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Sea of Poppies (Hardcover)

by Amitav Ghosh (Author)
3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
RRP: £18.99
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Frequently Bought Together

Sea of Poppies + The White Tiger + Wolf Hall
Price For All Three: £24.59

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  • This item: Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 480 pages
  • Publisher: John Murray; Reprint edition (1 May 2008)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0719568951
  • ISBN-13: 978-0719568954
  • Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 15.4 x 4.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 121,054 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #10 in  Books > Fiction > Authors, A-Z > G > Ghosh, Amitav

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Product Description

Sunday Times

'A glorious babel of a novel...marvellously inventive...utterly involving... The next volume cannot come too soon'


Review

‘Sea of Poppies Boasts a varied collection of characters to love and hate, and provides wonderfully detailed descriptions of opium production ... utterly involving and piles on tension until the very last page’

(Peter Parker, Sunday Times )

‘Ripping post-colonial yarn ... Ghosh spins a fine story with a quite irresistible flow, breathing exuberant life ... an absorbing vision’

(Guardian )

‘Ghosh’s narrative is enriched with a wealth of historical detail ... as well as intricate characterisation that makes interaction among the diverse group truly absorbing’

(The Times )

‘There can be fewer more exciting settings for a novel than a sea-tossed sailing ship ... Ghosh piles detail upon detail in a rumbustical adventure’

(The Times )

‘The fantastic Anglo-Asian language they speak is infectious, and the sombre yet uncertain conclusion leaves one eager for the second novel in the trilogy’

(Daily Telegraph )

‘An utterly involving book’ (Sunday Times )

‘This is a panoramic adventure story, with a Dickensian energy and scope’

(Sunday Telegraph )

‘A richly drawn cast of characters ... gilded with expertly-mined historical detail’

(Sunday Business Post )

‘A captivating cast ... Ghosh’s saga is enriched with a blizzard of Laskari- and Hindi-derived words that add irrepressible energy to the narrative’

(Metro )

‘Beautifully written, this totally absorbing novel will leave you eagerly awaiting a second  instalment’

(She Magazine )

Praise for The Glass Palace:

(. )

‘Breathtaking ... Ghosh is a deeply serious writer, sure of his human and historical insights ... I cannot think of another contemporary writer with whom it would be so thrilling to go so far, so fast’

(The Times )

‘A splendid, exotic, panoramic saga, with fascinating detail about the period and the countries involved. Eminently readable, indeed a real page-turner’ (Publishing News )

‘A born storyteller ... never for a moment is the reader not propelled irresistibly forward to discover what happens next’

(Literary Review )

Praise for The Hungry Tide:

(. )

‘A marvellous novel ... an ambitious, absorbing, vivid, deeply involving story ... the narrative is full of excitement. Here is a thoughtful examination of what it means to be fully human’

(Sunday Times )

‘An exceptionally intricate and rich novel’

(Financial Times )

‘Ghosh probes the hearts of his characters and examines the nature of their identity ... the climax is a tremendous scene, but it is the haunting quality of this novel that stays in the memory’

(Sunday Telegraph )
See all Product Description

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Sea of Poppies
77% buy the item featured on this page:
Sea of Poppies 3.7 out of 5 stars (33)
£12.29
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Customer Reviews

33 Reviews
5 star:
 (10)
4 star:
 (12)
3 star:
 (7)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:
 (4)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.7 out of 5 stars (33 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Energetic, ambitious and immensely moving......, 15 May 2009
By Wynne Kelly "Kellydoll" (Coventry, UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)      
This review is from: Sea of Poppies (Paperback)
Another tremendous piece of storytelling from Ghosh. In Sea of Poppies he brings together a disparate group of characters who all find themselves aboard the Ibis as she sails from the Hoogly River in Calcutta to Mauritius in the 1830s. The Ibis is a "blackbirder" - a ship previously used as part of the slave trade and is now used to transport opium and other supplies to China. But with the Opium Wars looming it is decided to use the ship to take indentured labourers to Mauritius.
The opium trade is brilliantly researched and shows us the devastating effect it has on the peasants forced to grow poppies rather than food. Class and caste issues loom large throughout in a society where everyone knows where they stand in the pecking order. Only on the Ibis does this hierarchy break down as the passengers realise that they are (literally) all in the same boat.
The narrative moves swiftly and rarely slackens. The story culminates in a real cliffhanger and leaves the reader wanting to know what will happen next. (Sea of Poppies is the first part of a trilogy). The characterisations are strong and vivid although I do feel that some of the things that happen are somewhat far-fetched!
Much of the dialogue is bold and bawdy and uses lots of Anglo-Indian and Hindustani terms. This added to the rich brew of this novel although I can understand that others may find it irritating.
An energetic, ambitious and immensely moving book.
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44 of 48 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Addictive, as in the title, 6 Jul 2008
By William Notcutt "drwilliam" (Norfolk, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Sea of Poppies (Paperback)
I was attracted to buy this book through prior knowledge of the author, an interest in India and its history, and a professional interest in the subject of the title. Recognising that this was volume 1 of a trilogy, I realised there would be a lot of scene setting with characters establishing themselves. I thought this might be heavy going but I was wrong. I enjoyed the stories and the backgrounds that lead to them all being on the ship, the Ibis on their way to Mauritius. Throughout this wafted the sheer unpleasantness of life, the smells, the violence, the prejudice and the struggles that so many had had to overcome. Inevitably the main characters stand out as survivors with hidden depths that emerge over time. Perhaps a bit 2 dimensional as this stage.

Amitav Ghosh has done a huge amount of research into the background of life 200 years ago in India and this is reflected in the use of the vernacular languages of the time - seafaring talk, colonial English, a multitude of Indian words etc. On the one hand this was difficult to manage at first and I kept looking for a glossary (it would need to have been about 20 pages!). However, as I got used to it I found myself able to understand a lot more. My lack of understanding often matched the characters lack of comprehension of what was being said to them. Overall this mixture of language added to the flavour of the book but could be off-putting some.

It was a fast, engrossing read for me, with an unexpected cliff-hanger at the end and I am looking forward to the next instalment. I recommend it.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Stage setter, 14 Feb 2009
By Arjan Van Woensel - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
There are many very good reviews on this book already. My take on it? I liked it enough to be on the look out for part 2 in the trilogy, but that is also its main setback. On the whole, this first book is too much of a 'stage setter'. It doesn't feel very much as a finished work, but as a beautifully crafted door to an as yet unfinished building.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars A Novel to Savour
The first thing to know about 'The Sea of Poppies' is that it's the first volume of a trilogy. Should you be the sort of person who dives straight into the narrative, without... Read more
Published 29 days ago by Quicksilver

3.0 out of 5 stars Sea of Poppies
Interesting story , the strange language was offputting as you could not always work out the meaning and had to repeat read several times. Read more
Published 1 month ago by rainbird

3.0 out of 5 stars Good but disappointing end
It took me a relatively long time to get into this book, ie until about 1/3 of the way through it. Then I became engrossed and couldn't put it down until the end. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Eenymo

3.0 out of 5 stars empire revisited
I think on balance I would recommend this novel, though initially I only persisted because my book group are reading it. Read more
Published 2 months ago by jd

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book
A friend told me about this book, and she was write, it is fantastic. The story is beautifully developed by Ghosh, making the characters close and vivid. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Macarena Silva Trujillo

5.0 out of 5 stars Sea of Poppies
A romping good read. I can't wait to get my hands on the next part of the trilogy. Gripping plot, innovative use of sea-faring language and engaging characters. Read this one now.
Published 2 months ago by J. S. Taylor

1.0 out of 5 stars Over-hyped and pretentious
I struggled manfully to finish it, but really wished I hadn't started it in the first place. One of the most disappointing books that I've read for many years and also one of the... Read more
Published 3 months ago by M. Bathgate

4.0 out of 5 stars Gorgeous language but hard work until you get used to it
The vocabulary is absolutely beautiful in this book. I did not understand many of the words that are used but, put together the way they are, the story seems to create an... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Janie U

4.0 out of 5 stars Memory of a mixed past
This is a superb story. The details are so rich that it must have been the result of much research,
The narrative never fails. I have a personal interest. Read more
Published 3 months ago by R. Rhodes-james

4.0 out of 5 stars almost stunning...
There is an incredible amount of knowledge to gain from this book aside from it being an entertaining novel. Read more
Published 3 months ago by M. Zaman

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