Reviews

I enjoyed listening to this one. A bit long and disjointed but some really great observations. And funny in parts although probably hard to understand about 50% of the jokes if you don’t know anything about cricket. Having said that, it’s not really about cricket. Or perhaps I mean it’s not only about cricket. Karunatilaka uses the opportunity to make a lot of political commentary, such as here: “Explain the differences between Sinhalese and Tamils? I cannot. The truth is, whatever differences there may be, they are not large enough to burn down libraries, blow up banks, or send children onto minefields. They are not significant enough to waste hundreds of months firing millions of bullets into thousands of bodies."

geneticallyugly's review against another edition

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funny informative slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

cwalton31's review against another edition

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slow-paced

2.5

hoga0082's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Karunatilaka's reliably unreliable narrator is remarkably likeable given his many flaws. The change of voince in the final stage by inheritance, gave the story a new dimension and only worked to enhance it.

troulino's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

axwosa77's review against another edition

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funny inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

nickedkins's review against another edition

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5.0

A very strange book in the best way. Most sports books that I've read try to get you to identify with a hero, detail the ebb and flow of specific games, and are basically uncritical cheerleaders for their sport. This one does none of that; in fact hardly any cricket is actually played.

The story reminds me of the quote, “I am, somehow, less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein’s brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops.” Take that idea, but imagine hearing rumours of one of these people with equal talent, tracing those stories, and trying to disentangle the truth from the deceptions and drunken misremembrances, and you'll get an idea of how romantic W. G.'s quest is.

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