''Gun Island'' -- A new ''cli-fi'' novel by Amitav Ghosh. Coming to readers and literary critics worldwide in June 2019
These days book covers trend on social media long before the actual book arrives. Has the art of cover designing changed in the age of e-books and Bookstagram?
THE COVER REVEAL: The cover of Amitav Ghosh’s forthcoming novel, Gun Island (Penguin Random House), is already on the web. The intriguing cover has a cobra slithering on a dark background, with sprigs of flowers that seem to have blossomed out of its skin. Ahlawat Gunjan, the creative head of Penguin Random House, who designed the cover, described the process thus: “The plot is so gripping and Amitav’s writing is so addictive, I read the manuscript twice. I read it once from the back and once from the beginning. The former offered me the elements to pick without knowing the plot while the latter helped me string the elements together. And after days of elimination, I, along with the publisher and the editor, arrived at the most critical element of the book, the king cobra. We hired a botanical illustrator to illustrate it. The cover art was integrated with simple and classic font to arrive at something strong. Amitav instantly loved the cover and it has become an international success with Germany, the U.S. and Canada also using the Indian cover.”
PREVIEW:
Jnanpith awardee Amitav Ghosh’s ''cli-fi'' (climate fiction) novel, ''Gun Island,'' is about a Brooklyn-based rare books dealer on a visit to his birthplace, Kolkata, where he gets entangled unexpectedly with an ancient Indian legend about the goddess of snakes, Manasa Devi.
In his 9th novel (and his first after 4 years), the India-born, Brooklyn-based Ghosh expands upon his interest in cli-fi (climate fiction), the troubling effects of which have been shown in films such as The Day After tomorrow (2004) and Geostorm (2017). We’re reintroduced to several characters from his previous cli-fi novel, The Hungry Tide (2004), this time though, set against a vast space and time, where protagonist Deen is forced to set out on a journey across the world to rediscover his ancestral roots, which he feels might go deeper than he knows. Where on one hand it’s the story of the world on the edge of displacement, and on the other, it highlights the resilient journey of a man to find hope for the world.
What kind of research did Dr Ghosh put into ''Gun Island''?
''I did my usual kind of research, I have an obsession with words, so that played a huge part of 'Gun Island' (published by Hamish Hamilton) There is also the sort of research that went into 'The Great Derangement' but the key to the mystery is 'Gun Island' itself, which I can’t give away just yet."
How does it feel to be living in a country like the USA where President dTrump oes not believe in the cause [fighting climate change before it's too late]] that is so close to your heart?
''It’s true that I live there, but I am an Indian citizen. It’s very disturbing, but it must also be said that even those who say they do believe in climate change, like Justin Trudeau and Barack Obama, didn’t really do anything.''
Being a traveller that you are, where do you feel most at home?
''It’s hard to say actually (laughs), but I guess I would say I feel most at home where my wife and children are.''
PS:
DR GHOSH ! Good news! YOU are mentioned in this cli-fi essay from Singapore. Take a look. Dan re -- Essay: ''Climate Change Fiction Catapults to life as ‘Cli-fi’ '' http://kitaab.org/2019/05/15/essay-climate-change-fiction-catapults-to-life-as-cli-fi/ [edited and presented by Mitali Chakravarty]
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