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wingarium_lexi0sa 's review for:
The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida
by Shehan Karunatilaka
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida piqued my interest in three ways:
1. I liked the idea of a dead man trying to both solve his own murder and try to communicate final pleas with his loved ones.
2. The fact that this is considered to be satirical
3. That it is historical fiction, which I do not read a lot of, about a culture and place I am mostly unfamiliar with
The fact that it also won a Booker Prize in 2022 also helped.
This book is certainly unique. First, it is told in the second-person which, I do believe, I have never read before. It took a little bit to get used to this, the narrator saying "You see your friend," "You cannot remember,", etc., especially when he begins to speak about other people. However, it occurred to me that the choice of voice in this story only further embellishes that our narrator is dead. It gave it a feel that his soul, or what have you, is narrating the events to him, which we are in turn listening in on. It was a way of establishing disconnect between Maali's life and afterlife.
Another interesting component of the storytelling was that Maali is telling us about what is going on in Sri Lanka while also comparing it to his life, his love, his friends and family. We are constantly zooming in and out on the big picture affecting everyone and the specific life Maali led.
It is also interesting that Maali is not a good person. He is raddled with vices and consistently makes choices that he knows will hurt other people in his life. He is so attached to his work as a photographer because he believes it means he is actually doing something for the world to document the horrors of the violence occurring in his country. He isn't wrong, but it is clear that since he is incapable of being moral in other parts of his life he needs to continue to cling to his camera.
The downsides of this story are that I simply thought it was too long. Maali has seven moons (days) to finish his business with his old life and move on to the light. The first two moons take a very, very long time to get through in the story. While it establishes a lot about our narrator and the characters in his life as well as the overall landscape of the story, it felt easy to get lost in the story. This is where the second person POV doesn't help. The story also switches scenes a lot and doesn't clearly tell you when that's happening.
The third moon goes by a little quicker, then moons four, five, and six go even more quickly in comparison. It was just a kind of pacing that I didn't enjoy.
Also be warned the story is violent, deeply political, and smutty. There were certainly moments when I was surprised we were hearing about another swipe over the pants, but that's just because I am personally someone who doesn't like an onslaught of sex-related scenes in my reading material. It certainly added juxtaposition to the seriousness of the book, and added another layer to the issues in Sri Lanka at the time: being gay is just not allowed.
Ultimately, I thought this was an interesting story that carried a hefty weight. Unfortunately, I do feel some of it was lost on me, again, because of the pacing. I hate to say that between moons three and five my interest was waning. The ending certainly packed a punch, and I didn't see it coming until right before it did. I am glad that I gave this book a chance and learned something about a piece of history that prior I knew nothing about.
1. I liked the idea of a dead man trying to both solve his own murder and try to communicate final pleas with his loved ones.
2. The fact that this is considered to be satirical
3. That it is historical fiction, which I do not read a lot of, about a culture and place I am mostly unfamiliar with
The fact that it also won a Booker Prize in 2022 also helped.
This book is certainly unique. First, it is told in the second-person which, I do believe, I have never read before. It took a little bit to get used to this, the narrator saying "You see your friend," "You cannot remember,", etc., especially when he begins to speak about other people. However, it occurred to me that the choice of voice in this story only further embellishes that our narrator is dead. It gave it a feel that his soul, or what have you, is narrating the events to him, which we are in turn listening in on. It was a way of establishing disconnect between Maali's life and afterlife.
Another interesting component of the storytelling was that Maali is telling us about what is going on in Sri Lanka while also comparing it to his life, his love, his friends and family. We are constantly zooming in and out on the big picture affecting everyone and the specific life Maali led.
It is also interesting that Maali is not a good person. He is raddled with vices and consistently makes choices that he knows will hurt other people in his life. He is so attached to his work as a photographer because he believes it means he is actually doing something for the world to document the horrors of the violence occurring in his country. He isn't wrong, but it is clear that since he is incapable of being moral in other parts of his life he needs to continue to cling to his camera.
The downsides of this story are that I simply thought it was too long. Maali has seven moons (days) to finish his business with his old life and move on to the light. The first two moons take a very, very long time to get through in the story. While it establishes a lot about our narrator and the characters in his life as well as the overall landscape of the story, it felt easy to get lost in the story. This is where the second person POV doesn't help. The story also switches scenes a lot and doesn't clearly tell you when that's happening.
The third moon goes by a little quicker, then moons four, five, and six go even more quickly in comparison. It was just a kind of pacing that I didn't enjoy.
Also be warned the story is violent, deeply political, and smutty. There were certainly moments when I was surprised we were hearing about another swipe over the pants, but that's just because I am personally someone who doesn't like an onslaught of sex-related scenes in my reading material. It certainly added juxtaposition to the seriousness of the book, and added another layer to the issues in Sri Lanka at the time: being gay is just not allowed.
Ultimately, I thought this was an interesting story that carried a hefty weight. Unfortunately, I do feel some of it was lost on me, again, because of the pacing. I hate to say that between moons three and five my interest was waning. The ending certainly packed a punch, and I didn't see it coming until right before it did. I am glad that I gave this book a chance and learned something about a piece of history that prior I knew nothing about.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Homophobia, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Suicide attempt, Murder, War