I found this book in the Viking Cruise lines Venus ship's library. Never heard of the book or the author, but the blurb on the inside of the cover sounded interesting. Not only that, but the copy on the ship is autographed by the author.
I had hopes, but they did not pan out. The premise is this. Major Ronald Ross, born in India, discovered the manner in which malaria is conveyed by mosquitoes in 1808 . Ross was awarded the Nobel prize for his discovery. And, Murugan, known to his friends as Morgan, has taken it upon himself that there is more to this discovery of the connection between malaria and mosquitoes. The story attempts to connect an Egyptian in New York, Antar, a former colleague of Murugan, who is working in a company that has a highly advanced data analysis computer, AVA in the present time, and Murugan who disappeared about 25 years ago, along with Urmila, a reporter and Anjali, an actress. But, the interlocking story never really connects well in the first 200 pages of the 300 page book. I stopped reading the book at least three times and picked it up again because I really wanted to finish it before the end of my cruise. The book became interesting after about 200 pages but some parts really did not make sense, like the ghost train. What did that have to do with the story? Yeah, it connected to Lachman, another mysterious character in the novel. But, then again, why the ghost train? Anyway, most of the first two thirds of the book is difficult to get through and keep it straight in your head. The end is unsatisfying. But then, maybe Ghosh wants the reader to draw his own narrative at the end and construct a scenario about what really happened. Many books do that. So, if you want to read it, be my guest.
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