Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #472620 in Books
• Published on: 2001-02-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

From the Publisher
A novel of Fevers, Delirium and Discovery
In the not-too-distant future, a computer-bound desk clerk in New York City unearths an abandoned ID card which leads him to investigate the truth of what happened in a tropical laboratory in the 1890s, a truth in which the past, present and future all play a mysterious part. "Devilishly readable" Daily Telegraph; "Ingenious...combines the suspense of a Victorian melodrama with the fascination of a scientific thriller" Guardian

Customer Reviews

A novel (!) possibility in medical research
Switching between present day New York, India, and the India of the late 19th century, a highly original conspiracy to cure a disease via a route which forces various protagonists to meet in unorthodox fashions for the purpose of which eludes them. Amitav Ghosh has provided a fun book with enough twists and surprises to satisfy the most cynical reader. The most interesting question is its genre, some sci-fi, much thriller, a fusion of fact/fiction.

Simmering but never quite getting to the boil
What a disappointment! Having read The Glass Palace and being recommended Calcutta by Amazon, I read the blurb and suggested it to my reading group. We all thought it sounded excellent and read it for our meeting this month.

We were unanimously disappointed. Our ranking ranged from 2/10 'because it's probably got some depth if anyone could be bothered to read it twice' down to 1/10 'because it's got a lovely cover and it is a book, after all.'

The title of my review sums up our collective view. We felt the whole book had been carefully and elaborately constructed but it never seemed to achieve its potential. We all read to the end of the book, deluded that it would all become clear and the conspiracy would be revealed in the end. We were disappointed.

We are all educated professionals who read avidly. Many of us have studied English literature and so it seems astonishing that the entire novel appears to have gone over all our heads.

We are sure that there must be more to this book than any of us could find. If there is anyone out there who has read the book more than once (with the exception of the author and the editor!) we'd love to know what you think!

How did he come up with that - wow
The Calcutta chromosome is an extremely interesting novel. Taking place in New York in the future, in India at present time and in Egypt in the past, reincarnating the characters and discussing science - it is very unique. Funny at times and very very scary too. Read it - and you'll find yourself thinking about it and wondering for months to come... I loved it!