The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida: WINNER OF THE 2022 BOOKER PRIZE

Book Review: The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida Author – Shehan Karunatilaka Publisher – Penguin India . What’s peculiar with acts of insurgencies, pogroms, and civil war? Well, they paint a sordid tale of human suffering, blotched with patches of red filth strewn on streets, the unbearable stench of mutilated bodies crying in pain amongst piles of rotting carcasses, all in the pursuit of envisioning a righteous/egalitarian society at the cost of innocent lives. The perfidious power of our cerebral mind contorts and creates a belief system that people in authority deem fit and when driven by inept consciousness, it fashions bloodshed to usurp flailing egos. . War is gruesome, it stunts the economy of a nation and its repercussions are heinous. It creates this heavy, thick dense air, that’s ominous in nature reeking of torture, grief, and pathos. It leaves an indelible mark on society, shattering its core. The author Shehan in his book ‘The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida’ breaks all the stereotypes and pens a fictional story of a gay photographer who finds himself entwined in the scheming political war of secession where his incongruent ideas fail to reverberate with the men in power who wield machinations of political governance. . This book predominately walks us through the lens of our main protagonist Maali Almeida, who wakes up dead in a world confounded with eerie, mysterious beings and finds himself in situations that are unduly of him in real life. He realizes he’s dead and has only seven moons/days to identify his killer and to get the pending task accomplished before he makes a transition from the in-between to the other realm (light). This book beautifully describes the world of the dead, especially the ones who were massacred during the Sri Lankan Civil war and portrays a tale of retribution for the ones who were brutally sacked to death by their perpetrators. . The author does a commendable job of weaving an innocuous tale of life after death that’s beautifully cocooned with political satire. Our protagonist is unabashedly queer and has a lot of secret admirers, whose imperturbable demeanor is worth mentioning. The characters are flawed and relatable where one feels a sense of empathy when they unknowingly land themselves in trouble for all the wrong reasons. The uniqueness of the plot along with its gallant portrayal of characters makes it an immersive read. . I loved reading this book right from the word go. How did Maali get entrenched in this chaos? Who killed him and for what? Will Maali achieve what he intends to in spirit within seven moons? What about his love life? Will he cross over? Well if these questions intrigue you, go and get a copy of this book, for it’s a firecracker and you’re going to love this one…

"Magic isn't evil or good. Or black or white. It is like the universe, like every missing God. Powerful and supremely indifferent" Shehan Karunatilaka, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida . . . I'd definitely give it a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫! ⚠️ Trigger Warning ⚠️ Here's why you should pick it up: 🌕 A morally gray protagonist who is trying to avenge his death under mysterious circumstances 🌖 Stories of war brutality that shake you to the core, yet remind you that the perpetrators are the ones that are far from the battlefield. It's graphic and gore right from the word go. But it's also something you won't be able to put down. 🌗 Finding purpose, yet losing everything in the pursuit of it all 🌘 History of Sri Lanka, it's folklore and it's politics 🌑 Friendship, Love (doomed romance), LGBTQ+ main characters that drive the plot forward 🌔 Cheeky, witty yet thought provoking writing of the The Booker Prize winning author 🌓 The idea that it's the choices that we make and the people we meet that make us who we are today I highly recommend this gripping novel and despite it's length, it's worth every turning page.

This book, winner of the 2022 Booker Prize, is an incredible combination of an imaginative and almost wild storyline, abundant humor, a scathing commentary on Sri Lankan politics in the 1980s, and thoughtful character sketching of the main protagonist and supporting actors. The premise of this book bears some resemblance to George Saunders' 2017 novel, Lincoln in the Bardo, that revolves around Abraham Lincoln's deceased son and various other characters, all situated in a realm between life and rebirth. Saunders incorporates real historical events from Lincoln's life into his narrative. Similarly, this book follows the journey of Maali Almeida, a photographer who wakes up dead and finds himself in the afterlife. He has seven days, or "moons," to move on or risk being trapped in the afterlife. Karunatilaka sets his story against the backdrop of the communal unrest in Sri Lanka during the 1980s. The plot elements are zany and absolutely delightful and include a 42 storeyed afterlife waiting area, wind as the main form of transport, demons and other Sri Lankan mythological beings, a talking leopard and the important role of an Elvis Presley album. Karunatilaka’s writing is half-part humourous, especially when he comments on everday life in Sril Lanka during that period — “Lankans can’t queue unless you define a queue as an amorphous curve with multiple entry points”, and half part philosophical — “Evil is not what we should fear. Creatures with power acting in their own interest: that is what should make us shudder”. Karunatilka also uses an interesting second-person narrative style which I thought somehow immerses the reader better into the book. There is a fair amount of reference to Sri Lankan events in the 1980s and the roles that various entities such as the government, the JVP party and the Indian army played but that should not be a constraint for a reader not familiar with these events. Karunatilka also helpfully incorporates a cheatsheet early on in the book to underscrore these entities. But most importantly, Karunatilaka is able to flesh out the various characters really well — Maali’s lover, his lover’s cousin and father, a dead JVP activist, a blind astrologer, and several others. Maali Almeida’s character development through the events over the seven days as well as through flashbacks, is particularly well done. He is introduced to the reader as “Photographer. Gambler. Slut” right at the beginning of the book but we gradually then begin to understand his motivations and principles as the story progresses towards his inevitable redemption. Pros: Zany plot, humorous writing, fleshed out characters Cons: Nothing significant

The book came in good quality. No Damage in the book. My Rating for the book: ★★★★★ My review is below. A stunning second-person narrative that talks about the gruesome murders of the Sri Lankan civil war, its insurgencies, and pogroms. The brilliance of Shehan lies in narrating the story from an after-life point of view with only seven days left to uncover the truth through Maali Almeida. Had this book adopted any kind of narration other than this, it would've not been this interesting. Maali's character is so dense that you can see a patriot, a gambler, a gay, a pro photographer, a probability calculator, and many more in him. An admirable protagonist who dies for an unbelievable reason leaves you in awe in the end. Such wonderful suspense has been built in all the seven moons that Maali travels. Above all, Shehan's take on the Lankan Civil War clearly comes out for humanity without taking any sides. It is clear that Maali is a pure photojournalist who doesn't take sides but simply puts his life on the line while capturing the gore of the civil war believing that these photos would end the war and save lives but sadly ends up accepting in the afterlife that power frenzy can never stop any war in any part of the planet. There are so many eye-opening lines in this book that question, religion, faith, government, sexual orientation, and most importantly humanity. You would definitely appreciate life after reading this. The plot and story are so international that the book deserves the appreciation it has got. Definitely a must-read. Do pick it up!

Seven Moon .. is a captivating story of an unfortunate country. Narrated in a unique style it is a rare walk down (flight around ?) the harrowing time of the war torn country. The pathos, the suffering, the tragedy of the civil strife in Sri Lanka told by a 'dead' photographer Malli Almeida recounts the events of 1980s which for non-Sri Lakans were merely items on the fourth page of the newspaper. Through a smooth flow of the narrative, mixing fictional characters dead and alive, the author leads the reader to a real time view of the past of the city of Colombo and the country and their contemporary history and geopolitics. The surreal time of seven moons, between the death and the choice of the light, of Almeida is a captivating mix of tragedy, suspense, wit, imagination, fantasy and wisdom. 2017 novel of George Saunders, 'Lincoln in the Bardo' had a similar narrative but it referred to a time long ago. Seven Moon of Maalli Almeida with a background of relatively recent events, achieves a connect with the reader, whose memory of the events in the backyard led to the passingly referred to assassination of a Prime Minister, is still fresh. The reader is entwined in the story and becomes a part of it. Shehan Karunatilka deserves the accolades, including the Pulitzer price 2022, received. Almeida will 'haunt' for a long time.

Not a smooth Read

The writing style, the narrative , the story . Everything kept me enthralled. I think it was deserving of the booker prize.

After Anil’s Ghost by Michael Ondaatje's, this must be the second novel that is able to capture the eerie violence that seems to envelop the civil war years. Where it differs is in the irreverence with which it frames the characters and the circumstance—a ghost stuck in the nether world sleuthing to find his murderer. With the lightness of death, you float in gay abundance with the protagonist, who has seven days to find his perpetrators. In between, you meet all the unsavoury, ghoulish characters and navigate the ether with nonchalance.

Quantos escritores nascidos no Sri Lanka você já leu? Se a resposta é nenhum, tá aí uma ótima oportunidade para estreia. Apesar de ter sido escrito originalmente em inglês, o surpreendente As Sete Luas de Maali Almeida pode ser considerado um romance srilankês, pela origem do autor, e por que toda a trama e principais personagens são ligados ao país e a sua realidade. O Sri Lanka dos anos 1980, é o cenário perfeito para o caos, com sua mistura de crenças e influências culturais de portugueses, holandeses, ingleses, budistas, hinduístas, muçulmanos católicos e protestantes, tamils, burghers e lankas, envoltos numa guerra civil que durou trinta anos. Deste caos emerge a história individual de Maali, após seu assassinato, com seus amores e amizades de vida, tentando botar alguma ordem nos seus valores e lealdade, mesmo não sendo mais do que um fantasma. E a riqueza imaginativa na criação desse mundo pós vida, suas regras, hierarquias e personagens, é o que mais impressiona na obra.

Not the sort of thing that I would normally read. Nevertheless I enjoyed the main storyline and the period that the novel was set. I remember the Tamil conflict but I didn't realise how deep it went.

I bought the Kindle version.Superbly intriguing A bold, genre-defying novel that blends satire, mystery, and spiritual reflection and a tour de force that explores death, truth, and identity in war-torn Sri Lanka. The novel is darkly comic, politically charged, and magically surreal. Karunatilaka masterfully blends satire, murder mystery, and magical realism, offering a unique lens on Sri Lanka's social atmosphere in the 80s .The book’s voice is witty and irreverent, inventive, and its message hauntingly relevant. It’s a rare novel that’s both entertaining and provocative. If you enjoy novels that challenge convention and illuminate history through inventive storytelling, this one’s for you

I love fictions that describe the afterlife and how the souls of the departed interact with the world of the living, think George Saunders, Ben Okri, Julian barnes, etc. and Shehan Katunatilaka does this masterfully, presenting us with a bardo rich with ironies, beauty, tragedy, surprises and comedy (and music!) For those saying that they got lost between the political fractions: Maali makes clear from the start that it doesn’t matter, it’s all the same, humans killing each other and stealing from each other under the excuse of nation and identity. For those saying they don’t understand why it won the Booker: you are hilarious, you need to read other year’s prizes because this is a fine choice. I enjoyed this so much, once you get into its rhythm it feels like being inside a film. At the end I almost cried but then there was (there always is) a punchline that brought a smile to my face.

1980年代のスリランカ内戦を舞台にした抽象画。報道写真家が内戦の悲惨な状況を細かく撮影しているので反戦争作品かと思ったが、彼が殺され、煉獄（現世と死の間), に放り出されそこでの行き方がメインに成る。ただしそこも現世とは変わらず、内戦、虐殺、賄賂、ギャンブル、女、ホモ等、に明け暮れ、写真家もその暮らしに明け暮れ、疑いを感じない。煉獄ではストーリーは無くただひたすら同じ虐殺等が繰り返され主題の7日目は終了では無く、輪廻の再生点と分かる。人物画、風景画の様に主題も無く、文章の各色の線と点が複雑に絡み合い際限なく繰り返される、抽象画です。英語で書かれた史上初の抽象文学としてブッカー賞に輝いたのだろうが、私には理解できない作品でした。ただしオーディオ版を聞きながらの読書は「不思議な力」で止めることが出来ず、最後まで読んだのはさすがブッカー賞作品ですか？