The Circle of Reason
by GHOSH, AMITAV
- Used
- Paperback
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
DUNEDIN, Otago, New Zealand
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Penguin Books 1990. Sebastian Black's copy. Softcover octavo (VG) ; all our specials have minimal description to keep listing them viable. They are at least reading copies, complete and in reasonable condition, but usually secondhand; frequently they are superior examples. Ordering more than one book will reduce your overall postage costs
Synopsis
Amitav Ghosh’s extraordinary first novel makes a claim on literary turf held by Gabriel García Márquez and Salman Rushdie. In a vivid and magical story, The Circle of Reason traces the misadventures of Alu, a young master weaver in a small Bengali village who is falsely accused of terrorism. Alu flees his home, traveling through Bombay to the Persian Gulf to North Africa with a bird-watching policeman in pursuit.
Reviews
On Apr 14 2014, CloggieDownunder said:
The Circle of Reason is the first novel by Indian author, Amitav Ghosh. The story of Nachiketa Bose, known throughout the narration as Alu because of his misshapen head, is related from his arrival at his uncle Balaram’s house in the Bengali town of Lalpukur, when he is orphaned at eight years old. A boy who becomes gifted at languages and a skilful weaver, a cascade of events leads to Alu’s flight across India, into the Middle East and across northern Africa, pursued by a tenacious policeman, Jyoti Das, under the pretext that he is a suspect in a terrorist incident. Ghosh gives the reader a rich cast of characters that are appealing and complex; even minor characters are allotted a potted history in their turn. The plot has quite a few twists, and Ghosh manages to fairly seamlessly include a village squabble, weaving, phrenology and physiognomy, a man obsessed with carbolic acid, the life of Louis Pasteur, a theory on queues, a comparison between communism and capitalism, a self-immolation, an attack with boiling oil, a building collapse, the Hindu epic Mahabharata and sewing machines. An amazing debut novel.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Hard To Find Books
(NZ)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 148232
- Title
- The Circle of Reason
- Author
- GHOSH, AMITAV
- Book Condition
- Used
- Binding
- Paperback
- Publisher
- Penguin Books 1990
- Keywords
- specials Sebastian Black's copy Amitav Ghosh literature fiction novel
Terms of Sale
Hard To Find Books
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About the Seller
Hard To Find Books
Biblio member since 2004
DUNEDIN, Otago
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Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Octavo
- Another of the terms referring to page or book size, octavo refers to a standard printer's sheet folded four times, producing...
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