Novel
The Circle of Reason
Amitav Ghosh · 1986
Synopsis
An orphan at eight, Alu, nicknamed “potato” because of his huge, lumpy head, is taken in at Lalpukur, near the border of East Bengal, by his uncle Balaram, a schoolmaster passionate about phrenology and an avid reader of the life of Pasteur. An apprentice weaver, Alu proves a master of the trade. His uncle's quarrel with Bhudeb Roy, a village notable and police informer, turns into tragedy; suspected of terrorism, Alu flees via Calcutta and Bombay towards the Persian Gulf, then North Africa, pursued by a bird-loving amateur policeman, Jyoti Das.
Context
The novel appeared in 1986; it was its author's first, drawing on his journeys as an anthropologist in India, the Middle East and Africa. It is built in three parts bearing the names of the three qualities of matter according to Indian philosophy, the first being reason. Critics have compared it to García Márquez and Rushdie. Christiane Besse translated it into French at Le Seuil in 1990.
Who it is for
A long, teeming novel, funny and digressive, in which every minor character is given his or her own story. It exists in French.
Prizes and reception
Prix Médicis étranger in 1990 for its French translation; the book that began its author's career as a novelist.
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