Wars of Commerce

I loved Amitav Ghosh’s Sea of Poppies, the first installment in his trilogy about the Opium Wars in China in the mid-19^th-century. Yes, I learned something about history, but I was entranced by his playful use of language.  The Opium Wars represented a mixture and clash of many cultures and languages, and Ghosh reveled in the richness of the stew.  The writing is playful, clever, and often downright funny (almost like Victor Borge or Syd Caeser doing their language schticks). Yes, there is a conventional plot, but for me it doesn’t matter much.

The second installment, River of Smoke, was a little disappointing.  Less playful, more plot driven, more seriously historical.

The third and last of the trilogy, Flood of Fire, unfortunately continues the trend.  The language just isn’t much fun anymore, history dominates in a less interesting way, and Ghosh spends lots of time tying up plot lines from the previous two books.  But I didn’t care much about those plot lines when I read the earlier installments, and I didn’t even remember them clearly on reading the third. 

So I was disappointed in the finale.  Ghosh ends up focusing greater attention on the weaker points of the series, and neglecting what made the first book so enjoyable.

Well, I do know a lot more about the Opium Wars now. It's interesting to think about the Iraq and Afghanistan wars in the context of the Opium Wars.  Nonetheless, Flood of Fire is not what I was hoping for.