There is no denying that Amitav Ghosh is a brilliant writer. I have had many moments of amazement on this book, each necessitating a re-read of the portion. Of course, the re-read is often also necessary to understand what is being said. Ghosh is not for lazy readers; he demands that you make the effort to engage with his work constantly. No distraction and skipping of lines is possible. If your mind strays, as it sometimes will, the writing requires you to start over. With Ghosh, there is rarely half-hearted reading. It’s pretty much all or nothing.
Of course, it should be that way, given you have the privilege to read not just a wordsmith but also someone who is immensely well-read himself. The Great Derangement references writing genres as varied as philosophy, climate change, literature, literary theory, evolutionary theory, cultural theory, anthropology, and more. There are even references to movies. There is, of course, as a result, a certain exclusion inherent.
The book is divided into three sections—Stories, History, and Politics. Stories with its play on words and contemplation on the absence of climate change in serious literature might not be for everyone. It is too much like literary theory to engender universal appeal. With History and Politics, he discusses at length the reality, political negotiation, and the reportage of climate change and his anecdotes, brilliantly rendered as usual, are more widely appealing.
After I finished the book, I looked for a Preface but couldn’t find one. Ghosh dives right in to what he wants to say. The Acknowledgements, however, told me what I wanted to know. The book has grown from a series of lectures delivered at the University of Chicago. It explains the intellectual exclusivity, the seemingly meandering form. A climate change primer it is not. However, for someone like me who has never read anything other than the odd news article or two (and what he has to say about media makes this all the more appalling), this offers much food for thought and is of course, a marvelous example of some fine writing.
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From the Publisher
A Conversation with Amitav Ghosh
The Great Derangement is award-winning author Amitav Ghosh’s first non-fiction book in nearly a decade. In this ground-breaking work, he examines why humanity at the level of literature, history and politics has failed to grasp the scale and violence of climate change. We caught up with him to know more about the premise of his latest work. An excerpt from an interview with the author.
Q. Why have we as a society collectively failed to talk about the impact of climate change?
Amitav Ghosh: It is certainly true that our institutions have not been able to address climate change effectively. But what interests me most is why artists and writers in particular haven’t (with some honorable exceptions) treated climate change with the seriousness that it deserves. This is, in a sense, the central question of ‘The Great Derangement’.
Q. You suggest that the extreme nature of today’s climate events make them resistant to contemporary modes of thinking and imagining, why?
Amitav Ghosh: It may have something to do with some of the modes of thought that became dominant in the 19th century and which are still influential today. In the book I’ve examined some of these forms of thought, like ‘gradualism’ and ‘catastrophism’ in geology.
Q. How does climate change impact politics?
Amitav Ghosh: It impacts politics at multiple levels. In some countries climate science has come to be viewed through a conspiratorial lens and has been conflated with other, completely unrelated political issues. Elsewhere climate change has had a ‘multiplier effect’ that has exacerbated already existing tensions and conflicts. Syria and South Sudan are good examples.
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Ben
A very important book for our times.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 9 December 2016Verified Purchase
Allie
Important & interesting
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Philosophical
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johnny10
Five Stars
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BUSETTA PAOLO
Mandatory reading
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