The glass palace

Critics

• River of Smoke

  River of Smoke, by Amitav Ghosh, John Murray, RRP£20, 528 pages Any good historical novel should teach the reader some history as well as sweeping him or her along with an unfolding narrative. Few do this as well as Amitav Ghosh, a Bengali-born profe ... (read full critics)

  ft published on Sat, 25 Jun 2011

• The Glass Palace By Amitav Ghosh

  impressive, ambitious and extraordinarily imagined new novel from a Columbia anthropologist and New Yorker writer chronicles the modern history of Burma, from the 1885 British invasion to the political turmoil of present day Myanmar (as Burma is now ... (read full critics)

  bookpage published on Wed, 15 Sep 2010

5 Reviews

• 1 person find this helpful

  

  beautiful! gripping, deep, written with such pathos and so many details, beautiful indeed.

  Is this helpful?

  ilariainthelibrary said on Feb 18, 2010 about the Hardcover edition | 1 feedback

• 

  Great

  Five years to write this book have been well spent, no doubt about it. Ghosh is an amazing writer, who goes deep into historical issues and into human mind. In this novel nothing is superfluous, history is told through the characters' lives with a narration which is kept brilliantly intense by means ... (continue)

  Five years to write this book have been well spent, no doubt about it. Ghosh is an amazing writer, who goes deep into historical issues and into human mind. In this novel nothing is superfluous, history is told through the characters' lives with a narration which is kept brilliantly intense by means of ellipses. There is everything a good reader may want: well depicted characters, love, war, history and its contradictions, an apparently simple style which is somehow spellbinding. Not only have I enjoyed the reading, but I have also learnt many things I ignored - before this book Burma was a huge mystery to me!
  I also recommend the hungry tide!

  Is this helpful?

  Martina said on Mar 4, 2010 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

• 

  Wow, I never thought I would read this so quickly. I only registered it on bookcrossing the other day when I decided to remove it from Mt TBR. It is a hardback of 552 pages but I devoured it in days. It has been on our bookshelves for a few years, my husband having read it ages ago. I now wish I had ... (continue)

  Wow, I never thought I would read this so quickly. I only registered it on bookcrossing the other day when I decided to remove it from Mt TBR. It is a hardback of 552 pages but I devoured it in days. It has been on our bookshelves for a few years, my husband having read it ages ago. I now wish I had read it sooner, certainly one of my favourite titles, so far this year.
  The Glass Palace is a tale spanning three generations and is full of interesting personalities complex and moving. Politics and history are obviously a large part of the story but they do not detract from the 'family' theme. Highly recommended!

  Is this helpful?

  Lindyloumac said on Nov 6, 2009 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

• 

  It was very long time since i didn't read a book like this... i simply couldn't put it down...

  Is this helpful?

  Kiapi said on Oct 23, 2009 | Add your feedback

• 

  It's such a gripping story that I was reluctant to put down, fantastic story, intense writing with the histories that I hardly familiar with.

  Is this helpful?

  S.E. said on Nov 6, 2008 | Add your feedback

Book Details

• Rating:
  (36)
  • 5 stars
  • 4 stars
  • 3 stars
  • 2 stars
  • 1 star
• English Books
• Paperback
• ISBN-10: 0007743610
• ISBN-13: 9780007743612
• Publisher: HaperCollins
• Pub date: Jan 01, 2001
• Also available as: Hardcover and Unbound
• In other languages: other languages Livres Français, Deutsche Bücher, Libri Italiani, Buku Indonesia

Groups with this in collection

• Wednesday Nights in the 21st Century (5)
• NY Times Notable Book Club (482)

Prices Change currency & sellers