The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida
ISBN 9781908745903 | | |
Preceded by | Chinaman: The Legend of Pradeep Mathew |
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The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida is a 2022 novel by Sri Lankan author
Summary
The novel is set in Sri Lanka in the 1980s, and written in the second person. The central character, Maali Almeida, is a dead photographer who sets out to solve the mystery of his own death and is given one week ("seven moons") during which he can travel between the afterlife and the real world.[11] In this time, he hopes to retrieve a set of photographs, stored under a bed, and to persuade his friends to share them widely to expose the brutalities of the Sri Lankan Civil War.[1]
Background and publication
Karunatilaka wrote his second novel in various versions with different titles. When the first draft was shortlisted for the
Reception
The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida won the 2022 Booker Prize, announced at a ceremony at The Roundhouse in London on 17 October 2022,[13][14][15][16] the award being presented to the author by Queen Camilla.[17] The judges – the panel comprising Neil MacGregor (chair), Shahidha Bari, Helen Castor, M. John Harrison and Alain Mabanckou – said that the novel "fizzes with energy, imagery and ideas against a broad, surreal vision of the Sri Lankan civil wars. Slyly, angrily comic."[3][18]
Review coverage
The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida was characterised by
The review by Randy Boyagoda in The New York Times said that the novel "offers a very palatable combination of literary-political-ethical challenges, enjoyments and validations to its readers, including a sense of timeliness."[21] Literary Review observed: "Witty, inventive and moving, Karunatilaka’s prose is gloriously free of cliché, and despite the apparent cynicism of his smart-alec narrator, this is a deeply moral book that eschews the simple moralising of so much contemporary fiction."[22]
Describing the novel as "brilliant", the
References
- ^ a b Owolade, Tomiwa (9 August 2022). "The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka review – life after death in Sri Lanka". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
- ^ Lezard, Nicholas (10 September 2022). "A ghoulish afterlife: The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida, by Shehan Karunatilaka, reviewed". The Spectator. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
- ^ a b "The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida". thebookerprizes.com. The Booker Prizes. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
- ^ Bayley, Sian (6 September 2022). "Garner, Bulawayo and Strout on Booker shortlist". The Bookseller. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
- ^ Bayley, Sian (17 October 2022). "Karunatilaka wins Booker Prize with 'audacious' The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida". The Bookseller. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
- ^ Shaffi, Sarah (17 October 2022). "Shehan Karunatilaka wins Booker prize for The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida". The Guardian.
- ^ Alter, Alexandra (17 October 2022). "Shehan Karunatilaka Wins Booker Prize for 'The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida'". The New York Times.
- ^ Chilton, Martin (17 October 2022). "Booker Prize 2022 winner The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida is compelling about conflict – but not a simple read". The Independent.
- ^ a b Jayasinghe, Pasan (7 September 2022). "Shehan Karunatilaka: 'The state will come after the defenceless'". frontline.thehindu.com. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
- ^ Krishnan, Nikhil (18 October 2022). "Booker 2022: The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka review: a bawdy, wisecracking winner". The Telegraph.
- ^ a b c Jayasinghe, Pasan (18 October 2022). "Shehan Karunatilaka: 'The state will come after the defenceless'". Frontline. The Hindu Group. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
- ^ "The Booker Prize 2022 | The Booker Prizes". thebookerprizes.com. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
- ^ Shaffi, Sarah (26 July 2022). "Booker prize longlist of 13 writers aged 20 to 87 announced". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
- ^ "Shehan Karunatilaka's The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida longlisted for 2022 Booker Prize". The Sunday Times. 26 July 2022. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
- ^ Ismail, Adilah (31 July 2022). "It's always a thril to have a book of yours make a list: Shehan". The Sunday Times.
- ^ "Shehan Karunatilaka's Novel "The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida" Wins Booker Prize 2022". YouTube. 18 October 2022. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
- ^ Bayley, Sian (26 July 2022). "Booker Prize longlist dominated by indies as judges pick youngest and oldest ever nominees". The Bookseller. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
- ^ Connelly, Charlie (28 July 2022). "Sri Lanka in purgatory". The New European.
- ^ Elliott, Helen (26 October 2022). "It's obvious why this sensational novel won the Booker Prize".
- ^ Boyagoda, Randy (28 October 2022). "The Hero of This Novel Is Dead. He'd Like to Find Out Why". The New York Times.
- ^ Lawton, Frank (October 2022). "Dead Man Talking". The Literary Review. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
- ^ McLoughlin, Kate (16 September 2022). "There are no good guys: Death and blame in the lethal game of 'Lankan roulette'". TLS. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
- ^ Popescu, Lucy (7 October 2022). "The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida — the living dead". Financial Times.