The Circle of Reason Book Cover

The Circle of Reason


A Literary Fiction Novel


Subgenres:

  • Historical Fiction,
  • Magical Realism,
  • Globe-Trotting
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This book is for you if you're into...

  • Eccentric obsessions like phrenology and ornithology woven into the story
  • Fugitive tales spanning India, the Persian Gulf, and North Africa
  • Characters whose lives are upended by a single explosive event
Publisher Description

A New York Times Notable Book: A policeman chases a falsely accused man on a wild journey around the world in this "utterly involving" novel (The Sunday Times).

When eight-year-old Nachiketa Bose first arrives in the East Bengali village of Lalpukur, he receives the name Alu—potato—for the size and shape of his extraordinary head. His uncle Balaram, the local schoolmaster and phrenology enthusiast, sends Alu to apprentice as a weaver, and the boy soon surpasses the skill of his master. But when a tragic bombing leaves Alu suspected of terrorism, he flees across India to Bombay and the Arabian Sea, followed all the way by the dogged policeman—and avid ornithologist—Jyoti Das.

From East Bengal to the Persian Gulf and North Africa, Amitav Ghosh's wild and extraordinary novel "follows in the footsteps of magical realists like Gabriel García Márquez and Salman Rushdie" (The New York Times Book Review).

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