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4.0 AVERAGE
4.0 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Its so complicated being malinda, i hate his character, i hate that he is a cheater, but at the same time i understand him too much. The narrative was5 very unique because it just forced you to be in places you did not want to be. This book is like when you wake up after a good sleep and the last thing you want to think about is the evils of the world, but it just forces you to do so, because you dont deserve a peaceful morning. No matter how much power you have or how much money you make, you dont deserve a peaceful morning if an infant who barely knows how to walk doesnt get as much. The author just takes the most ordinary things and compares it to the most gruesome and grotesque and horrifying imagery. Because thats just what war does to you. This book is just the perfect historical fiction. Oh and I hate stanley.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Oof, very good book. That’s not an original opinion, given that it won the 2022 Booker Prize, but worth reiterating all the same. This one is about a war photographer & closet queen who has woken up dead, and has seven moons to get his affairs in order, particularly contacting “man and woman he loves most and lead them to the photos that will rock Sri Lanka.”
This book is so full of life, for being about death. That’s really the electric current carrying you through the book: it sizzles with energy. The writing is incredible and the dialogue is hilarious and tragic. Karunatilaka often drops lines that make you pause to reflect but then move on because they’re too ridiculous to contemplate. He also often drops lines that are just gorgeous and don’t mean anything. Some examples:
“In the flickering moonlight her skin looks made from snake. Her arms weave like cobras, her hair writhes like a nest of serpents and the burns on her skin glow like embers. Once again you lift your broken camera and take the photo without asking.”
“They take you to the rooftop of Hotel Leo. It overlooks a stinking city where deeds go unpunished and ghosts walk unseen. Shadows move across asbestos and not all of them belong to the cats or the bats or the roaches or the rats. Do animals get an afterlife? Or is their punishment to be reborn as human?”
I found it to be a magical realism masterpiece, and I can tell that it’ll be one of my favorite books of the 2023.
This book is so full of life, for being about death. That’s really the electric current carrying you through the book: it sizzles with energy. The writing is incredible and the dialogue is hilarious and tragic. Karunatilaka often drops lines that make you pause to reflect but then move on because they’re too ridiculous to contemplate. He also often drops lines that are just gorgeous and don’t mean anything. Some examples:
“In the flickering moonlight her skin looks made from snake. Her arms weave like cobras, her hair writhes like a nest of serpents and the burns on her skin glow like embers. Once again you lift your broken camera and take the photo without asking.”
“They take you to the rooftop of Hotel Leo. It overlooks a stinking city where deeds go unpunished and ghosts walk unseen. Shadows move across asbestos and not all of them belong to the cats or the bats or the roaches or the rats. Do animals get an afterlife? Or is their punishment to be reborn as human?”
I found it to be a magical realism masterpiece, and I can tell that it’ll be one of my favorite books of the 2023.
dark
emotional
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
dark
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Lang over gedaan en ik begreep niet altijd alles, maar heb wel genoten van de schrijfstijl
I am stunned. What an extraordinary read!
Steeped in Sri Lankan mythology, this book sent me down countless Google rabbit holes to keep up with its rich layers of meaning (mythological, historical, linguistic). While the immersion required some research, it made the experience all the more rewarding. This is definitely a five-star read that brilliantly, and often humorously, captures Sri Lankan history through the lens of the afterlife. I am so glad I read it.
The final conversation, where Maali, speaks with a leopard in the afterlife—pining for reincarnation as a human—left a mark on me (while Maali, on the other hand, finds honour in the life of the apex predator).
"I can't understand why humans destroy when they can create. Such a waste."
Steeped in Sri Lankan mythology, this book sent me down countless Google rabbit holes to keep up with its rich layers of meaning (mythological, historical, linguistic). While the immersion required some research, it made the experience all the more rewarding. This is definitely a five-star read that brilliantly, and often humorously, captures Sri Lankan history through the lens of the afterlife. I am so glad I read it.
The final conversation, where Maali, speaks with a leopard in the afterlife—pining for reincarnation as a human—left a mark on me (while Maali, on the other hand, finds honour in the life of the apex predator).
"I can't understand why humans destroy when they can create. Such a waste."
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes