All is BurningIn these stories Jean Arasanayagam brings us voices that are not normally heard: those of anonymous men and women searching for order and reason in the midst of a ruthless civil war. While many succumb to the horror of their times, there are others who discover in themselves unexpected reserves that will help them survive. Thus a young Sinhala man turns his back on an aimless upper-class existence and joins a group of Tamil refugees smuggling themselves into Germany; a woman goes out alone to see the scene of a carnage to try and find her daughter's lover among the dead and dying; a maid returns from the rich desert city of Doha to the green half-jungle of her village in northern Sri Lanka and rediscovers happiness despite the uncertain future...In addition to stories about the effects of war and violence, this collection also explores aspects of ethnicity and individual choice in a multicultural society. All is Burning is truth-telling at its poignant best. 'Jean Arasanayagam's writing contains some of the most powerful and truthful stories to come out of Sri Lanka...She is a wonderful writer and should be read everywhere.' 'Jean Arasanayagam is one of the most significant voices writing in Sri Lanka today. Her fiction is deeply political in the very best sense of the word, concerned as it is with personal politics of post-colonial identity. Her luminous prose enables her to go straight to the core of her characters' social and personal dilemmas.' --Professor John Thieme, Department of English, The University of Hull |
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Page 26
... Sometimes out of fear , sometimes compulsion , sometimes for thirty pieces of silver . The traitors , if they were caught , were made to pay with their lives . There were ' kangaroo courts ' , summary executions , lamp post killings ...
... Sometimes out of fear , sometimes compulsion , sometimes for thirty pieces of silver . The traitors , if they were caught , were made to pay with their lives . There were ' kangaroo courts ' , summary executions , lamp post killings ...
Page 44
... Sometimes , when we danced together in that quiet room in his house . Or when we drove out into the woods ... Sometimes he appeared to me to be a god of the woods . Pan . Sometimes I grew afraid ; he stood like a satyr in the shadows ...
... Sometimes , when we danced together in that quiet room in his house . Or when we drove out into the woods ... Sometimes he appeared to me to be a god of the woods . Pan . Sometimes I grew afraid ; he stood like a satyr in the shadows ...
Page 356
... Sometimes I fear that I may never see my children again . The men can turn violent . Many of the rougher ones carry a knife at the waist . They are used to brawling . They belong to the underworld of gangs and gang warfare . They live ...
... Sometimes I fear that I may never see my children again . The men can turn violent . Many of the rougher ones carry a knife at the waist . They are used to brawling . They belong to the underworld of gangs and gang warfare . They live ...
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Common terms and phrases
apples arrack asked asylum seekers Aunty Bangalore beautiful belonged Bhikkus birds blue body brother burning Camille chiffonier clothes coconut Colombo colour crowds cut-pieces dark daughter death Dewa Domingos door dukkha everything eyes face father fear feel felt flesh flowers friends fruit garden girl gold grass green guerrillas hair hands husband Janine Jasmine journey jungle Kandy knew leave light lives look Lydia Madurai Marcia marriage married Meena Melwyn mind mother Mungo Nanna never night once past pavement perhaps Potter wasps prawn pray Radha road round rupees sambara saree sarong says Serena Shariff shirt silent silk Sinhala sister skin sleep Sometimes stood streets Sulo talk temple things thought trees trishaw veena veshti village voices waiting walk walls watch woman women young