Shehan Karunatilake, won the Booker Prize 2022 for his book, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida, an interesting novel following the life of an aspiring photographer during the civil war in Sri Lanka. The writer himself is a celebrated figure due to his previous book “Chinaman” which bagged the Commonwealth Book Prize in 2012. Back then, his book Chinaman was all the rage as it narrated the story of a retired sports journalist, who went out on a mission to hunt a great cricketer of the past who had mysteriously gone missing. After that blockbuster novel, Karunatilake made a comeback with “The Seven Moons of Malle Almeida” which won him the Booker Prize 2022.
Through this novel, Karunatilake explores many themes which are deemed taboo in South Asian context. The photographer who is the protagonist is the son of a Burgher mother and Sinhalese father. He is also an atheist and identifies himself as gay. In addition to these challenges, the story highlights how difficult it was for Maali to navigate his life during trying times. While there is a lot of literary content about the civil war that plagued Sri Lanka for 30 years, the story goes deeper into the brutalities of war to uncover lesser known horrors, such as the plight of the working class civilians who were murdered by the People’s Liberation Political Party.
The narrative is delivered in second person, with humour and curiosity kindled into the tale, making it a distant story, with factors to relate to. There are multiple twists in the story which will ground you to it, making you think about the book long after you have finished reading it.
The immense discourse related to war supplies present-day Sri Lankans to gain an understanding about the revolting times faced by the nation. However, this is a spin on the tragedy, by delivering the story of Maali Almeida who passionately believes that his photos held the power to end war, with captured images of politicians playing their dirty games.
Karunatilake has done immense artistic justice to the civil war that demolished Sri Lanka by highlighting it in different perspectives through his story, while revealing some ugly truths. If you are a history buff, with a passion to immerse yourself into meaningful stories, then this is a book you must grab right away.
