Robert Cooper

A passage from India

Sea of Poppies, by Amitav Ghosh, read by Lyndham Gregory<br /> <br type="_moz" />

issue 20 September 2008

Sea of Poppies, by Amitav Ghosh, read by Lyndham Gregory

Ever been called a ‘dung-brained gubberhead’ or had your face compared to ‘a bandar’s bunghole’? Welcome aboard the Ibis, a rancid former slaving schooner now transporting migrants, coolies, criminals and opium from Calcutta to China. Here amidst the pounding seas we have the perfect backcloth to Amitav Ghosh’s exhilarating novel, shortlisted for the Booker prize, set amidst the Opium Wars of the 1830s. A mournful sitar creates the mood as our excellent reader, Lyndham Gregory, whisks us from the poppy fields of the Ganges to the perilous high seas. It is not only children who appreciate being read to; the combination of a well-crafted story performed by a skilled reader offers a supremely powerful medium. This is a corker.

Even as a slothful student, I am positive the mere mention of the Opium Wars would have captivated me, but we never studied them.

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