Indica called it the great Sri Lankan novel, one hundred pages too long and one year too late… this is what caught my attention and galvanized me into getting my hands on the Chinaman even though I had heard about the book and the author… after all he was a fellow advertising dude.
It was only once I got the book into my hand I truly understood how difficult it would have been to write about it. I was expecting a witty strongly written narrative like one would expect from Carl Muller or Ashok Ferrey. What I started reading can only be described as an “Acharu” The good old fashioned Malay Pickle. And the more I thought about it the more appropriate this metaphor felt. Because that was exactly what the book was. Loads of stuff –some which you would like and some you might not – all tossed together in a delicious mix which you can’t resist.
Yes even though it was going all over the place it was a good read. I could not put the book down and found it absolutely entertaining, hilarious and sad. I also thought it was wonderful that someone had the courage to do something different instead of going down the well traveled path. I just hope he has commercial success with this book to encourage more people to reach beyond convention.
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