Review: Gun Island

Gun Island by Amitav Ghosh
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Hooter: The rare book dealer from New York tries to figure how a folklore in Sunderbans from 17th century is still playing out in the 21st century as he races across the globe.

A mix of folklore and traditions mixed with modern day issues of climate change and migration creates a hodge podge of topics we come across as each character adds their perspective and flavour. Whilst the historical parallels seemed to be the core of the storyline and kept me intrigued as how the fable of bandook saudagar ties back to Italy and opens up a fascinating chapter in history, I felt the modern day topics were forced fitted into the storyline - the LGBTQ angle, climate change, refugee crisis in Europe and a mix of mysticism and outlandish miracles which left me underwhelmed compared to the lovely depiction of the folklore. Manasadevi also is an angle he started with but left it hanging with a brush of spirituality and miracles.

Tipu makes for a very interesting character but we get to see him in sketches whereas Piya is left unexplored and gets more airtime as Deens love interest versus the colourful story she has had in her life. Cinta obviously adds a connect but her storyline seems like a distraction as I felt it didn't really go anywhere except for bring a supernatural angle to the book.

Amitav beautifully captures the vivid imagery draped in culture and tradition across the globe but tries to add those cheap frills to add modern day relevance that's leaves you a little wanting and underwhelmed.

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