Making sense of reality: review of Wild Fictions — Essays by Amitav Ghosh

Review of Wild Fictions — Essays by Amitav Ghosh

It is now a widely-acknowledged opinion that Amitav Ghosh has contributed tremendously to the world’s understanding of climate change and colonialism and neo-imperialism, with his immaculate understanding of both, and his ability to establish the roots of one in another. His writings, over a period of time, both fiction and non-fiction, have enriched literature on the very complex issues, raised our consciousness for our environments, and see things, as they should be, within the appropriate historical backdrop that his erudition provides us, in every story, every fable, every essay that he writes.

As such, Wild Fictions: Essays, which is a collection of his writings on the subjects that he has spent decades researching, is simply a great idea. It’s surprising, in fact, given his body of work that it took this long to gather his writings in one volume. But after publication, it immediately becomes yet another book that needs to be in your collection, among the books you will not want to part with.

Divided into chapters, it’s quite like the glossary of an encyclopaedia that lets you travel at your own pace, and whim. It predictably begins with Climate Change and Environment — six articles outline the havoc created by natural disasters in recent times, the Indian Ocean tsunami, hurricane Katrina, cyclone Nargis, the lethal combination of forest fires and lack of rain in a tiny island that is part of Indonesia, and also, of how anthropometric causes, mimetic migration or grand plans for promoting tourism, accelerate environmental degradation.

The most interesting chapter, personally, is the second one on Witnesses. This is classic Amitav Ghosh, the same voice which narrates the story of Deeti, the young woman who managed to escape sati at her husband’s funeral pyre and boards the slave ship to make a long voyage across the seas, in his Ibis Trilogy. She appears through the entire series, her position in the novels shifts from prominence to a position in the shadows, but the fact that she lingers throughout is masterly craftmanship. She emerges as a sort of anchor, giving the reader a sense of familiarity, and of continuity. The narration is personal, touching and somehow fully aware of several contexts that have led to the exact set of circumstances protagonists now find themselves in. Here, additionally, he also uses other people’s voices and words, quoting directly from letters, personal diaries or conversations, to clarify our understanding of the situation.

The other divisions in the book are categorised Travel and Discovery (which takes the reader on rides from a small village on the banks of the Nile, and naturally the Indian Ocean region); a generalised Narratives; Conversations (as the title indicates, they are a bunch of articles that record discussions and reviews) and; Presentations (originally blogposts or presentations, which includes a fascinating discussion of the writing of In an Antique Land, quoting from the diaries saved from his actual stay in Egypt).

It’s not merely the way Ghosh brings together his vast, awe-inspiring array of experiences across the world, articulating them with his concerns for people and the environment, but also his literary elegance that makes his writing feel as if the author is a dear friend whose friendship you treasure. Ghosh’s words inspire you and serve as a guide, while we grapple with the catastrophic realities of the world we currently occupy.

Wild Fictions: Essays; Amitav Ghosh, Fourth Estate, ₹799.