Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

Unavailable
The Hungry Tide
Unavailable
The Hungry Tide
Unavailable
The Hungry Tide
Audiobook16 hours

The Hungry Tide

Written by Amitav Ghosh

Narrated by Firdous Bamji

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

()

Currently unavailable

Currently unavailable

About this audiobook

Off the easternmost corner of India, in the Bay of Bengal, lies the immense labyrinth of tiny islands known as the Sundarbans, where settlers live in fear of drowning tides and man-eating tigers. Piya Roy, a young American marine biologist of Indian descent, arrives in this lush, treacherous landscape in search of a rare species of river dolphin and enlists the aid of a local fisherman and a translator. Together the three of them launch into the elaborate backwaters, drawn unawares into the powerful political undercurrents of this isolated corner of the world that exact a personal toll as fierce as the tides.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateFeb 24, 2008
ISBN9781436102322
Unavailable
The Hungry Tide
Author

Amitav Ghosh

Amitav Ghosh was born in Calcutta in 1956. He studied at the Doon School; St. Stephens College; Delhi University; Oxford University; and the Faculty of Arts at the University of Alexandria. His first job was at the Indian Express newspaper in New Delhi. He earned his doctorate at Oxford before he wrote his first novel.In February 2004 Amitav Ghosh was appointed Visiting Professor in the Department of English at Harvard University. He is married with two children and lives in New York.

More audiobooks from Amitav Ghosh

Related to The Hungry Tide

Related audiobooks

Literary Fiction For You

View More

Related articles

Reviews for The Hungry Tide

Rating: 3.8952990623931627 out of 5 stars
4/5

468 ratings23 reviews

What did you think?

Tap to rate

Review must be at least 10 words

  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A beautifully written story that pulled me into the life and times of the characters and the world they experience. Very enjoyable.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This novel brings together strands of marine biology, man eating tigers, and the special human history of the Sundarban islands located in the delta of area of the Bay of Bengal. A young American biologist of Indian heritage confronts the morays that she at first does not understand. A complex love story weaves together people whose background and motivations occasionally rub against one another. I felt like I was being given a guided tour through a country I probably will never visit, but it was always enticing in an oblique way for me.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    India, Sunderbans, river dophins, science
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Not nearly as good as Glass Palace, a more difficult read, not something that I could really jump into.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    As far as I can recall, The Hungry Tide was the first piece of Indian fiction I've read. It has whet my appetite to learn more about a region of the world I know little about, though I don't know that I'll return to this author. Perhaps something may have been lost in translation, but Ghosh seemed to take a long time to build momentum (which would have been fine if the writing itself had not been a bit spartan and dull). I found the parts involving animals - regarding Piya's dolphin research and the final, terrifying encounter with a tiger - were the strongest and most interesting. Mildly entertaining.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    An interesting read: I liked the way the different people and their priorities were described. There was the Indian-background woman from America, the well-to-do Indian city-man, and the villagers who still lived quite a simple life. I did not find the story too compelling though, but it was entertaining enough to keep me going till the end.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    This is, in general, a well-written book. Amitav Ghosh has a way with words, and it shows. There are times when the writing is almost lyrical, and this is the part of the book that I like.The part that I don't like, is that it is a very stereo-typed book, and the story line is boring. Indian-American girl comes to India-meets rustic fellow who knows the land-shoos off the urban fellow-gets into mystic relationship with rustic chap-he dies-she discovers India.Gosh, so many books and movies cover this theme. This is a book that I do not recommend.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The setting – the Sundarbans, an immense archipelago of islands between the sea and plains of Bengal, on the east coast of India – is as important a character in this novel as the other personalities. It provides a tranquil background fraught with secrets and hidden dangers.Against this setting, we have the impassioned Piya, an American of Indian parentage who has come here to pursue her life's work – finding and researching rare dolphins in the waters of the Sundarbans. Add to the mix Kanai Dutt, a womanising Indian businessman who is there at the request of his aunt, a local figure, and Fokir, an illiterate man, who understands the waters and Piya's enthusiasm and is able to take her to the heart of the action. There is also Fokir's unsettled wife, Moyna.There are a number of stories and myths within the story, as well as the struggles of the settlers in the region that make for interesting reading. All in all, a good read.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I feel unworthy to review this beautifully written book. Ghosh's writing put a bit of a spell on me. The characters are rich and lovely.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Finished The Hungry Tide last night and I have to say, it's a really good book; just different enough without veering into the experimental. Good solid writing, relatable characters, good background information about the region and the study of river dolphins there, folk tales; maybe not for those without a bit of patience but there's a lot more plot than I expected for a book of 'place.' I'd say a 4 and will definitely read more by Ghosh.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    the story tells everything about the sundarban.
    very nicely researched
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Amitav Ghosh has an extraordinary way of writing about people – their lives, motivations and personal identity. The stories of his novels are mostly taking place in India and Southeast Asia and give an understanding of what life was and is like in these countries – also containing a lot of Asian folklore – as the author himself has Indian roots. His style of writing is clearly different from the Angloamerican narrative style.His novel The Hungry Tide takes place in the Indian Sundarbans where the lives of three very different people cross: marine cetologist Piyali, self-centered translator Kanai and local illiterate fisherman Fokir. The novel is covering a variety of topics like humanism, environmentalism and the Morichjhanpi massacre (1978/79), all woven together to one main story.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Seduced is the word for this book: seduced by mangroves, even though I know them, seduced by every character, each one lovely and full and imperfect. Amitav Ghosh seems very clever, the novel's structure so well-made that the slow pace of the events does not mean a slow narrative. I'm keen to read his other books.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    This book is slow paced as well as a dull read.
    The only thing i could appreciate about it is the narration style.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The Sundarbans have always been a subject of awe to me, since the days I read Salgari books as a child. In this novel they keep the mistery, the allure as well as thedanger. Tigers, political refugees, river dolphins and much, much more is brought into play in this, probably the most accomplished book by the Bengali author
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Loved this book - a love story, incredible portrayal of this part of the world (Subdurbans in the Bay of Bengal) which is a world heritage site. Great characters.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Wow! i did not realize how much the book gave me until i finished reading it today. beautiful language, capturing imagination and mesmerizing effect of the spirit of the story. i really enjoyed 'dukhey's redemption' ballad. and the whole of it. :)
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I enjoyed the book a lot when I read it. When I think back about it, however, I realize that it is the view on life in the Sundarbans mangrove forests that I enjoyed so much. The main characters did not seem to have a great deal of depth to them. In fact, I was somewhat surprised at the ending as, without the emotional depth, it didn't seem that believable to me. Nonetheless, I recommend this as a good read.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This novel has extremely interesting parts and slow parts. I enjoyed the beginning, the part around 100 pages and the last 50 pages. The stories of the two main characters are compelling and work well when the lives of the two become entangled. I was interested in the story of the landscape and the information about river dolphins. Like many other reviewers, I did lose patience with the 100s of pages of detail about the dolphins and nature. I do not blame the author. I think the information is not wasted, but I did not have the patience. The characters seem full of life to me. I was interested in all of them. I even like that I am disappointed in some of them. We find that the characters are not perfect but have feet of clay.All in all it is a good serious drama that is well crafted. Readers must be willing to devote a great deal of time to get through the thick book and understand the payoffs are for some characters and not everyone has a happy ending.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    a good book. has a colloquil touch in it.reflects the distress of the displaced people
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Sweeping, big novel about the Tide Country in India.Two narratives that somewhat parallel eachother in time and place. Kania is going back to his Aunt's home in Lusibari, India to read a notebook that his uncle left for him. While on the train, he meets Piya, a young woman of indian origin from Seattle who is in India to research dolphins. Their paths cross.Didn't love it...felt is was just too long and until the very very end just didnt' hold my personal interest in what happens to the characters.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This novel felt particularly well realized--it took me to a place I had never heard of, the Sundarbans, (thank God, not another book set in London or New York), and let me fall in love with this singular place and the people who live there, as does Piya (the Indian-American marine biologist). Ghosh is now on my list of favorite novelists.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    I started this, but I couldn't get into it at all. I'll release it at the next Nottingham meet-up, and hope that it finds someone who will get on better with it than me.