
Sea of Poppies
Ibis Trilogy, Book 1
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Narrated by:
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Phil Gigante
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By:
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Amitav Ghosh
In a time of colonial upheaval, fate has thrown together a diverse cast of Indians and Westerners, from a bankrupt Raja to a widowed tribeswoman, from a mulatto American freedman to a free-spirited French orphan. As their old family ties are washed away, they, like their historical counterparts, come to view themselves as jahaj-bhais, or ship brothers. An unlikely dynasty is born, which will span continents, races, and generations.
The vast sweep of this historical adventure embraces the lush poppy fields of the Ganges, the rolling high seas, and the crowded backstreets of Canton. But it is the panorama of characters, whose diaspora encapsulates the vexed colonial history of the East itself, that makes Sea of Poppies so breathtakingly alive - a masterpiece from one of the world's finest novelists.
©2008 Amitav Ghosh (P)2008 Brilliance Audio, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...




















Critic reviews
"A writer of supreme skill and intelligence. " ( The Atlantic Monthly)
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Stick it through - its well worth the listen!
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Unbearable Indian accent
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Story
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I'll definitely read more by Amitav Ghosh. His ability to tell an emotionally engaging, richly detailed story is fantastic. This novel does a beautiful job of introducing characters and then weaving their stories together in a captivating way. I also enjoyed his depiction of the period just before the opium wars in India, and his way of depicting the reasons behind the challenges of life for the Indian people in a very honest, frank manner. I would urge writers who are setting stories in colonial British India to educate their readers about the life of the Indian people under British rule as honestly as Amitav Ghosh does. I learn new things every time I read one of his books, but in ways that are human and relatable.
Narration:
I dislike this narration intensely. Phil Gigante's pacing is plodding and makes it difficult to get into the rhythm of the story. Additionally, he does a terrible job voicing the Indian characters. They either use horribly mispronounced Hindi/Bengali words, or have spoken English accents reminiscent of stereotypical Chinamen in 1950s Orientalist films. I am hoping the remainder of the recordings of the books in this series have a different narrator.
Fantastic story, poor narration
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Pleasantly surprised
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What did you like best about Sea of Poppies? What did you like least?
The narrator's accent was all wrong - he made the Indians sound like Jamaicans, and it made me cringe. He also spoke too fast, not resting sufficiently between sentences. I ultimately gave up on the audio version and bought the kindle version instead. I'm enjoying the book thoroughly having done that.Would you be willing to try another one of Phil Gigante’s performances?
No.Any additional comments?
Good writing. There are so many Indian actors to choose from - why not pick one of them to narrate this story?Wonderful book. Horrible narration
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Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?
This is a slow moving, somewhat majestic first part of a trilogy. There is much detail and conversation in various dialects. The audible vocabulary of Indian and Chinese culture is harder to understand than it might be in a book, where there is opportunity to look up the foreign words. The spelling is not obvious. The overall flavor of the times before and during the Opium Wars comes through and lends historical interest. There are many characters in this trilogy, each with a distinctive story.Note: this review also pertains to Ghosh's second book of the trilogy,
Not as good as his "The Hungry Tide"
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Best of Amitav Ghosh
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Very visceral and visual
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The performance is insulting
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