38 pages • 1 hour read
The Shadow Lines
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Summary and Study Guide
Overview
The Shadow Lines is a novel by Indian author Amitav Ghosh. Upon its publication in 1988, the book was praised for its ingenious structure and challenging style. Most novels tell a story. The Shadow Lines does not pretend to have a concrete plot. Rather, it is a series of stream-of-consciousness memories delivered to the reader by an unnamed character known as the Narrator. Jumping back and forth between 1939 and the mid-1970s, the Narrator reminisces about various family members and friends, and how their lives intersected with a series of fatal riots in Calcutta and Pakistan in 1963 and 1964.
Plot Summary
The novel has no chapters or scenes, but is structured in two parts: “Going Away” and “Coming Home.” “Coming Home” begins as the Narrator relates the story of several of his family members and how they came to live in Calcutta. The Narrator makes it clear that he is writing about the past from some undetermined point in the 1970s as he works on a Doctoral degree in London. Oddly, his mother and father are scarcely mentioned in the novel. Part 1, “Going Away,” focuses primarily on his relationship with his grandmother Unlock all 38 pages of this Study Guide Plus, gain access to 8,900+ more expert-written Study Guides. Including features:
Related Titles
By Amitav Ghosh
