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acatastrophe 's review for:
The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida
by Shehan Karunatilaka
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
(from my personal reading journal, Oct. 3, 2024)
Seven Moons takes place in 1990s Sri Lanka, following the titular character--a wartime photojournalist--as he attempts to solve his own murder and enact his own last wishes. Gay in the days of HIV as a death sentence and mixed race in a time of ethnic cleaning, Maali got by by taking photos for both sides of a faction war and acting as a fixer; the latter put him in prime spots for his most secret images, revealing the depths of despair in wartime as well as the hidden links between powerful, violent men. From the afterlife, he is given 7 days to put his affairs in order--but if he goes over his time, he'll be trapped between The Light and the world of the living, at risk of devourment by yaka and devils.
Between all the loanwords, large tertiary cast, and convoluted narrative (Maali is keeping secrets even from himself), this was sort of hard to follow, but ultimately my questions were answered by the end. Karunatilaka does an excellent job with many moving parts, and I feel like all the loose ends were tied up by the end of the novel, even if I wasn't able to follow them too well.
Sri Lanka isn't a place I know a whole lot about, but it remains (I've heard) top of the world in civilians disappeared--ethnic, partisan, and political violence proliferated in Lanka's post-colonial era. I'm sort of ashamed to lean about its history though a fictionalization, but at least I know now... that said, I put a few modern histories of Sri Lanka on my to-read list to bolster my understanding.
I'm a little sick of LGBT works from white American authors--the stuff I read that's been out in the last four years is so samey. It's been really refreshing to read about dynamics in a different time and place. DD and Maali had a very interesting subplot, and the way their relationship ended was bittersweet. I look forward to reading more of Karunatilaka's work!
Seven Moons takes place in 1990s Sri Lanka, following the titular character--a wartime photojournalist--as he attempts to solve his own murder and enact his own last wishes. Gay in the days of HIV as a death sentence and mixed race in a time of ethnic cleaning, Maali got by by taking photos for both sides of a faction war and acting as a fixer; the latter put him in prime spots for his most secret images, revealing the depths of despair in wartime as well as the hidden links between powerful, violent men. From the afterlife, he is given 7 days to put his affairs in order--but if he goes over his time, he'll be trapped between The Light and the world of the living, at risk of devourment by yaka and devils.
Between all the loanwords, large tertiary cast, and convoluted narrative (Maali is keeping secrets even from himself), this was sort of hard to follow, but ultimately my questions were answered by the end. Karunatilaka does an excellent job with many moving parts, and I feel like all the loose ends were tied up by the end of the novel, even if I wasn't able to follow them too well.
Sri Lanka isn't a place I know a whole lot about, but it remains (I've heard) top of the world in civilians disappeared--ethnic, partisan, and political violence proliferated in Lanka's post-colonial era. I'm sort of ashamed to lean about its history though a fictionalization, but at least I know now... that said, I put a few modern histories of Sri Lanka on my to-read list to bolster my understanding.
I'm a little sick of LGBT works from white American authors--the stuff I read that's been out in the last four years is so samey. It's been really refreshing to read about dynamics in a different time and place. DD and Maali had a very interesting subplot, and the way their relationship ended was bittersweet. I look forward to reading more of Karunatilaka's work!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide, Homophobia, Violence, War