And this book is one of those pieces of literary fiction, which doesn't necessarily have an obvious plot, but it captures a time and a perspective and a character so gorgeously. I think it was Ocean Vuong actually, who said, when you lose plot, you gain characters. And that is so true for Reef because the characters are so rich and believable and fully fleshed out.
Reef (1994)
Triton is a young chef who was forced to leave his father's house to work for Mr. Ranjan Salgado, a marine biologist obsessed by swamps, sea movements, and a Sri Lankan island's disappearing reef. Almost immediately, thanks to his master's obsessions, Triton works hard to please him with his carefully prepared delicacies. But neither of them know that the political unrest threatening Sri Lanka will have a devastating influence on them, most significantly on Triton. (Source Wikipedia)
- ISBN:
- 9780140142174
- Length:
- 192 pages
Lists: …
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Shehan KarunatilakaAn epic, searing satire of Sri Lanka. Winner of the 2022 Booker Prize
Colombo, 1990. Maali Almeida, war photographer, gambler and closet queen, has woken up dead in what seems like a celestial visa office. His dismembered body is sinking in the serene Beira lake and he has no idea who killed him. In a country where scores are settled by death squads, suicide bombers and hired goons, the list of suspects is depressingly long, as the ghouls and ghosts with grudges who cluster round can attest. But even in the afterlife, time is running out for Maali. He has seven moons to contact the man and woman he loves most and lead them to the photos that will rock Sri Lanka.
Ten years after his prizewinning novel Chinaman established him as one of Sri Lanka's foremost authors, Shehan Karunatilaka is back with a searing satire and state-of-the-nation epic that proves yet again that the best fiction offers the deeper truth.
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