<
https://theconversation.com/exploitation-brutality-and-misery-how-the-opium-trade-shaped-the-modern-world-227356>
In the final pages of
Smoke and Ashes: Opium’s Hidden Histories, Amitav Ghosh
volunteers a startling confession. Though he had spent many years working on
the book and had “accumulated an enormous amount of material”, he decided he
could not go on with it, as he was overwhelmed by the “despicable meanness” of
the subject matter. Accordingly, he cancelled the contracts he had signed and
returned the advances to his publishers.
Beside the despair occasioned by the catalogue of exploitation, brutality and
misery, Ghosh also had to reckon with an unusual narrative challenge: at the
heart of his book was “a non-human protagonist, a plant”.
So, why did he change his mind and eventually return to the project?"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
