Culture
The interview •
Writing according to Ghosh: a profound form of attention
Literature and the climate crisis. In his latest book, the Indian author explores ‘the parallel existence of multiple realities’. A conversation
Amitav Ghosh (Photo: Lapresse)
What strikes one most upon meeting him is the contrast between his exquisite manners and the firmness of his convictions. Amitav Ghosh is a naturally kind man who tempers the strength of his convictions with a smile: there is nothing hypocritical about this demeanour, nor does he ever look down on anyone; his smile is an invitation to a dialogue characterised by serenity and tolerance.
He was born in Calcutta seventy years ago and travelled from a young age in the wake of his father, a diplomat. He lived in Iran, graduated from Oxford, and worked as a journalist before making his debut as a novelist. In a life marked by literary accolades of all kinds and eight honorary degrees, writing represents something essential, yet not exclusive: the creative writing courses he taught at Columbia University in New York left a lasting impression on his students, and even as a lecturer, his exquisite manners went hand in hand with the authority of his convictions, expressed with kindness and firmness. Global success came with Sea of Poppies in 2008, the first part of the Ibis Trilogy, but critics had already celebrated his undeniable and original talent with a 1988 novel bearing a Conradian title: Shadows of the Sea. Since then, he has alternated between fiction and non-fiction, producing works in which he has denounced the irreversible damage caused by climate change. He now lives in Brooklyn with his wife, Deborah Baker, the acclaimed author of The Life of Lara Riding and The Last Englishmen: Love, War and the End of the Empire. Amitav and Debbie, originally from Virginia, are accomplished hosts, and in their cosy brownstone they enjoy preparing Bengali delicacies for New York’s Indian intellectual elite, which includes Mira Nair and her son Zohran Mamdani: It was Amitav who introduced the director to her Ugandan husband Mahmood, a historian of colonialism and lecturer at Columbia University, and he is the godfather of the current mayor, whom he admires for his integrity, courage and clarity. The group of regulars also includes two leading figures of Pakistan’s younger cultural scene: the painter Salman Toor and the rock star Ali Sethi. Ghosh speaks five languages fluently, to which a smattering of Italian must also be added, and the defining feature of his intellect and his writing is his keen curiosity, as is also evident in The Ghost Eye, which has just been published in Italy by Einaudi. When he agreed to take part in this series of conversations, I explained to him that the first questions are the same for everyone. “I’m curious to hear my colleagues’ answers,” he replied, before telling me about his earliest memory: “I’d say the oldest one is of a cyclone in Dhaka, when the pond behind our house overflowed and flooded our entire driveway.”
May I ask when you decided to become a writer?
“I’ve always wanted to write, but I suppose the moment I decided to become a writer was in May 1982, when I began working on my first novel, Il cerchio della ragione.”
How would you describe what writing means to you?
“A form of deep attention”.
Who is literature’s greatest unsung hero?
“The man whom I have regarded as an unsung hero since my youth, and who continues to be underappreciated, is the Bengali writer Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay”.
Is there a writer whom you admire even though you do not agree with their ideas?
“V.S. Naipaul”.
Genre literature has historically been underrated by critics: why do you think that is?
“Because genres are defined by certain conventions and expectations, which means that genre writers must adhere to certain constraints. However, some of them have been underestimated because genre labels have been imposed on them even though their work transcends the usual conventions and expectations. Octavia Butler and Ursula Le Guin spring to mind, for example.”
How would you summarise, in a few words, what your latest novel, "L’occhio fantasma", is about?
“It is a book that explores the parallel existence of multiple realities”.
The character Varsha announces that she is not a vegetarian and that she is the reincarnation of a Bengali fisherwoman. This takes place in 1969: is there a connection with the moon landing and the death of Ho Chi Minh, as mentioned in the book?
“In reality, there is no connection between these events, other than the fact that they all took place in 1969.”
Some characters, such as Tipu and Dinu, have already appeared in his previous books: can we regard his work as a single saga following the Ibis Trilogy?
“No, because I’ve also written a lot of non-fiction since the Ibis Trilogy.”
This new novel deals with the supernatural: is it correct to regard it as an example of magical realism?
“As far as I’m concerned, the novel is about neither the supernatural nor the magical. The fact that many children recall past lives is well documented; this is a real phenomenon – there is nothing supernatural or magical about it.”
Do you believe in God? What is your relationship with religion?
“I certainly believe that the world we perceive through our senses is not the only one that exists.”
How much of Amitav Ghosh is there in the character of Dinu?
“Very little – Dinu isn’t at all like me, except for the fact that he, too, was born in Calcutta and currently lives in Brooklyn”.
From the book, I gathered the impression that you believe a realistic approach may be inadequate for tackling the dangers of climate change.
“I think that adhering to certain realistic conventions can make it difficult to tackle the global crisis, simply because so many of the events we are experiencing these days are unprecedented, and therefore almost ‘unreal’.”
Varsha says: “I see dead people”: is this a pop culture reference to The Sixth Sense?
“No”.
Reincarnation is one of the themes of the novel: do you believe in it?
“Reincarnation is a metaphysical concept about which I am agnostic. What is indisputable, however, is that many very young children have detailed and accurate memories of past lives. I repeat: this is not a matter of belief.”
In his book "The Great Blindness: The Great Climate Change and the Unthinkable", he had already addressed the climate crisis, the catastrophic effects of which we witnessed this summer. How does he relate all this to the political crisis?
“The climate crisis, and the dwindling prospects for young people, form the backdrop to the many political crises currently gripping the world.”
What is your take on the rise of populism and the far right around the world?
“A major cause of all this is the growing hollowness of the promise of ‘progress’ that has long been a hallmark of modern liberalism. Immigration is one of the most challenging issues facing all governments. Naturally, right-wing governments respond differently from left-wing ones, yet neither seems to have a solution to the problem. A Bangladeshi immigrant in Italy once told me: ‘The problem of immigration has a very simple solution: shut down the internet’. If you reflect on the impossibility of achieving this, you realise why this ‘problem’ cannot be ‘solved’.”
In your opinion, is Donald Trump an exception in American history or an inevitable consequence?
“The rise of Donald Trump is a sign that the historical arc of the Americas is reaching the United States: he is quite clearly a would-be caudillo.”
How do you interpret Trump’s attacks on the Pope?
“For me, it is a clear sign that Pope Leo is right in everything he is doing and saying.”