Characters?

Unlike Tosin, I thought the book was quite easy to follow.  Tosin mentioned how she could not understand what phase of life the characters are in.  I don’t necessary think the book is about the characters. Many characters (e.g. Kanai and Piya, Piya and Fokir) are thrown together by chance. There was an ongoing relationship between these characters from the beginning of the book to the end of the book, so it may seem as if they are the center of the book. I, personally, think the novel is centered on what the character brings to the story, rather than the characters themselves. It is about the regions they have come from. I agree with Tosin how it could be a bit confusing every time the book alternates between the past and present (and possible a future with Kanai), but I think that was Ghosh’s purpose in writing the novel. The narrative past events and Piya’s present scientific quest and where she came from creates an interwoven flow of stories about the land about nature, about human relationships to nature, and human relationships to other species.