Chennai: “The reason why I wrote this non-fiction is because I have been thinking about these questions for a long time and I have been thinking about them as a writer. And I wanted to address the whole question of craft to which I have dedicated my while life, spending so many years writing novels,” said celebrated Indian English writer Amitav Ghosh during a conversation with Gopalkrishna Gandhi, former Governor and diplomat, at city today.
The occasion was the Chennai launch of Amithav Ghosh’s latest book The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable. This non-fiction work deals with threats of climate change comes after a gap of 12 years since he published his first non-fiction In an Antique Land. Author of many critically acclaimed books, Ghosh widely examines the magnitude of threat that climate change poses for countries across the globe, in his new book. The book exposes the effects of climate change through the lens of literature, history and politics.
Furthermore, Ghosh explains in his books that politics has developed into a matter of personal moral reckoning rather than an area of collective action. “Politics have become a brand of entrepreneurship. It has become an enrichment machine working hand and glove with commerce and industry”, he added. As he talks about other forms of human existence in his books, Ghosh argues that fiction is best suited among many cultural forms to portray it.
