Reef

A lovely story viewed by a young boy who grew up admiring Salgado ( a man devoted to save the reef) and finding his way thanks to Salgado's view of future.Events from the last century that many readers will remember and think that all those facts were part of our recent history. It is a book written in a slow warm mood that readers grasp easily up to the end

After a short break in Sri Lanka, as someone of dual nationality with Sri Lanka I was enveloped by this book which I read in quite a short time. It begins well, but I found so much of it quite morbid and fearful, both at the level of political/terrorist violence and at a sexual level.The author's trademark topic is food which is well treated in his short stories (read Monkfish Moon by him for more) and really well served up in Reef. This and many other exotic features such as wildlife, native patois are obvious highlights and selling points in the book. Dialogues are sketchy, incomplete and we can fill in the missing words even if the degree of articulateness is lacking or obtuse.There are dark, brooding undercurrents and Mr Salgado ultimately is a failed, lonely guy - in romance and in his job (though the romantic side is incomplete - by the end and there may be reconcilliation). His failure is because of the nature of Sri Lanka itself apart from anything personal. The way that the governments there cannot be expected to protect people or do any real good and the way the country swings from one extreme to another. This is captured in the dialogue.There are also dark sexual overtones/undertones in this book. Things to do with homosexuality, male bonding, fear psychoses, violence. Sexual references are covert and psychological - e.g., there is a greatly distorted story of Angulimala, more violent than the original describing a necklace of fingers, but in a subtext, penises. True to Sri Lankan style, we don't hear much beyond a couple gazing at each other and finding comfort in company. At the end there is a violent break up, perhaps too violent.I am concerned that the impression of Sri Lanka conveyed may be overcritical, brooding and dark. I think the Man Eaters of Punanai by C. Ondaatje, conveys something of Sri Lanka's troubles and potential treasures without any brooding sentiment.This book was dark, depressing and aromatic. Good to have read its limpid, chatty and at times disturbing/churning prose.

Just beautiful and very human!

Bought this book for my English Literature class and had to write a paper on it. I do not like literature classes but this book was interesting in how it used the imagery to explain the food used throughout the book. The shipping was fast and accurate and the condition of the book was as described.

Few readers will be able to resist the charm of Triton, who, eleven years old at the midpoint of the 20th century, becomes a member of Ranjan Salgado's Sri Lankan household as a houseboy. His life under the demanding and belligerent older servant Joseph is a challenge, and Gunesekera delightfully conveys Triton's point of view, skillfully revealing an 11-year-old's sensibilities and imagination as Triton envisions Joseph being brought low or stricken by disaster, while his own heroic acts save his master. As Triton gets older and acquires more and more responsibilities, Gunesekera reveals a character of unwavering conscientiousness whose personal devotion to Salgado and admiration for his intellectual accomplishments are absolute.Reef is not just a story, however, as fascinating as that may be. It is a delicate allegory of the small changes which can bring cataclysmic results to a society, just as the coral reef which Ranjan Salgado studies is "very delicate. It has survived aeons, but even a small change in the immediate environment...could kill it." With the gap between the educated and the "underclass" in Sri Lanka very wide, and portentous changes occurring to the country politically, the reader is constantly reminded that, like the reef, "if the structure is destroyed...then the whole thing will go." As Salgado's love for Nili makes him more and more self-centered and less altruistic, and as political movements inspired by other countries become more aggressive, the "small changes in the immediate environment" begin for Triton.In prose that shimmers with the light of the tropics and the scent of flowers, the reader is absorbed into the Sri Lankan jungle and sea, watching as the outside world propels along the small changes which may devour everything--the jungle, the sea, and the cultural fabric of which they have all been part for eons. As as one reads this remarkable novel, one joins with Triton and Salgado in yearning for peace, the "twilight when the forces of darkness and the forces of light are evenly matched and in balance [and] there is nothing to fear. No demons, no troubles, no carrion. An elephant swaying to a music of its own." Mary Whipple

A wonderful read.

It's one of those unexpected pleasure reads. Beautifully written, and delight. I read slowly so I could savour it fully.

People compare this with Ishiguro's The Remains of the Day but the story has a treadline of its own. A good read for those looking for plots which has socio-political background.

This is a beautiful book. Slowly paced, the story is deep enough to get inside of you. Writers from Sri Lanka really know how to tell you stories about melancholy and nostalgia.

Impeccable product and shipping delay. Satisfied client.

A pleasant read, without achieving great heights. Gives a good feel for what it was like growing up in Sri Lanka