Contents:
Tashi and the Ghosts. Little Book Of Happiness.
I cared about the characters. Thanks for telling us about the problem. The Gang of Wonder Kids. I was pleasantly surprised. The footage showed a group of Brooklyn's friends performing a song in a living room, and fans were quick to praise their musical abilities. I could have easily continued describing this book for pages because there is so much more that I have not even touched here.
Of Mothers and Little People. A Little Book of Happiness. What Happens Before Birth. When I Met You Again Bubbles In The Air. Little Wave and Old Swell. Two Stories of Kings. This is the Only Truth. Sometimes when I read, I rearrange the words in my head, but with this novel there didn't seem to be a need for that. And I can't help but love that.
When she read a book, it was familiar immediately, because she could play parts: And here, in this champagne flute of an evening, she could be immersed in sparkling intoxication, and roll on to her side and look at all of these blonde, auburn, brunette heads in their jeans and shirt sleeves, their Laura Ashley dresses, with the daisy chains still in their hair, and she could imagine she was as beautiful as they were.
That line is killer. The writing is dense.
Each line is heavy with a thousand meanings, it seemed, and I had to weigh things in my head, roll the words around, before moving onto the next one. That sounds like heavy going, and maybe it is, but I have to say it suited me just fine. It made it very real. I couldn't help but recognise characters from my own life within these pages, though they are darker, grittier, and much more.
No wonder reality is so boring. It's a fairly large cast of characters, all of whom rotate in and out of the stories. I read a review somewhere alluding to this aspect as a failing, saying that too many characters were introduced to really understand them. Yes, there are a large cast of characters but the stories are designed to be read within a considerable space of time between each other. Or that's how it seemed to me. It worked well that way because, as I said, every line and word that Fernando uses seem so significant that I felt as I needed to close the book and mull over what I'd just read for half a day or so.
It was sort of like being in a speeding train, heading towards a crash. And once the crash occurs you can't really get onto another train immediately. Although, in this case, you do eventually want to be get back on that train. I think what detracted from the whole reading experience for me was the urgency of it all. Again 'urgent' is another description accorded to Fernando in one of the reviews. I can't think of a description that could be more apt. That's why that train analogy popped into my head. As I read, I felt myself being wound up, tighter and tighter, or maybe the story was winding up tighter and tighter, but there was never that explosion in the end.
It was incredibly frustrating! I kept waiting for the resolutions, for the urgency to disappear, or at least be placated but no such thing happens. Maybe Fernando intended it that way. In reality, the pressures of life don't just disappear and maybe she wanted that to seep into her stories. In which case, she succeeded. I was never fully satisfied with all of her stories - mabye some more so than others - but I don't think there was a single one that actually left me completely happy.
And again, just as in life, maybe that's how it should be. In any case, she got under my skin. I mentioned in my last review of Stuart: A Life Backwards the kinds of stories that make you simultaneously hate and love them. I think this novel is going to be one of those. Apr 19, Wilkie Martin rated it really liked it. Roshi weaves a series of short stories about the lives of Sri Lankan immigrant families into an excellent, readable and thought-provoking composite novel. It is beautifully written, easy to read and has a depth of feeling and thought that is not overplayed but still hits hard.
I hope she writes more - she could be one of the greats. This is a surprising book of interconnected short stories following the lives of different people in the Sri Lankan community - they retain their identity in the midst of war at home and their children's identity in rascist London with its dual personality of the place that is a haven of safety for them.
The stories range from to present day - the children all confront identity issues in different ways, sexual identity - gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, whether to conform to the compelling drive of This is a surprising book of interconnected short stories following the lives of different people in the Sri Lankan community - they retain their identity in the midst of war at home and their children's identity in rascist London with its dual personality of the place that is a haven of safety for them.
The stories range from to present day - the children all confront identity issues in different ways, sexual identity - gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, whether to conform to the compelling drive of their parents to succeed in this foreign land, to maintain their Sri Lankan roots while having "normal London friends". Preethi, Rohan, Victor, Lulu and the full cast of family and extended family and relatives live vividly.
As do the memories of Sri Lanka - the fullness and richness of home. It resonates with my own knowledge of the Caribbean community in London, how proud we all were in the s of the victorious West Indian cricket team - and here in a couple stories, how the Sri Lankan team is "us" for the migrant community - binding grandfather, grandson and son.
This is a wonderful collection of short stories. I stuck it out as long as I could. Just couldn't get into the writing style. Some of the stories I couldn't find a character to be invested in.
On to things that I find more enjoyable. Feb 09, Raisa rated it liked it Shelves: Roshi Fernando is a relatively new Sri Lankan novelist. Her comfort zone is short stories- she won the Impress Prize for New Writers in and was a finalist for the Sunday Times short story award. Homesick is about the lives of a Sri Lankan family living in London, and the people they encounter. The author herself lives in London, and I feel she accurately portrayed what it's actually like to be an immigrant family- that sense of always being a second class citizen, of struggling to make ends Roshi Fernando is a relatively new Sri Lankan novelist.
The author herself lives in London, and I feel she accurately portrayed what it's actually like to be an immigrant family- that sense of always being a second class citizen, of struggling to make ends meet, the experience of culture shock and even racism some families face when they move overseas, hoping to catch a big break. The story revolves around several Sri Lankan immigrant families and the people they come in contact with.
The parents listen to C. Fernando, drink arrack, and reminisce about Sri Lanka while the more Westernised kids sneak upstairs to smoke and drink bottles of wine. The reason this book works so well is that Roshi sticks to what she knows. She too grew up in London- and so she doesn't try to set her book in Sri Lanka, except near the end. Because of that, while her characters view the civil war with a very 'us vs. One of my favourite story arcs was actually about the least likable character, Kumar, because it so effectively portrayed the miscarriages of justice, the social pressure and general difficulty an impoverished Sri Lankan faces when moving to a third world country.
I found myself sympathising with him despite his despicable act. I also liked the tough, adventurous Preethi. Lots of reviewers have said this book reads more like a series of short stories.
You could say that, but personally I felt that all the stories tied together better than, say, Monica Ali's Alentejo Blue. At one point, I did lose the thread a little, but that may have been because I was reading something else at the same time. Towards the end, Roshi does move one of her characters to Sri Lanka in a slightly fantastical situation, which I felt the story could have done without. Nevertheless, this section wasn't overemphasised, so I suppose it wasn't too bad.
This book was very readable as well. I'd actually give it three and a half stars. A good read- looking forward to her follow-up novel. Homesick by Roshi Fernando comes very, very close to being the novel her publisher Random House claims right on the cover that it is but alas… a novel it is not. It is more a series of life studies and it is wonderful. Her journey from child to adult Homesick by Roshi Fernando comes very, very close to being the novel her publisher Random House claims right on the cover that it is but alas… a novel it is not.
Her journey from child to adult is the underpinning for Homesick. Each chapter is devoted to a family member or members. Sometimes Preethi figures directly into the story of this relative sometimes not. As the title indicates these loosely written studies all draw on the immigrant experience.
The details of both the physical and emotional lives of her characters that Fernando packs into Homesick are impressive and intriguing. There is a vivid emotional range explored in Homesick that resonated for me. These lives that are not yet at home in London and no longer at home in Sri Lanka have compelling stories. Fernando makes this experience as seen by families and individuals joyous, heartbreaking, sinister and always interesting and sympathetic. The physical manifestations of the characters new and old lives are a fascination throughout the book. These elements all work together to create an inescapable flux in these lives.
So what goes on here? In both cases Homesick is too sketchy, unfinished, unpolished to work when judging it by either form. I will absolutely read what Roshi Fernando writes next. My dissatisfaction with the form of Homesick was far outweighed by my enjoyment of her writing while reading it.
That is a beautiful cover. Feb 10, Maria rated it liked it. There's so much to love about this book and some aspects that fail and put a damper on the good parts.
Instead of getting lost in clicking through Facebook profiles endlessly to see what people back home are up to, pull up your email and write one of those instead to a friend over there. Pull out a sketchbook or your journal. Many here sit along the Long Walk or in a coffee shop in the bustling town with their tea and their books. Join a local organisation or a school club. Friends have joined CrossFit, book clubs, and writing groups, as well. Call up some friends and go to a trad music night at a pub nearby.