

"..the foreigners, if deprived for several days of the tea and rhubarb of China, are afflicted with dimness of sight and constipation of the bowels, to such a degree that life is endangered…".

For foreigners, opium proved to be a highly profitable counter-trade product which ensured a two way flow of cash. East India Company, with their strategic position in India monopolized this trade. Opium is the bone of contention at the heart of this story.

Chinese side: wanted to keep opium addiction from eating them from the inside and also control the out-flow of silver.

British et al. side: losing opium trade would mean economic loss. Also, the high and mighty ones said:

"...nobody, not even the Grand Manchu himself, can claim jurisdiction over a subject of the Queen of England."

and

"...as Englishmen and Americans, we enjoy certain freedoms under the laws of our own countries. These require us to be subject, in the first instance, to our own laws."

By the end of the book, we see Britishers sniggering behind Lin Zexu's back, thinking about the war to come, which of course, Britain will easily win.

Amitav Ghosh carries us back to those times with his pure, un-ornamental storytelling. His writing is undoubtedly descriptive, no lawyer can make a case against that. He tells us about the times when HongKong was only a wilderness and when people thought that Singapore was going to be swallowed by a jungle. Times when it took several months to travel from one place to another, keeping people away from home for a few years at a stretch (most of them also ended up having a second wife and illegitimate children in distant lands.) He gives us the details about how everything worked in those times. He also brings out some of the subtleties about how language and social interactions changed as one moved from one part of the world to another and mingled with different kinds of communities. Between all the details, the dilemmas and emotional complexity of Bahram, one of the main characters, are not forgotten either.

There is a whole lot of historical name-dropping going on too. Many of the characters mentioned in this novel (and there are about a million of them) were real people. One can easily tell Ghosh has done extensive research and poured gallons of history in this story. For the most part, the details aren't wearisome and don't slow down the narrative.

The only place where detailed descriptions bothered me were in Robin Chinnery's letters. Him being an artist, his letters provide a perspective different from that of people involved in the opium trade. But, phew, those letters! Some of his letters went like this:

"Hey, I have some fascinating news for you. So one day I was sitting on my desk when I heard a knock on the door." Then he will describe how and why he went to the place XYZ, describe the scenery he saw on the way, detailed description of the destination once he got there, back stories of the characters he met, the conversation they had. And within that conversation the news of interest will be embedded.

I know the messages were not limited to 140 characters back then, but will you give me the news already?!

If you enjoyed Sea of Poppies, this is definitely worth a read. It can be read even if one has not read the first part. The language, a mash-up of different dialects, may seem bothersome during initial one or two chapters, but in later chapters it is mostly just English and is not at all difficult to read. If you have an appetite for rich details, this should be an interesting read.

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Pre-Reading:

With [b:Sea of Poppies|1330324|Sea of Poppies|Amitav Ghosh|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327376395s/1330324.jpg|1319808], Amitav Ghosh had left us un-anchored in the midst of Indian Ocean. He created an ensemble cast with a rich variety of characters, made their paths converge to the ship Ibis and spun out an engrossing story. And then....poof! The hypnotic spell broke. Very abruptly. The stage vanished and so did the characters. The readers were left bobbing in the ocean.

Now after a gap of over 2.5 years, [b:River of Smoke|9783627|River of Smoke|Amitav Ghosh|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1310286525s/9783627.jpg|14673463] has been released. Hopefully we will get to the shore this time. Though this is only the second book in the proposed trilogy, who knows where he will leave us stranded now.

Considering how long Ghosh Babu had the readers sitting on the edge, this better not be a disappointment. ( )

A beautifully-crafted story that lingers after closing the book. The pidgin of various characters, divergent ethnic-linguistic backgrounds, and distinct settings is amazing to track. Ultimately, I started to not "hear" the pidgin but just the characters speaking.

Ghosh assembles a cast of amazing people, sets them in dramatic tensions among historical circumstances, and then wraps them with his anthropologist's keen eye throughout.

I can't wait for the 3rd installment....I'm on pins and needles.

The continued story, began in Sea of Poppies, seems particulary relevant given the Occupy movement, imperialism in its newest iteration (e.g., US in Iraq, China in so many developing countries) and the current financial debacle. ( )

River of Smoke begins with a raging sea cyclone in 1838 and with three ships that were caught in it: the Ibis - that had started its voyage in the Sea of Poppies carrying a cargo of convicts and coolies, the Anahita - owned by the wealthy merchant Bahram Modi, which holds the largest consignment of opium ever to leave India, and the Redruth - carrying Frederick Penrose, a horticulturist determined to track down China’s rare and priceless plants. The three stories of the three ships sail in parallel in the River of Smoke before converging at Canton crisscrossing each other unexpectedly in fascinating ways in the middle of political events that had culminated into the First Opium War.

Read the complete review at http://www.thebookoutline.com/2013/02/book-review-river-of-smoke.html ( )

River of Smoke is book 2 of the Ibis Trilogy, the first being Sea of Poppies, and I have not heard a whisper about the third.

A very well written opening gave me a reminder of what had happened in the first book which was very helpful as there are so many characters in this trilogy. This book focuses mostly on Neel who fell from high places in the first novel to become a prisoner on the Ibis. Paulette has ongoing appearances, and a couple of my favourites from Sea of Poppies have short stints in the story.

It is a very complex story set largely in Canton in 1837-1839. It explores the motives behind the Chinese government and the opium merchants at a time when opium consumption was destroying the lives of people in China, the trigger for the opium war.

I found the story fascinating. It is a complicated story with a multitude of interesting characters, and required a lot of concentration while reading. I am definitely looking forward to reading the final book in the trilogy when it is released. ( )