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The Hungry Tide: A Novel by Amitav Ghosh
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The Hungry Tide: A Novel (original 2004; edition 2006)

by Amitav Ghosh

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1,821589,297 (3.88)185
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Three lives collide on an island off India: "An engrossing tale of caste and culture... introduces readers to a little-known world."â??Entertainment Weekly

Off the easternmost coast of India, in the Bay of Bengal, lies the immense labyrinth of tiny islands known as the Sundarbans. For settlers here, life is extremely precarious. Attacks by tigers are common. Unrest and eviction are constant threats. At any moment, tidal floods may rise and surge over the land, leaving devastation in their wake.

In this place of vengeful beauty, the lives of three people collide. Piya Roy is a marine biologist, of Indian descent but stubbornly American, in search of a rare, endangered river dolphin. Her journey begins with a disaster when she is thrown from a boat into crocodile-infested waters. Rescue comes in the form of a young, illiterate fisherman, Fokir. Although they have no language between them, they are powerfully drawn to each other, sharing an uncanny instinct for the ways of the sea.

Piya engages Fokir to help with her research and finds a translator in Kanai Dutt, a businessman from Delhi whose idealistic aunt and uncle are longtime settlers in the Sundarbans. As the three launch into the elaborate backwaters, they are drawn unawares into the hidden undercurrents of this isolated world, where political turmoil exacts a personal toll as powerful as the ravaging tide.

From the national bestselling author of Gun Island, The Hungry Tide was a winner of the Crossword Book Prize and a finalist for the Kiriyama Prize.

"A great swirl of political, social, and environmental issues, presented through a story that's full of romance, suspense, and poetry."â??The Washington Post

"Masterful."â??Publishers Weekly (starred rev
… (more)

Member:Famtar
Title:The Hungry Tide: A Novel
Authors:Amitav Ghosh
Info:Mariner Books (2006), Paperback, 352 pages
Collections:Your library, To read
Rating:
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The Hungry Tide by Amitav Ghosh (2004)

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» See also 185 mentions

English (55)  Spanish (1)  Dutch (1)  French (1)  All languages (58)
Showing 1-5 of 55 (next | show all)
Suspense
  BooksInMirror | Feb 19, 2024 |
Very enjoyable. Set in the tide country of the delta on the border between India and Bangladesh, south and east of Kolkata (formerly Calcutta). A couple of storylines alternate chapters, one of a modern day cetologist investigating river dolphins in the delta, the other life in the tide country, both present day and an the previous decades. The story of the place itself, with immense rivers transforming into miles of mud and then back again with the changing of the tides is quite magical, and melded with local folklore, magical tigers, idealism and love. As a scientist, I found the tale of the cetologist’s awareness of the implications of her sightings expanding into a new understanding unusually well described for a novel, and in the authors notes Ghosh describes how field work with a real cetologist on the Mekong played a role in his writing. So a little history, an amazing setting, and a fine tale add up to a fine read. ( )
  diveteamzissou | Jan 22, 2024 |
Piya, an American of Bengali descent, is a young marine biologist. She travels to the Sundarbans, a mangrove-forested archipelago off the southeastern coast of India, in search of an endangered dolphin species. On the way, she meets Kanai, a translator and businessman from New Delhi. He is on his way to his aunt’s house to collect a journal bequeathed to him by his uncle.

Piya embarks on her study of dolphins but encounters difficulties with her guides. She meets Fokir, an uneducated local fisherman, skilled at reading the tides, with whom she feels a connection. She hires him to help her map the dolphins’ migrations among the islands, where Bengal tigers, crocodiles, snakes, and other wildlife reside. These islands are flooded by the tide twice daily. In the meantime, Kanai reads his uncle’s journal. He reunites with Piya in the role of translator.

Chapters from the journal are inserted periodically into the narrative. From the journal, we learn the story of the violent confrontations in Morichjhampi – a real incident that occurred in 1979 involving government forces and Bengali refugees. The journal also includes the story of Bon Bibi, the protectress of the island people.

This novel is infused with variety – cetology, the ecosystem in the Sundarbans, politics of the region, powerful storms, and local folklore. It is also a moving interpersonal story of people from extremely different backgrounds. It is beautifully written. It emphasizes the interdependence of humans and nature and highlights difficult questions that arise when they come into conflict. It is a story about adventure, identity, history, environment, and attraction set in a unique region. I found it fascinating.

“Powerful as it already was, the gale had been picking up strength all along. At a certain point its noise had reached such a volume that its very quality had undergone a change. It sounded no longer like the wind but like some other element—the usual blowing, sighing and rustling had turned into a deep, earsplitting rumble, as if the earth itself had begun to move. The air was now filled with what seemed to be a fog of flying debris—leaves, twigs, branches, dust and water. This dense concentration of flying objects further reduced the visibility in what was already a gathering darkness.”
( )
  Castlelass | Oct 30, 2022 |
This struck me as a very sad book where the white imperialists make it out alive and the nationals don't as a direct or indirect result. :( ( )
  graceandbenji | Sep 1, 2022 |
The Hungry Tide by Amitav Ghosh
This book takes place in the Sunbardan Islands, India/Bangladesh, a mangrove area in the Bay of Bengal where three rivers mesh and intertwine. An area of extremes, from the rising and lowering tide to the tigers and other forms of wildlife (many dangerous) that live there and the people who eke out a living in such a place. The author creates a great sense of place in the story and the setting is truly another character in the book. The thoughtful writing, while telling an interesting story, gives your mind something to chew on as you read. It keeps your interest and invites you to continue reading for an immersive experience. The past and the present continue to influence the lives of the people in the area, and you get a bit of background to why things are the way they are and its affect on the residents as you follow along with a dolphin hunting marine biologist, a brave 20 something of Indian descent but born elsewhere. Skillfully constructed and a good read. (5 stars) ( )
  kaida46 | Jul 8, 2022 |
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The Tide Country
Kanai spotted her the moment he stepped onto the crowded platform: he was deceived neither by her close-cropped black hair, nor by her clothes, which were those of a teenage boy—loose cotton pants and an oversized white shirt.
Quotations
She imagined the animals circling drowsily, listening to echoes pinging through the water, painting pictures in three dimensions—images that only they could decode.  The thought of experiencing your surroundings in that way never failed to fascinate her: the idea that to “see” was also to “speak” to others of your kind, where simply to exist was to communicate.
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Fiction. Literature. HTML:

Three lives collide on an island off India: "An engrossing tale of caste and culture... introduces readers to a little-known world."â??Entertainment Weekly

Off the easternmost coast of India, in the Bay of Bengal, lies the immense labyrinth of tiny islands known as the Sundarbans. For settlers here, life is extremely precarious. Attacks by tigers are common. Unrest and eviction are constant threats. At any moment, tidal floods may rise and surge over the land, leaving devastation in their wake.

In this place of vengeful beauty, the lives of three people collide. Piya Roy is a marine biologist, of Indian descent but stubbornly American, in search of a rare, endangered river dolphin. Her journey begins with a disaster when she is thrown from a boat into crocodile-infested waters. Rescue comes in the form of a young, illiterate fisherman, Fokir. Although they have no language between them, they are powerfully drawn to each other, sharing an uncanny instinct for the ways of the sea.

Piya engages Fokir to help with her research and finds a translator in Kanai Dutt, a businessman from Delhi whose idealistic aunt and uncle are longtime settlers in the Sundarbans. As the three launch into the elaborate backwaters, they are drawn unawares into the hidden undercurrents of this isolated world, where political turmoil exacts a personal toll as powerful as the ravaging tide.

From the national bestselling author of Gun Island, The Hungry Tide was a winner of the Crossword Book Prize and a finalist for the Kiriyama Prize.

"A great swirl of political, social, and environmental issues, presented through a story that's full of romance, suspense, and poetry."â??The Washington Post

"Masterful."â??Publishers Weekly (starred rev

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