The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida - Shehan Karunatilaka
I don't mean to sound dramatic but this book literally changed the way I think. Before reading, I didn't know much about the Sri Lankan civil war. There are so many thought-provoking lines in here and I think they hit a bit harder for me since the country I'm from has many of the same issues.
This book is obviously not non-fiction but the suffering of the citizens is very much based in fact. Maali is such a good character to convey the message of this book, I feel. He's a morally grey character who has good intentions but isn't able to achieve his dreams in his lifetime. He finds peace only once he dies and sees the people he once held so dearly from a third person view.
Karunatilaka has crafted such an interesting mix of genres, it's part murder-mystery, part historical fiction and at times, even slice of life. I must say, this did take me a bit longer to read than most of my books and I think it's because of the range of emotions this book made me feel. Most of the novel focused on the atrocities of the civil war which left me feeling a lot of anger - Karunatilaka is truly a great writer. Instead of leaving us with this anger, I like how Karunatilaka wrapped everything up, helping Maali feel at peace in a world that is crumbling.
I liked to see the pov life after death that this could be easier and quieter, and you could be happy with that kind of life.
This book described realities we see everyday, and in some cases they opened my eyes to those new realities, and they are written in a beautiful way as a plus. I like a lot of the thoughts of Maali about religion, life and love. His relationship with Jaki I felt it pure. They gave a 100% to each other, this relationship was in a middle of a terrible war, to show as that this friendship could win to everyone and everything.
At first I gave this book 4.25 stars, but since finishing it, I have not stopped thinking about it. I just have to give this 5.0/5.0 star.
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