Esteemed Indian novelist Amitav Ghosh ponders migration and climate change by improvising on the motifs of Bengali myth: Protagonist Deen Datta deals with rare books and Asian antiques in Brooklyn. Each year, he travels to visit his family in Calcutta, and this time, a relative tells him the story of a Bengali folk hero called the Gun Merchant, a (you guessed it) merchant fated to travel the world seeking a safe haven from the goddess of snakes. As the story progresses, others chime in the elaboration of the tale, which starts to blend with scientific facts and urgent political and ecological challenges (see Ghosh's The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable). Where will we flee if the earth has become uninhabitable?

The story strongly relies on myth and metaphor and has a lavish scope: The pacing is particular, the events rely on readers suspending disbelief (on the other hand: myth plays a large role), and the text goes off into all directions. I'm not the reader for this, as I love stringency and intricately composed narrative structures, which is not what Ghosh aims to do here. For those who enjoy political fiction that also offers sprawling storytelling, "Gun Island" is the right pick.

I wanted to like "Gun Island" more than I did. There are definitely some things that could have been better, like the characters. I just couldn't connect with this.

Gun Island did not live up to my expectations especially when comparing this novel to Ghosh's other works. I just kept finding myself bored and confused throughout its entirety. I so badly wanted to love this book but the storyline and its characters didn't speak to me like The Ibis Trilogy or The Glass Palace.

This was an amazing book and deserving of all the praise it has received. I did find it a bit much and hard to follow at times, but that was my own personal hangups not the author's. The payoff is worth it and this book stayed on my mind long after I finished it

Magical mystical a story within a story.This author who weaves a spell draws me in.A book I really enjoyed #netgalley#fsg

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book. A full review will be posted on Amazon and Goodreads

I tried really really hard to get into this book. I wanted to like it but I just could not connect with the storyline or the characters. I ended up having to abandon this one.

Thank you Netgalley and Publisher for the early copy!

I decided to put down the novel because I did not connect with the writing style.

I loved that this was a story within a story. I loved the magical way in which this book was written. I loved the characters. This one just ticked so many boxes for me and I absolutely adored it. FSG continues to be a publisher that really works for me! So thankful for the opportunity to read this one!

Thank you Netgalley and publishers for providing me an advanced copy of "Gun Island".

I liked the simple writing style of the author. I totally loved the whole backdrop. It would be perfect for someone who wants to read a book totally different from the rest of the books that came this year. It totally takes you to a different world but there were too many Bengali phrases which can irk if not explained properly. It describes the local culture really good but some characteristics of the characters are a bit too much to believe.

I enjoy the narrator's voice and the intrigue of this Indian mythology and how it's clearly about to lead our protagonist on an adventure, but it has yet to really grab my attention. I find myself setting it aside for other novels in my stack. I'll come back to it. And what is with this trend of snakes on covers?

Thanks to Netgalley and Goodreads for the ARC they provided, though I mostly listened to the audiobook.

I thought this was going to be hard to get through and slow-paced but while the latter was true it turned out to be an interesting read indeed. I loved all the historical background and the engaging way it was laid out. The narrator did a great job of portraying our protagonist as an intellectual yet not a know-it-all who could experience great emotion regardless of how stubbornly logic advised against it. This is my first Amitav Ghosh read and I will definitely look more into his work.

Beautifully written, as other Ghosh books I've read, I love the interweaving of myth and realism as his take on current events unfolds through the eyes of a rare book dealer living in Brooklyn. Deen has several moments of truth, and we accompany him as he goes deep into the Sundarbans, a mangrove swamp area between
Bengal and Bangladesh, Los Angeles and Venice, culminating on a ship in the Mediterranean. Ghosh has a love of the planet and its people, but through this lovely book he quietly expresses his rage at the way they are doing one another in at this time. Immigration atrocities are explored in an original way, and more than a little magic realism appears. This is a lovely hallucinogenic read that transports the reader through time.

It's a slow burn but the story ties up nicely in the end

A story within a story. Each mirroring the other, foretelling the next step the narrator takes. It's a magical tale that weaves the rational thought of modern day with the superstitions and folklore of the 17th century, traveling all over the world from Sundarban India to Venice Italy. Many questions are proposed and discussed between characters: are miracles merely chance outcomes? Has the scientific method replaced faith or has it given credence to what was once mystical? This book reminds me of The Club Dumas, The Shadow of the Wind, and even The Da Vinci Code. If you're looking for something along those lines you won't be disappointed in Gun Island.

My only complaint is how characters are introduced. It's a small matter and maybe I'm just nit picking. But many characters would bare their sole to the narrator upon meeting him. Tell him deep dark secrets. It's possible the narrator, Deen/Dino/Dinanath, is the type of person people tell things to, but he didn't let on that this is a normal occurrence. It felt too convenient of a way to move the story along. Other than that small complaint, the characters are wonderfully complex. Especially the women! They're all accomplished, have their own agency, dreams, and ambitions. They're also very complex characters for what is mostly an adventure story. I was worried Deen's romantic endeavors would sidetrack the story, but that didn't happen at all.

The language is beautiful, precise, and playful with meanings. Here's an example:

I had to have faith–that was the thing that had been missing in my life of late, faith. I had to cling to my faith in chance, at all costs. It was almost as though my fidelity were being tested, through trials and ordeals, like the Buddha by the demoness Mara; like St Anthony in the desert; like Yudhishthira on his final ascent.

I'm impressed with Ghosh's simple sentences which makes him very readable.

Thank you Netgalley and Publishers for granting me early access to "Gun Island".

This book did top my favorite reads this year, however I'm currently in the middle of a major move, and will definitely come back at a later time and write out a full review and rating.

Thank you so much!

I found this an absorbing, well-told tale from beginning to end. though i found it relied on so many coincidences that it becomes ridiculous long before the end is in sight., and i would recommend to fiction lovers though not one of his best works

Ultimately, I did not finish this novel. The prose was filled with Bengali phrases that were not translated, rambling paragraphs and a main character who I didn’t connect with. I could not find a rhythm with this one.

A romp through an ancient Indian legend that will take you on a world tour and bring out your inner nerd. I thoroughly enjoyed Gun Island.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

Gun Island
By: Amitav Ghosh

*REVIEW* 🌟🌟🌟
Where to begin? Gun Island is a complex novel that is not a fast or easy read. I had great difficulty in connecting with the main character. He felt too gullible and ridiculous. Eventually, the story started to feel ridiculous, too. It's all over the place and disjointed and too over the top. It didn't work for me.

First published in Great Britain in 2019; published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux on September 10, 2019

Dinanath “Deen” Datta is a dealer in rare books and antiquities, a profession that does not help him attract the attention of women. He lives in Brooklyn but maintains a residence in Calcutta. When Deen was a student, he did doctoral research on Indian folklore, particularly the story of a conflict between a Merchant and Manasa Devi, the goddess of snakes.

An elderly aunt who founded a charity asks to see Deen as he is nearing the end of a trip to Calcutta. A marine biologist named Piya helps the aunt when she is not living in Oregon. Deen is immediately attracted to Piya, but as his therapist has told him, the hope of romance impairs his judgment.

Deen’s aunt tells him a story of the Merchant as she heard it from the caretaker of a shrine to Manasa Devi that stands in the middle of the Sundarbans, a mangrove forest in the Bay of Bengal. Paralleling the ancient story of Manasa Devi’s wrath, the story tells how a Merchant took refuge in a place devoid of snakes known as Gun Island, was later captured by pirates, and struck a deal with Manasa Devi to save himself. In return for freedom and prosperity, the Merchant built the shrine to Manasa Devi.

When Deen visits the shrine, a boy named Rafi fills in more of the Merchant's story. Bad luck befalls Deen, Rafi, and a boy named Tipu during the visit. With the help of a knowledgeable acquaintance and having examined markings on the shrine, Deen later reinterprets the legends that surround Gun Island.

The heart of the story begins when Deen is asked to interpret for a filmmaker who is making a documentary about migrants in Venice. He is surprised to learn how many residents of the Venetian Ghetto speak Bangla. He is also surprised to find Rafi working in Venice. When Piya contacts him to report that Tipu has disappeared from the Sundarbans, Deen suspects that Rafi knows more about Tipu’s whereabouts than he is willing to admit.

Snakes, spiders and legends about Italian sea monsters and the possession of souls begin to trouble Deen during his Venetian adventure. Yet other monsters are a more immediate threat, including worms that are eating the wooden foundations upon which Venice is built, a threat directly rated to warming seas caused by climate change. The story also draws interesting parallels between dolphins, who are forced to search for new hunting grounds when pollutants create “dead zones” in oceans where no fish survive, and people who leave the Sundarbans because the sea no longer supports fishermen. “No one knows where they belong any more, neither humans nor animals.”

In addition to addressing the impact of climate change, the novel focuses on refugees who are trying to make their way to Italy by boat. They encounter resistance from Italian authorities. That story, like the harrowing journey that Rafi and Tipu take from India, smuggled into Iran and running from shots fired by Turkish border guards, is a timely reminder of the dangers faced by unwelcome migrants everywhere. How the developed world treats impoverished refugees is one of the novel’s key themes.

The story’s weakness is its attempt to make events in Italy echo the legend of the Merchant, including creatures converging on the refugees from the sea and air. I won’t give away the ending, but it the kind of moral climax that might be found in a parable. Gun Island is too complex to classify as a parable, but it strains to combine elements of legend with the realities of the modern world. Still, Amitav Ghosh tells a moving story in graceful prose, making it easy for readers to sympathize with unfortunate characters and to admire characters who behave decently despite their financial success.

Transplanting symbols of the legend into Deen’s life is a clever concept that doesn’t quite work. I find it difficult to invest in stories that depend on elements of fantasy while making clear that the narrative is not a fantasy. Perhaps readers who are more willing to accept the miraculous will have a different opinion. Nevertheless, for its well-developed characters and its juxtaposition of the two most pressing social problems in the modern world (global warming and hostility to migrants), Gun Island is an important and intriguing novel.

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