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nila's review
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
I wanted to read more from Sri Lankan authors AND read more books outside my comfort zone, so I picked this up knowing it was heavy on the introspection (is that a word?). The 2/3 of this book flew by, and I absolutely loved it. The secondary characters were so great I didn't even think of how it's all in the main character's head. However, in the last third, the main character is by themselves and the pace slowed down too much for me, and I sadly lost interest.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Child death, and War
tiriol's review
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Violence, Death, Torture, and War
Moderate: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Suicide attempt, and Mental illness
probablyalice's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, and War
sahanasri's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
This book details a beautiful and reflective journey north through Sri Lanka. The descriptions of Sri Lanka are gorgeous and transported me as I read (and now I’d love to visit). The main character reflects a lot on his life and stories he’s read/watched on his journey to a funeral, which feels very meditative and helped me to reflect on many key experiences in my own life. I loved how lush the descriptive writing is, even though it can be a bit lengthy at times, as well as the motifs of time = water, vision, and grief.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Sexual content, and Child death
rosibook's review against another edition
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Medical trauma, Suicide, War, Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Mental illness
knkoch's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
What a beautifully written book. Those graceful, never-ending sentences! This is a very introspective book, and most of it is fully interior, an examination of a young man’s life, cultural history and emotional reckoning as it’s inspired by his observation/participation in events around him. This reminded me a bit of The Unbearable Lightness of Being in its philosophical bent, but this was easier for me to connect to. It felt poetic at times, begging to be read aloud.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War and Death
elizabethgreads's review against another edition
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
2.0 Stars.
What I enjoyed. Learning about some historical moments of the Sri Lankan Civil war which is now something I want to learn more about. The look into how war affects people and future generations and the hard journey of healing after a war. The look on aging love ones affects familial relationships and the mental health of the elderly. The relationship and unlikely friendship between the grandmother and her care taker. That being said there wasn't enough of this through out the novel.
What I didn't like was the stream of consciousness writing with run on sentences and long paragraphs. As a reader with learning disabilities this made reading the novel extremely frustrating as I was continually getting lost and having to go back and read sections multiple times. I also think this novel would have been better if told from a different pov. Say maybe dual pov of the grandmother and her care taker. The author also would take pages to summarize movies, epic poems, and other events to the reader which really took me out of the story. It was also very introspective and too much which lead to me being bored. The entire book takes place over about a period of 3 - 4 days with lots of flash backs and this didn't work for me in this story.
What I enjoyed. Learning about some historical moments of the Sri Lankan Civil war which is now something I want to learn more about. The look into how war affects people and future generations and the hard journey of healing after a war. The look on aging love ones affects familial relationships and the mental health of the elderly. The relationship and unlikely friendship between the grandmother and her care taker. That being said there wasn't enough of this through out the novel.
What I didn't like was the stream of consciousness writing with run on sentences and long paragraphs. As a reader with learning disabilities this made reading the novel extremely frustrating as I was continually getting lost and having to go back and read sections multiple times. I also think this novel would have been better if told from a different pov. Say maybe dual pov of the grandmother and her care taker. The author also would take pages to summarize movies, epic poems, and other events to the reader which really took me out of the story. It was also very introspective and too much which lead to me being bored. The entire book takes place over about a period of 3 - 4 days with lots of flash backs and this didn't work for me in this story.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, War, Self harm, and Death
jayisreading's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
You can say so much about A Passage North, and not one word will be enough to describe how beautiful and meditative this book is. I should start and say that this book is absolutely not for everyone. It’s incredibly slow-paced, it meanders, a single sentence/thought can go on for an entire paragraph, and some may find it too erudite for their taste (which is completely fair).
The opening passage—a “mere” three sentences long that spans two pages—makes clear what’s in store for the reader in terms of pacing, approach, and writing style. And, for me, it was one of the most beautiful opening passages I’ve read in a long while. Arudpragasam writes in such a reflective and thought-provoking way that just stays with you from start to end. Reading this book is a moving experience told from the perspective of Krishan, the protagonist, whose thoughts wander off to philosophical ideas of being, death, desire, love, among other themes. Philosophical ideas themselves are difficult to tackle, and yet, Arudpragasam masterfully ties them to Tamil history to also reflect on their grief and trauma stemming from the Sri Lankan Civil War.
A Passage North is as much a philosophical lesson as it is a history lesson. It will make you pause and reflect on what you just read. And, really, it’s incredible to realize that so much thinking can take place in the span of a train ride, which is the case for Krishan, who was on his way north to his grandmother’s caretaker’s funeral. This journey was as poignant for me as it likely was for the protagonist.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, War, and Grief
Moderate: Suicide, Sexism, Torture, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Homophobia, Drug use, and Rape
sebby_reads's review
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
A Passage North is an exquisite novel from Sri Lankan Tamil novelist Anuk Arudpragasam. The novel recounts the complex thoughts of Krishan as he travels from Colombo to a village in northern Sri Lanka to attend the funeral of Rani, his grandmother’s former caretaker.
Upon receiving the news of Rani’s death, Krishan has been dejected and the email from his ex set him in a great turmoil. As he takes a long train ride to the northern province, he recollects his thoughts on various matters in his life. His grandmother’s deteriorating health and her stubbornness, Rani’s tragic past haunted by the aftermath of the Civil War and her relationship with Krishan’s grandmother as well as his complicated relationship with his former lover, Anjum are cascaded through his recollections along with notable literature works and philosophy.
A Passage North is indeed a collections of Krishan’s introspections and contemplations intertwined with various scars of the country’s civil war left on its survivors. Written in elongated sentences with sophisticated proses, it is equally challenging and mesmerising to read this novel. As there is absolutely no dialogue in entire book, the endless train of thought is never interrupted but when necessary, diverted into a different path eloquently. Most of the time, these thoughts are like a string of magnetic beads linked to one another loosely yet never segregated which perfectly depict the profuse recollections and emotions pass through the mind of the protagonist.
With meticulously refined (and most of the time lyrical) narrative, the writer tackles on trauma and pain, memories and desire, as well as oppression and sexism through the narrator’s relationships with other characters and their background. The voice of Tamil diaspora is heard in a mixture of their struggles, guilts and pains which still remain with them. Throughout the book, the ingenuity of Anuk Arudpragasam’s storytelling can be seen. A very well deserving of 2021 Booker Prize shortlist indeed for this literary masterpiece.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death
Minor: Violence
harshibuvan's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I found this book breathtakingly beautiful with the imagery and stories. At the same time it broke my heart reading the plight of the Tamil people that I would have been a part of it my parents hadn't left Srilanka. There’s something chilling about reading about murder in a book, with the sense that it was a part of history, that it happened way before you were born, and then talking about it with your parents who tell you they remember reading it in the newspapers when they were young adults.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Confinement, and Grief
Moderate: Death, Suicide, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Suicidal thoughts