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The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by [Shehan Karunatilaka]

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Shehan Karunatilaka

The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida Kindle Edition

by Shehan Karunatilaka (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

508 ratings

in Literary Satire Fiction

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An Instant National Bestseller • One of The New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2022 • An NPR Book We Loved in 2022 • Named a Best Fiction book of 2022 by the Washington Post, Times (UK), Financial Times, and The Guardian.

Winner of the 2022 Booker Prize, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida is a searing satire set amid the mayhem of the Sri Lankan civil war.

Colombo, 1990. Maali Almeida—war photographer, gambler, and closet queen—has woken up dead in what seems like a celestial visa office. His dismembered body is sinking in the serene Beira Lake and he has no idea who killed him. In a country where scores are settled by death squads, suicide bombers, and hired goons, the list of suspects is depressingly long, as the ghouls and ghosts with grudges who cluster round can attest. But even in the afterlife, time is running out for Maali. He has seven moons to contact the man and woman he loves most and lead them to the photos that will rock Sri Lanka.

Ten years after his prize-winning novel Chinaman established him as one of Sri Lanka’s foremost authors, Shehan Karunatilaka is back with a “thrilling satire” (Economist) and rip-roaring state-of-the-nation epic that offers equal parts mordant wit and disturbing, profound truths.

Print length

400 pages
Language

English
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On Kindle Scribe
Publisher

W. W. Norton & Company
Publication date

November 1, 2022
File size

879 KB
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From the Publisher

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Shehan Karunatilaka is the award-winning author of Chinaman: The Legend of Pradeep Mathew. The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida is his second novel. Born in Colombo, Sri Lanka, he studied in New Zealand and has lived and worked in London, Amsterdam, and Singapore. --This text refers to the paperback edition.

Review

"Karunatilaka’s novel breaks with conventional modes of storytelling to reveal humanness in a strange, sprawling, tragic situation... Like Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children, Grass’s Tin Drum and Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita, Karunatilaka’s book is supremely confident in its literary heterodoxy, and likewise in offering idiosyncratic particularities of ordinary Sri Lankan life well beyond the serious matters of politics, history, religion and mythology... Readers everywhere will find in such demanding specificity what we all seek from great books: the exciting if overwhelming fullness of an otherwise unknown world told on its own terms, and that frisson of unexpected identification and understanding that comes from working to stay in it."
― Randy Boyagoda, New York Times Book Review

"Comic, macabre, angry and thumpingly alive... [Maali’s voice] has bite, brilliance, and sparkle... Still, the furious comedy in Mr. Karunatilaka’s novel never courts despair."
― Economist

"There can’t be many novels that simultaneously bring to mind Agatha Christie, Salman Rushdie, Raymond Chandler, John le Carré and Stranger Things―but this one does... Karunatilaka respects the conventions of all the genres that he piles up so extravagantly...The result is an unexpectedly exhilarating read."
― James Walton, Times [UK]

"A mix of mischievous magic realism and absurdist humour... [A] wild, uncategorisable [novel]."
― Claire Allfree, Telegraph

"The obvious literary comparisons are with the magical realism of Salman Rushdie and Gabriel García Márquez. But the novel also recalls the mordant wit and surrealism of Nikolai Gogol’s Dead Souls or Mikhail Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita... Karunatilaka has done artistic justice to a terrible period in his country’s history."
― Tomiwa Owolade, Guardian

"This book is difficult to categorise. With ghosts and spirits in the afterlife, it is part supernatural. But it also gives you a thorough grounding in Sri Lankan politics. And as the narrative gathers pace it becomes a whodunnit. The result is a thrilling read."
― Rebecca Jones, BBC

"The most significant work of Sri Lankan fiction in a decade... Amid the dryness, satire and weary lamentations on the state of Sri Lanka there is genuine heart to this novel."
― Charlie Connelly, New European Review --This text refers to the paperback edition.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0BFG2K29B
Publisher ‏ : ‎ W. W. Norton & Company (November 1, 2022)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ November 1, 2022
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 879 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 400 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #7,713 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #1 in Literary Satire Fiction
- #8 in Satire
- #12 in Satire Fiction

Customer Reviews:
508 ratings

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Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5

508 global ratings

5 star		63%
4 star		25%
3 star		7%
2 star		3%
1 star		2%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Sri Lanka Gets Her Due

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 21, 2023

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There have been several books recently trumpeting the country, the politics, the war of Sri Lanka. 'The Seven Moons' takes a rather unique angle in discussing the war of the 1980's and 90's (mostly) by exploring the war and the country from the perspective of a photographer who was killed and is now a spirit/ghost. He narrates the proceedings of the war and its aftermath by traveling on the 'winds of souls' and silently witnessing the experiences of the living as they attempt to live their lives during the troubled times. The book becomes something of a detective yarn as well, as his lover (s) try to solve the mystery of his death and the appearance of certain photos that compromise the powers that be. The result is an absurd, funny, tragic, and eye opening account of a time and place for which most of us in the west have little awareness. The beginning of the book is hilarious as the author presents the afterlife as something akin to the DMV, with the 'helpers' portrayed as incompetent, bored, unprepared, and basically clueless in their roles of assisting the recently departed. The book becomes more of a history lesson through its dialog although admittedlly, there are many places in the writing that are so obscure that one may need to seek an online historical website/wikipedia to position the characters correctly. The book was apparently initially rejected for publication (at least for global distribution) due to the obscurity of the book, itself. There are many phrases or bywords that are not defined, but most become clear as the plot progresses. This book, which won the Booker Award, is not for every casual reader, but it is well worth the effort for those who want to read a unique take on a poorly covered war in a country that continues to defy easy description.

2 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Complex at Times, But Worth the Read!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 21, 2023

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This book was a complex read but definitely worth it! I’m still processing so much of it. I recommend going into it with some context for the civil war in Sri Lanka to better understand the dynamics at play within the novel. I read a very short essay which was enough. I personally enjoyed the narration in second person. I feel that it provided a better understanding of Maali’s experiences in the in-between and what it was like for him to be an observer in life through his photography.

2 people found this helpful

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Jerry A. Moles

Brutality in Sri Lanka

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 15, 2023

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I've lived in Sri Lanka for considerable time. Maybe not a book for everyone but in fiction some of the horrors of the past 50 years in Sri Lanka displayed. Scary time and the violence has been unrelenting.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 10, 2023

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Politically fierce, morally ferocious and artistically beautiful. A narrative anchored to time and space in a Sri Lanka backdrop that is a proxy for everytime and everywhere in our world perpetually contested by the best and the worst of the human reach.

One person found this helpful

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Peter Ryan

A fascinating read

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 23, 2023

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Bleak, heart-breaking, edgy and inspirational all in the one beautifully written story - magnificent stuff.

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Mamabotanica

this book drew me in and I couldn’t put it down

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 2, 2023

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There is something poignant and beautiful about this book. The premise is dark as is much of the story as is much of the news and much of the world. The manner in which all these things were included in this book was intriguing and intimate and important.

One person found this helpful

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Susan

Great value

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 15, 2023

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This was a Christmas gift.

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MB Hanrahan

review of The Seven moons of Mali Almeida

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 21, 2022

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This book was fantastic as it used afterlife mythology to paint a picture of political upheaval in Shri Lanka circa 1980’s

2 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Amazon Customer

Booker prize winner!

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on November 6, 2022

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As someone who grew up in Colombo during this time and understands some of the controversial subjects the writer touches on, I really enjoyed this book; truly worthy of the Booker prize.

However, it is clear that he is a JVP sympathizer. My earliest traumatic memories are from the time the JVP paid our home a visit to take my grandfather’s gun (which was more of an antique family heirloom rather than a functional weapon). The gun had already been confiscated by the police, but the JVP didn’t believe us. We cooperated fully as they searched our house from top to bottom, so they let us live. Some of our neighbors and relatives were not so lucky… so, as is the case with most controversial topics, there will always be another side to the story.

2 people found this helpful

the.great.han

Only for sale in the Indian subcontinent but I bought this in Canada

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on December 30, 2022

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I paid $30 for this book and got it as a gift for my mom so never opened it and checked it. When I gave it to her, I saw that it was an Indian subcontinent edition with a retail price of 600 Rupees, or roughly $10 CAD. This is unacceptable. At no point was it mentioned that this was going to be an Indian subcontinent version

2 people found this helpful

RK

deserved winner

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on January 24, 2023

Verified Purchase

Won the Booker Prize for 2022 and it is a worthy contribution. A haunting tale of Sri Lanka, a magnificently imagined act of world-building, and a fine piece of writing.

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