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jpsiphonophorae's review against another edition
5.0
Karunatilaka possesses a singular talent for wit, flawed characters, and endlessly compelling plot. I am so grateful to have encountered his work. The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida changed my life and, unfortunately for my bank account, this one did as well. No matter how far a story seems to be from my typical reading fare, I do not believe this author to be capable of boring me. I look forward to rereading this book about an alcoholic cricket writer, something I never expected to care about, let alone love, the way I do. I can’t begin to imagine what another decade of writing will bring into the world, but I will be the first in line to read it when it finally emerges.
dcmfernando's review against another edition
One of my favourite books to date. Being a Sri Lankan who's not spent much time in Sri Lanka, it helped me feel more connected to my country of origin. There's an interesting magic woven into the character of Pradeep Mathew - a relatable messiness, and yet a quality of Buddha-like earnestness that I was drawn to aspire to.
callieisreading's review against another edition
4.0
W.G. is a writer in Sri Lanka who is obsessed with cricket (he muses a couple times whether he loves cricket more than his wife and family), and who becomes driven to tell the story of Pradeep Mathew, supposedly one of, if not the best bowler in Sri Lankan cricket history (akin to the pitcher in baseball) who no one has heard of, or only remembers poorly. Recorded history does not appear to remember him either, but, as this story reminds, that is sometimes a matter of who is keeping the records. WG decides to dig deeper and deeper into this mystery, which encompasses sports, politics, scorned lovers, and one midget groundskeeper's secret cave below a cricket field. All the while, WG's health is deteriorating due to his alcoholism, and his relationships aren't doing much better. The story is as much his, as Pradeep's.
The story was interesting and well-written (although I feel like there is not enough cricket explained so that the layman would be able to follow the occasional match play-by-play), and certain phrasing was very well done- lots of note-taking took place. It did drag in the middle for me, and I had to really push myself to pick it up and finish it. I'm glad I did though. Rounding up to 4 stars.
The story was interesting and well-written (although I feel like there is not enough cricket explained so that the layman would be able to follow the occasional match play-by-play), and certain phrasing was very well done- lots of note-taking took place. It did drag in the middle for me, and I had to really push myself to pick it up and finish it. I'm glad I did though. Rounding up to 4 stars.
hanntastic's review against another edition
3.0
Global Read 159 - Sri Lanka
There is a lot of cricket in this book. A lot. All the reviews seem to say that even if you have no interest in cricket you will still love this book. I liked this book a lot, but there was a lot of cricket and I found those sections dull. It took me a while to get into the book (probably because of all the cricket) but liked the second half of the book far more than the first. There was more plot and character development thrown among the cricket. One thing this book did really well was paint a really well developed background picture of the culture and tensions of Sri Lanka with very little information. I had to do some research, but overall I felt like I got a really good sense just from offhand remarks. CW for racism definitely. I did see that in my edition the name had been changed from its previous name which had a slur to this one, so I guess someone else realized it too. But the slur does appear in the book. W.G was a really fun if frustrating character, and overall the book was unique which is always exciting to find. Just so much cricket.
There is a lot of cricket in this book. A lot. All the reviews seem to say that even if you have no interest in cricket you will still love this book. I liked this book a lot, but there was a lot of cricket and I found those sections dull. It took me a while to get into the book (probably because of all the cricket) but liked the second half of the book far more than the first. There was more plot and character development thrown among the cricket. One thing this book did really well was paint a really well developed background picture of the culture and tensions of Sri Lanka with very little information. I had to do some research, but overall I felt like I got a really good sense just from offhand remarks. CW for racism definitely. I did see that in my edition the name had been changed from its previous name which had a slur to this one, so I guess someone else realized it too. But the slur does appear in the book. W.G was a really fun if frustrating character, and overall the book was unique which is always exciting to find. Just so much cricket.
hjrey's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
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? Yes
4.75
There are things Sheila will never know... She will never know that even though I love her more than anything, I will always hate myself a tiny bit more.
About: W.G. Karunasena has had many obsessions in life. He wrote poetry to steal away another man's girl. He drank so much that his liver has reached its limit and now one more shot may kill him. And he can't let go of the idea that Pradeep S. Mathews was the greatest cricketer of all time - Sri Lankan's unsung genius. With more enemies than years left to live, W.G. has little time left to solve the mystery of Pradeep's disappearance and write the book that will seal both his and Pradeep's legend.
Thoughts
This is a book about cricket, and I loved it. No, it hasn't made me even vaguely tempted to watch a cricket match and all of the technical terms have happily evaporated from my head. But it has made me certain that I will read anything Shehan Karunatilaka next comes up with. I did love The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida more than this one, but the writing is just as witty, just as dark, and just as brilliant.
The narration style is more rambling, though this honestly suited the main character, and I wasn't personally interested in solving the mystery of Pradeep. That was a character who seemed to be too unbelievable - a legend of a legend. What captivated me was W.G. himself and the characters around him. I loved his friendship with Ari and Jonny. I loved the complexities in his relationship with his wife and son. I loved the humour of every conversation, and the serious topics layered in. Racism, corruption, homophobia, terrorism, colonisation... these huge topics are part of the story because they're part of Sri Lankan's history, and part of cricket/sport's history too. World-building is usually discussed more in the fantasy and sci-fi genre, but this book does its world-building so expertly. Karunatilaka isn't giving a history lesson, he adds real-world context into the narrative in a way that adds to the story and builds up these characters' lives. These felt like real people because he managed to blur the line between our world and the characters' world.
The story and the pace make this quite a niche book, but the writing and the characters are so fantastic as to make this one of the most special books you can pick up. If you loved The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida, you have to introduce yourself to W.G. Karunasena.
celebrimbor's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
informative
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
soundarya's review against another edition
challenging
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
lbooks's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
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? Yes
3.5
dllh's review against another edition
4.0
Until I read this book, I knew nothing about cricket except that it exists. I still couldn't tell you much about it in spite of having now passed my eyes over words describing many matches, strategies, accoutrements, and people pertaining thereto. It was all of this detail that led me to struggle through a lot of this book. I can imagine that someone who has never cared for baseball might struggle with the glorious opening 80 pages or so of DeLillo's Underworld or a great deal of Harbach's The Art of Fielding. So I felt about much of Chinaman.
Yes, there is sort of a mystery story afoot here too, and there's humor and occasional dips into what feels like authentic pathos (I dog-eared a couple of these), but for most of the book, I found these not worth all the miscellany about cricket. For much of my reading of the book, I continued because a friend recommended it and I wanted to be able to affirm that I had in fact read the book.
But then I got to the last 60 - 80 pages of the book, which I glided through effortlessly and, at times, raptly. The turn here at the end makes the book probably worthwhile, though not masterful through and through. I give it four stars because in the end it is nicely carried off, a sort of modern day Sri Lankan Tristram Shandy.
Yes, there is sort of a mystery story afoot here too, and there's humor and occasional dips into what feels like authentic pathos (I dog-eared a couple of these), but for most of the book, I found these not worth all the miscellany about cricket. For much of my reading of the book, I continued because a friend recommended it and I wanted to be able to affirm that I had in fact read the book.
But then I got to the last 60 - 80 pages of the book, which I glided through effortlessly and, at times, raptly. The turn here at the end makes the book probably worthwhile, though not masterful through and through. I give it four stars because in the end it is nicely carried off, a sort of modern day Sri Lankan Tristram Shandy.