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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... Sri Lanka and the Middle East . His published works in Sri Lanka include Sri Lanka — a Lyric , and Father Saman and the Devil as well as a link language reader for students , Ranjit Discovers where Kandy Began . The Jam Fruit Tree , the ...
... Sri Lanka and the Middle East . His published works in Sri Lanka include Sri Lanka — a Lyric , and Father Saman and the Devil as well as a link language reader for students , Ranjit Discovers where Kandy Began . The Jam Fruit Tree , the ...
Page 134
A Novel Carl Muller. Trust which recently handed over to the government of Sri Lanka a 346 - page report titled The State of Human Rights in Sri Lanka 1993. The following reports which appeared in The Sunday Times of 5 June 1994 make a ...
A Novel Carl Muller. Trust which recently handed over to the government of Sri Lanka a 346 - page report titled The State of Human Rights in Sri Lanka 1993. The following reports which appeared in The Sunday Times of 5 June 1994 make a ...
Page 156
... Sri Lanka and the Arabian Gulf . Even Pliny recorded the cargoes of gold that were carried from the Far East via Lanka to Omana , Batrasave and Dabenegoris Regio , which are identified as Gulf cities with Batrasave being the Ras Al ...
... Sri Lanka and the Arabian Gulf . Even Pliny recorded the cargoes of gold that were carried from the Far East via Lanka to Omana , Batrasave and Dabenegoris Regio , which are identified as Gulf cities with Batrasave being the Ras Al ...
Contents
Under the Umbrella | 3 |
The Leafy Mango Tree | 14 |
Shabby People | 23 |
Copyright | |
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