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4.11 AVERAGE
4.11 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
informative
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:
No
Arjie is a fabulous narrative voice; his bright curiosity, coming of age and his own navigation of a deeply fractious Sri Lanka is all navigated with great skill by Shyam Selvadurai.
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Generational inheritance of social attitudes, gender and cross-cultural love are all fascinating themes explored in Funny Boy. Selvadurai’s exploration of the fiery, bloody conflicts in Sri Lanka’s national history are explored with the utmost seriousness. And, yet, with his authorial voice, we see characters that are gloriously human in their attempt to seek out hope and solidarity despite these tumultuous circumstances. A truly great read.
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Generational inheritance of social attitudes, gender and cross-cultural love are all fascinating themes explored in Funny Boy. Selvadurai’s exploration of the fiery, bloody conflicts in Sri Lanka’s national history are explored with the utmost seriousness. And, yet, with his authorial voice, we see characters that are gloriously human in their attempt to seek out hope and solidarity despite these tumultuous circumstances. A truly great read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Racism, Violence
Moderate: Bullying, Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Fatphobia, Sexual content
Sri Lanka is a place I’ve always been interested in. I got to travel there two years ago where I spent a magical two weeks.
But aside from the touristy stuff and amazing food, I realized that it’s not a place I know much about. I was reviewing the Goodreads profile of a Canadian author that I like and saw that she had read this book.
Gay. Coming of age. Sri Lanka. All things I like. And the book didn’t disappoint. I really fell in love with the main character and felt his pain of feeling like an “other”. It was also interesting getting to learn more about the history of Sri Lanka. And the perspective of a Tamil. Everyone involved with my tour in Sri Lanka were Sinhalese so it was good to hear the other side.
I definitely want to read more about Sri Lanka.
But aside from the touristy stuff and amazing food, I realized that it’s not a place I know much about. I was reviewing the Goodreads profile of a Canadian author that I like and saw that she had read this book.
Gay. Coming of age. Sri Lanka. All things I like. And the book didn’t disappoint. I really fell in love with the main character and felt his pain of feeling like an “other”. It was also interesting getting to learn more about the history of Sri Lanka. And the perspective of a Tamil. Everyone involved with my tour in Sri Lanka were Sinhalese so it was good to hear the other side.
I definitely want to read more about Sri Lanka.
Crash course on Sri Lankan lit. no. 3. Beautiful and affecting, no nonsense coming-of-age story of a Tamil boy against the backdrop of the '80s pogroms and the outbreak of the civil war. Eavesdropping is surely a convenient narrative device to drive the plot forward...:)
dark
emotional
sad
tense
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:
Complicated
i surprised myself by how much i enjoyed this book. though “enjoyed” is probably a weird word to use, but from the first few pages i was sucked into this emotional, intense, and heartbreaking story. if i hadn’t read this for school, i definitely would have missed the opportunity to read it, and i’m thankful that i didn’t! this book is so much more than a boy going through a sexual awakening - it’s also about racism, love crossing boundaries, family secrets, and growing up. there were a few sections i liked more than others, with “radha aunty” and “see no evil, hear no evil” being my favorite sections. i did totally think this was a memoir until the last chapter, but it was written in a way that gave it a very memoir-y feel. i feel like if this was adapted into like a 2-part graphic novel (like “Persepolis”) it would be really good! overall i really enjoyed this and would recommend it!
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-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:
No
A poignant story of becoming a man from a boy in the backdrop of Sri Lankan riots of 1983, Funny Boy has surpassed all the expectations i had and took it to a whole new level.
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes