Colombo: A NovelColombo is in the throes of an explosion. Its face changes continuously, its vices are legion, its future as yet obscure and its paths speak of sunlight as well as of shadow.-' Carl Muller begins his quasi-fictional portrait of this beautiful, war-torn city by describing the great battles fought over it by European colonizers-. In AD 1505, a Portuguese fleet blown off-course took shelter in Galle, overthrew the local kings, fortified Colombo and decided to stay. The Dutch came along, ousted the Portuguese, made Colombo their capital and ruled till the British arrived and sent them packing. Muller intersperses the tales of the past into descriptions of the battles that are being fought in Colombo today"political battles in which vested interests play a major role as well as battles fought on the individual level in the struggle to survive: young women and children turning to prostitution to earn an extra buck, people begging in the streets to make ends meet, unemployed young men turning to crime in frustration, students demonstrating against atrocities, lovers pining for nightfall in order to push away loneliness if only for a few moments... Written in Muller's lucid style, Colombo: A Novel is a chronicle of a city's trials and triumphs. |
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Page 114
... Kollupitiya now stands , actually dragged a Japanese Zero fighter plane to the Green , outside the hotel , and left it there for public viewing . It was the RAF's way of telling the citizens of Colombo that the Japanese had not had it ...
... Kollupitiya now stands , actually dragged a Japanese Zero fighter plane to the Green , outside the hotel , and left it there for public viewing . It was the RAF's way of telling the citizens of Colombo that the Japanese had not had it ...
Page 115
... Kollupitiya where one could eat in complete privacy and be as amorous as one wished while discreet waiters did not so much as raise an eyebrow . And yet , even as Mavis is in bed in her home and John is telling his wife what a busy day ...
... Kollupitiya where one could eat in complete privacy and be as amorous as one wished while discreet waiters did not so much as raise an eyebrow . And yet , even as Mavis is in bed in her home and John is telling his wife what a busy day ...
Page 189
... Kollupitiya on Friday led investigators to this safehouse which functioned as an office of the LTTE . One of the three men arrested on Friday has been identified as a member of the LTTE suicide squad . He was in charge of this ...
... Kollupitiya on Friday led investigators to this safehouse which functioned as an office of the LTTE . One of the three men arrested on Friday has been identified as a member of the LTTE suicide squad . He was in charge of this ...
Contents
Under the Umbrella | 3 |
The Leafy Mango Tree | 14 |
Shabby People | 23 |
Copyright | |
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