http://indi.ca/2005/07/book-review-distant-warriors/ I'm a Sri Lankan American Canadian graduate trying to make something of myself in Colombo Sat, 11 Feb 2012 09:20:50 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://indi.ca/2005/07/book-review-distant-warriors/comment-page-1/#comment-24645 indi.ca » Book Club - July Fri, 01 Sep 2006 04:43:41 +0000 http://indi.ca/?p=535#comment-24645 [...] This is another seeming standard in Sri Lankan novels, or at least, um, two of them. Distant Warriors also ambles along through normalcy to build to a violent and abrupt ending. I was also watching this Japanese film ‘Audition‘ which, in a similar way built up through normal trips to hotels and daily life to a deeply fucked up ending which had a man’s foot being sawed off, leaving me (literally) cowering behind the seat. I mean, I actually got out of my seat and kneeled on the floor so I wouldn’t have to see any more. But I digress. July is all normal family problems with sorta heavy-handed and one-dimensional hints as to who the final antagonist will be. I’ll quote from the general descriptions of the riots in ‘July’, cause I think they’re worth recording. ‘By noon, there were thousands of people on the streets. A few were workers trying to find their way home. The others were men intent on murder and mayhem. They carried sticks, knives, axes, lengths of cable, and containers - plastic cans, tins, bottles - of petrol. Most didn’t even know what they were doing there but were swept on by the hugeness of the whole thing. They prowled the streets in packs of fifty or more… [...] [...] This is another seeming standard in Sri Lankan novels, or at least, um, two of them. Distant Warriors also ambles along through normalcy to build to a violent and abrupt ending. I was also watching this Japanese film ‘Audition‘ which, in a similar way built up through normal trips to hotels and daily life to a deeply fucked up ending which had a man’s foot being sawed off, leaving me (literally) cowering behind the seat. I mean, I actually got out of my seat and kneeled on the floor so I wouldn’t have to see any more. But I digress. July is all normal family problems with sorta heavy-handed and one-dimensional hints as to who the final antagonist will be. I’ll quote from the general descriptions of the riots in ‘July’, cause I think they’re worth recording. ‘By noon, there were thousands of people on the streets. A few were workers trying to find their way home. The others were men intent on murder and mayhem. They carried sticks, knives, axes, lengths of cable, and containers – plastic cans, tins, bottles – of petrol. Most didn’t even know what they were doing there but were swept on by the hugeness of the whole thing. They prowled the streets in packs of fifty or more… [...]

]]> http://indi.ca/2005/07/book-review-distant-warriors/comment-page-1/#comment-17874 One one things :: Distant Warriors :: August :: 2005 Wed, 17 Aug 2005 04:17:17 +0000 http://indi.ca/?p=535#comment-17874 [...] There’s been a lot said about the LTTE of late, and there’s a small thing I feel like getting off my chest. On kottu and other sites there has been debate as to who killed Kadi and various (often bizarre) conspiracy theories have raised their respective heads. All this is fine, I guess we still don’t “technically” know who did it so I’ll just keep quiet about that. There is however one thing that disturbs me a lot. I’ve been meaning to write about this ever since I started reading Distant Warriors, and this morning I read a comment on kottu saying something along the lines of the LTTE aren’t stupid, they have Oxford, Harvard and Cambridge advisors, and that triggered me. (The rest of the comment went on to condemn the LTTE and the rest of the post doesn’t concern that comment). [...] [...] There’s been a lot said about the LTTE of late, and there’s a small thing I feel like getting off my chest. On kottu and other sites there has been debate as to who killed Kadi and various (often bizarre) conspiracy theories have raised their respective heads. All this is fine, I guess we still don’t “technically” know who did it so I’ll just keep quiet about that. There is however one thing that disturbs me a lot. I’ve been meaning to write about this ever since I started reading Distant Warriors, and this morning I read a comment on kottu saying something along the lines of the LTTE aren’t stupid, they have Oxford, Harvard and Cambridge advisors, and that triggered me. (The rest of the comment went on to condemn the LTTE and the rest of the post doesn’t concern that comment). [...]

]]>