The Glass Palace

By: Amitav Ghosh

Narrated by: Simon Vance

Length: 17 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

Set in Burma during the British invasion of 1885, this masterly novel by Amitav Ghosh tells the story of Rajkumar, a poor boy lifted on the tides of political and social chaos, who goes on to create an empire in the Burmese teak forest. When soldiers force the royal family out of the Glass Palace and into exile, Rajkumar befriends Dolly, a young woman in the court of the Burmese Queen, whose love will shape his life. He cannot forget her, and years later, as a rich man, he goes in search of her.

The struggles that have made Burma, India, and Malaya the places they are today are illuminated in this wonderful novel by the writer Chitra Divakaruni calls “a master storyteller.”

©2002 Amitav Ghosh (P)2010 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Ghosh renders the polite imprisonment of the Burmese royal family in India and the lush, dangerous atmosphere of teak camps in the Burmese forest with fine detail––a perfect balance for the broad strokes of romance and serendipity that drive the story forward." ( The New Yorker)

"Ghosh ranges from the condescension of the British colonialists to the repression of the current Myanmar (Burmese) regime in a style that suggests E. M. Forster as well as James Michener. Highly recommended." ( Library Journal)

Riveting picture of the human story of Burma!

What did you love best about The Glass Palace?

The characters were well drawn and very vivid, so that you emphasized with them. I also enjoyed the descriptions of a country I knew very little about. It was an eye opening experience.

What other book might you compare The Glass Palace to and why?

This book is similar to Hawaii by James Michener, or Sarum by Edward Rutherfurd. They all are sweeping stories of country's histories told thru a few families. The only difference is that The Glass Palace is only telling a few hundred years of history while the others go centuries.

Which character – as performed by Simon Vance – was your favorite?

So many characters I loved. I would have to say Dinu Raha was my favorite. As a young boy he is closer to his mother than father, and survives childhood polio. He loves photography and would be what we call today autistic in his singlemindedness. He falls for Alison the beautiful daughter of Matthew and Elsa and against all odds wins her love.
He also becomes the voice of Burma and a political prisoner for a time.
Just loved his character!

If you could rename The Glass Palace, what would you call it?

I like the name just fine. Don't think there is a better name.

Any additional comments?

This story really brought the world to me. The narrative is told by the individual peoples and made me realize that Britain and America's love for their country and belief in a "manifest destiny" nearly destroyed the people and countries they conquered.
A very moving tale of the rights of all people to live free in this world.
Highly recommend!

A Bit Too Long

I liked the historical setting, but I found the story itself a tad bit dull.

Great book

This book held my attention and I really liked the story line. It was a little difficult in the beginning but Burma is an area of the world I know little about and it was fascinating to hear about.

Brilliant, eloquently sad.

Beautiful reading of the elegantly written novel that travels through the complex modern history of Burma and realized by the extraordinary character of Rajkumar. Thank you!

Great historical/cross-cultural story

Where does The Glass Palace rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Upper quadrant.

What was most disappointing about Amitav Ghosh’s story?

Really a family history intertwined with Burmese history rather than a novel of real personal growth or significant challenges.

Which scene was your favorite?

Every scene was told with the same reporter style so it was somewhat difficult to get emotionally caught-up. Overall the story (history) was compelling.

If you could take any character from The Glass Palace out to dinner, who would it be and why?

Simon Vance

Amazing Book

Would you listen to The Glass Palace again? Why?

The book did an awesome job of helping put me the reader in the frame of events occurring in that time period.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Dolly was my favourite character

long history of Burma early 1900s- mid 1900s

I love Amitov Ghost and his writings, but got a bit lost in this one due to gaps in my listening. Overall, I liked the story when I could get the characters straight. Good picture of colonial Burma and it's pre and post war years and the influence of India as it was shaking off from under
British rule. Unforgetable characters, with strong women's roles. Fun history of autos and planes thrown in and sad scenes from WW2.

Awesome

I really enjoyed this book. It was subtly jarring when i was quietly reminded that the people in the story were not members of my own culture- but the momentary realizations were not disruptive (nor intended to be educational)... they just added to the books overall story. People in different places - do the same things for different reasons. But the purpose of the story was not about cultural differences - it was an amazing historical fiction. Just a really good story. One other thing that was intriguing and excellent was how the author transitioned between the geberations. I was wondering how it would be done in one book because my primary template for a three generation book is Ken Follets Century Trilogy.. where each book follows the story of the following generation. This book also covered three generations but all in the same book - and the transitions were seamless and non disrutive... just excellent!

So Much Diverse History

If you could sum up The Glass Palace in three words, what would they be?

Excellent Historical Timeline.

What did you like best about this story?

I like the way the characters' stories mingle and the thread that wound through the history of Burma, Indian and Malaysia. I like the way the weaknesses and strengths of each character were developed so the reader understood why the character was behaving a certain way at a given time.

What about Simon Vance’s performance did you like?

His voice was just so appropriate for all characters, it did distract from the story in any way.

Who was the most memorable character of The Glass Palace and why?

The most memorable character was Dolly because you meet her almost from the beginning and she morphs through so many circumstances as the story evolves. She begins as a maid to the princesses and is exiled to India where she meets Rajkuma.

This is an amazing book and the narration is beautiful

I read this book several years ago and i have continued to read it every 10 years or so and I find a lot of joy in all the characters and in Mr Ghosh's writings