The Shadow Lines (Educational edition)

by Amitav Ghosh | Literature & Fiction |
ISBN: 0195636317 Global Overview for this book
Registered by Vasha of Ithaca, New York USA on 10/23/2010
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6 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by Vasha from Ithaca, New York USA on Saturday, October 23, 2010
With critical essays by A. N. Kaul, Suvir Kaul, Meenakshi Mukherjee and Rajeswari Sunder Rajan.

Winner of the Sahitya Akademi Award, India’s most prestigious literary prize, The Shadow Lines is a chronicle of three generations that stretches from Calcutta to Cairo, London to Dhaka. The unnamed narrator jumps back and forth through time and space to explore the intertwined lives of his Bengali family and the British Price family, who have known each other since the time of the Raj. While the mystery at the center of the novel revolves around the fate of the narrator’s second cousin (and mentor) Tridib in the city of Dhaka in 1964 (the date of Bangladesh’s Partition), the details and effect of his tragedy span over twenty years and color the lives of all the other characters of the novel. Intricately weaving together the memories and stories of various characters, The Shadow Lines acts as a microcosm of a nation rent by politics, exposing the borders (the shadow lines), both physical and metaphorical, that can divide individuals.

Born in Calcutta in 1956, Amitav Ghosh is one of the most highly respected Indian authors writing in English today. He has been awarded the Arthur C. Clarke Award, the Pushcart Prize, and France’s Prix Medici Étranger, among other accolades. Although his previous books have also centered on exile, diaspora, and cultural displacement,
The Shadow Lines offers an elaborate and highly developed exploration of these themes, rendered in a powerful, yet subtle, prose. Ghosh is also the author of numerous novels, essays, and travelogues. — Bianca Jackson in 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die

Journal Entry 2 by 1001-library at Helsinki, Uusimaa / Nyland Finland on Monday, November 8, 2010

Thanks so much for your donation Vasha!

This book is now part of the 1001-library. If you want to take this book from the library but don't know how to proceed, please refer to the 1001-library bookshelf.

Journal Entry 3 by Vasha at Ithaca, New York USA on Sunday, April 17, 2011
Reserved to send to the Netherlands in an m-bag.

Journal Entry 4 by Vasha at Ithaca, New York USA on Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Released 12 yrs ago (4/26/2011 UTC) at Ithaca, New York USA

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Added to a box of books mailed to Europe.

Journal Entry 5 by Boekentrol at Leeuwarden, Fryslân (Friesland) Netherlands on Thursday, May 5, 2011
This book arrived safely in a box with 1001-books that have been requested by members of the 1001-library that live in the EU.
I'll send it on to mafarrimond. If she's not really in a hurry receiving it, I might give it a try and read it before sending it out.

Journal Entry 6 by Boekentrol at Leeuwarden, Fryslân (Friesland) Netherlands on Wednesday, June 15, 2011
The next reader is not in a hurry to recieve this book, but I'm sending it on anyway. I do not have the peace of mind or time to read it in a reasonable period of time.

Since I still think it is an interesting book to read, I am putting it on my wish list, to read it some day later.

Journal Entry 7 by Boekentrol at Leeuwarden, Fryslân (Friesland) Netherlands on Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Released 12 yrs ago (6/16/2011 UTC) at Leeuwarden, Fryslân (Friesland) Netherlands

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

This book form Vasha's 1001-RABCK is going on a journey ot its next reader.
Happy reading, mafarrimond & thanks for your patience!

Journal Entry 8 by mafarrimond at Hawarden, Wales United Kingdom on Saturday, July 2, 2011
The book has arrived safely. Thank you.

Journal Entry 9 by soffitta1 at Ávila, Ávila Spain on Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Thanks so much, I love this writer!

The narrator tells us his family history, of life in India as well as their links with England. The unnamed narrator dearly enjoys the stories of his uncle Tiridib, tales of his time in England which are so vivid that when he finally goes there himself, the narrator is able to find his way around a city he's never even visited before. The book reaches a climax when we find out the tragedy suffered by the family.

Another major influence in his life is his grandmother, a strong woman deeply affected by partition. There is also love on the cards, his first is his cousin, Illa, the second is for May Price, though maybe he is more in love with the memory of her as passed on by his uncle. The Price family is influential as a whole, a long-standing connection stemming from the Raj and continuing through WW2 and Partition.

This book is a blend of real life (well, of the characters) and the fiction as life stories are told, retold, remembered differently and even embellished. This blend also shows us how interconnected we all are, how an event in one area can cause riots to break out in another. There are memories in every family's story that cast long shadows on those involved as well as on the next generations. Both the narrator and Illa are deeply affected, with the narrator dreaming of his uncle's life and Illa seemingly left without roots, fated to wander the earth.

As ever with Ghosh's work, The Shadow Lines had me hooked from page one, not only because of the story, but also because of the sumptuous writing style.

Journal Entry 10 by 1001-library at Helsinki, Uusimaa / Nyland Finland on Sunday, February 26, 2012


This book is now back on the 1001 library bookshelf and can be borrowed by PMing soffitta1:)

If you want to take this book from the library but don't know how to proceed, please refer to the library bookshelf.

Journal Entry 11 by soffitta1 at Dovercourt, Essex United Kingdom on Saturday, April 28, 2012

Released 11 yrs ago (4/28/2012 UTC) at Dovercourt, Essex United Kingdom

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Chosen from the 1001-Library VBB.

Journal Entry 12 by Danielle23 at Sunderland, Tyne and Wear United Kingdom on Monday, April 30, 2012
The book is here with me now and will be resting safely on my shelf for a little while but hopefully not for too long.

Journal Entry 13 by Danielle23 at Sunderland, Tyne and Wear United Kingdom on Saturday, May 31, 2014
Another book from the 1001 library and another good read. Jumping from the present to the past and between England and India this story was told very well and was not as disjointed as you may think. It took a while for me to read it as it is quite short, but once I picked it up I became very engrossed at points, almost missing my bus stop. I think May was my favourite character but I felt very strong empathy towards Ila too especially with her idealised marriage not being quite what she had in mind ('My way of travelling' indeed!)

Back to the Library.

Journal Entry 14 by 1001-library at Helsinki, Uusimaa / Nyland Finland on Sunday, June 1, 2014

This book is now back on the 1001 library bookshelf and can be borrowed by PMing Danielle23:)

If you want to take this book from the library but don't know how to proceed, please refer to the library bookshelf.


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