Romesh Gunesekera's writing delves into the intricate landscapes of identity, memory, and cultural displacement. His prose is characterized by a refined, evocative style that gently unveils the profound psychological depths of his characters. Gunesekera masterfully explores themes of belonging and alienation, offering nuanced portrayals that resonate with a sense of quiet longing. His work invites readers into richly textured worlds, marked by a distinct literary sensibility.
Marc, in search of a dream, leaves London and sets out for the island where his grandfather was born and where his father's plane was shot down in flames. It is an island once said to be near the edge of heaven, but now ravaged and despoiled by war. There by a glittering lake he sees the subversive Uva, an eco-warrior releasing emerald doves. Finding her launches him into a world of passion and difficult choices. But their affair is cut short when she disappears. Desperate to find her, Marc embarks on a final terrifying journey that will test all his beliefs as he confronts violence in a quest for love.
The driver’s job is to stay in control behind the wheel and that is all. The past is what you leave as you go. There is nothing more to it. Vasantha retired early, bought himself a van with his savings, and now works as a driver for hire. As he drives through Sri Lanka, carrying aid workers, businessmen, and families and meeting lonely soldiers and eager hoteliers, he engages them with self-deprecating wit and folksy wisdom—and reveals for us their uncertain lives. On his journey from the army camps in northern Jaffna to the moonlit ramparts of Galle, in the south, Vasantha begins to discover the depth of the problems of the past—his own and his country’s—and the promise the future might hold. From the writer praised by The Guardian for the “vivid originality” of his vision, here is a wonderful collection—perceptive, somber, finely tuned—that draws a potent portrait of postwar Sri Lanka and the ghosts of civil war.
1964. Ceylon is on the brink of change. But Kairo is at a loose end. School is closed, the government is in disarray, the press is under threat and the religious right are flexing their muscles. Kairo's hard-working mother blows off steam at her cha-cha-cha classes; his Trotskyite father grumbles over the state of the nation between his secret punts on horse races in faraway England. All Kairo wants to do is hide in his room and flick through second-hand Westerns and superhero comics, or escape on his bicycle and daydream. Then he meets the magnetic teenage Jay, and his whole world is turned inside out. A budding naturalist and a born rebel, Jay keeps fish and traps birds for an aviary he is building in the garden of his grand home. The adults in Jay's life have no say in what he does or where he goes: he holds his beautiful, fragile mother in contempt, and his wealthy father seems fuelled by anger. But his Uncle Elvin, suave and worldly, is his encourager. As Jay guides Kairo from the realm of make believe into one of hunting-guns and fast cars and introduces him to a girl -- Niromi -- Kairo begins to understand the price of privilege and embarks on a journey of devastating consequence. Taut and luminous, graceful and wild, Suncatcher is a poignant coming-of-age novel about difficult friendships and sudden awakenings. Mesmerizingly it charts the loss of innocence and our recurring search for love -- or consolation -- bringing these extraordinary lives into our own
When Prins Ducal arrives in London for his mothers funeral, he is full of questions about the past especially his father's accidental death forty years earlier. Gunesekera's novel "Reef" was shortlisted for the 1994 Booker Prize.
Im Jahr, als Sri Lanka unabhängig wird, kommt der elfjährige Triton als Boy in das Haus von Mister Salgado, einem Meeresbiologen, der nur einen Lebensinhalt hat: das gefährdete Universum des Ozeans. Für den Jungen wird das Haus des Junggesellen zu einem abgeschlossenen Mikrokosmos. Er lernt, das Silber so zu polieren, dass es schimmert wie geschmolzenes Sonnenlicht, den Liebeskuchen mit zehn Eiern zu backen und für die Freundin seines Herrn den Papageienfisch zu dünsten. Und er lernt, mit wachen Augen die politischen, sozialen und amourösen Ränkespiele zu beobachten. Hintergründig erzählt Triton seine Geschichte. Naiv und wissend zugleich, tapfer und ängstlich - die eindrückliche Stimme eines Jungen, der in einer zerbrechenden Welt erwachsen geworden ist.
Poetická próza situovaná do exotického prostředí Srí Lanky šedesátých let vypráví příběh chlapce Tritona, který jako jedenáctiletý přichází do domu zámožného přírodovědce Salgada do služby. Příběh Tritonova profesního i obecně lidského růstu, spoluvytvářený temnými kapitolami moderního vývoje ostrova, se tak stává výstižným obrazem osudu citlivého jedince v bouřlivém čase bolestných společenských proměn. Velice příjemná knížka. Velmi lehce se čte a myslím, že osloví široký okruh čtenářů
Poetická próza odehrávající se na Srí Lance v šedesátých letech minulého století
