Reef

Rating:
Summary: Finding a place
Review: A finalist for Britain's prestigious Booker Prize, "Reef" is the story of a Sri Lankan boy who carves out a place for himself in a precarious world.

Animated by the lyrical narration of Triton, whose simple, focused voice resounds with enthusiasm and curiosity, mixed with the ignorance of the humble and uneducated, this is a touching, absorbing, entertaining novel.

In the first pages, Triton is an adult, a restaurant owner in England, who stops at a gas station and encounters a cowering immigrant attendant who begs his help in figuring out his new job.

Triton is plunged into the memories of 20 years before in Sri Lanka when, on the eve of a "bungled coup" he is scarcely aware of, he was brought to work at age 11 for Mister Salgado, a brooding scientist with a pessimistic passion for the nation's coral reefs.

"Mister Salgado's house was the centre of the universe, and everything in the world took place within its enclosure."

His life shadowed by the hated figure of Joseph, the manservant, young Triton secures some pieces of onion to rub on the man's bed pallet. But suddenly there's an eruption of screams from next door. The old wife, it turns out, has tied her unfaithful husband in the bath and rubbed him all over with chilli powder. Triton chucked away his onion quarters; "they seemed too tame, but I was not ready to use chilli yet."

But soon, after a scene of abuse Triton can never speak of, Joseph is banished from the house and Triton has what he wants. He has Mr. Salgado to himself and he goes about his work with single-minded dedication, anticipating his employer's wishes, reading his books, emulating him in small matters like list-making.

But even this is not enough. With the outside world irrelevant, except as it affects the mood and movements of his master, Triton, an ambitious man even if he doesn't know it, transforms himself into a chef extraordinaire. There is nothing he cannot create.

And a new, exciting presence at the house, Nili, a woman with an appreciative appetite, and a salutary effect on Mr. Salgado, spurs Triton to go all out. The food is "more than good. I knew, because I can feel it inside me when I get it right. It's a kind of energy that revitalizes every cell in my body. Suddenly everything becomes possible and the whole world, that before seemed slowly to be coming apart at the seams, pulls together."

The house enjoys a resurgence of love and energy but outside events intrude, eroding their homelife and threatening their physical safety. Triton ignores politics as no concern of his, but no one can remain apart from the world, although it doesn't necessarily do any harm to try.

Absorbed in his art, focused on his master, Triton finds contentment and satisfaction which he conveys in simple, delectable language and deceptively offhand anecdotes. Triton is a captivating character and Gunesekera a subtle, graceful writer with a rich feel for language.

Rating:
Summary: Finding a place
Review: A finalist for Britain's prestigious Booker Prize, "Reef" is the story of a Sri Lankan boy who carves out a place for himself in a precarious world.

Animated by the lyrical narration of Triton, whose simple, focused voice resounds with enthusiasm and curiosity, mixed with the ignorance of the humble and uneducated, this is a touching, absorbing, entertaining novel.

In the first pages, Triton is an adult, a restaurant owner in England, who stops at a gas station and encounters a cowering immigrant attendant who begs his help in figuring out his new job.

Triton is plunged into the memories of 20 years before in Sri Lanka when, on the eve of a "bungled coup" he is scarcely aware of, he was brought to work at age 11 for Mister Salgado, a brooding scientist with a pessimistic passion for the nation's coral reefs.

"Mister Salgado's house was the centre of the universe, and everything in the world took place within its enclosure."

His life shadowed by the hated figure of Joseph, the manservant, young Triton secures some pieces of onion to rub on the man's bed pallet. But suddenly there's an eruption of screams from next door. The old wife, it turns out, has tied her unfaithful husband in the bath and rubbed him all over with chilli powder. Triton chucked away his onion quarters; "they seemed too tame, but I was not ready to use chilli yet."

But soon, after a scene of abuse Triton can never speak of, Joseph is banished from the house and Triton has what he wants. He has Mr. Salgado to himself and he goes about his work with single-minded dedication, anticipating his employer's wishes, reading his books, emulating him in small matters like list-making.

But even this is not enough. With the outside world irrelevant, except as it affects the mood and movements of his master, Triton, an ambitious man even if he doesn't know it, transforms himself into a chef extraordinaire. There is nothing he cannot create.

And a new, exciting presence at the house, Nili, a woman with an appreciative appetite, and a salutary effect on Mr. Salgado, spurs Triton to go all out. The food is "more than good. I knew, because I can feel it inside me when I get it right. It's a kind of energy that revitalizes every cell in my body. Suddenly everything becomes possible and the whole world, that before seemed slowly to be coming apart at the seams, pulls together."

The house enjoys a resurgence of love and energy but outside events intrude, eroding their homelife and threatening their physical safety. Triton ignores politics as no concern of his, but no one can remain apart from the world, although it doesn't necessarily do any harm to try.

Absorbed in his art, focused on his master, Triton finds contentment and satisfaction which he conveys in simple, delectable language and deceptively offhand anecdotes. Triton is a captivating character and Gunesekera a subtle, graceful writer with a rich feel for language.

Rating:
Summary: The subtexts are interesting
Review: After a short break in Sri Lanka, as someone of dual nationality with Sri Lanka I was enveloped by this book which I read in quite a short time. It begins well, but I found so much of it quite morbid and fearful, both at the level of political/terrorist violence and at a sexual level.

The author's trademark topic is food which is well treated in his short stories (read Monkfish Moon by him for more) and really well served up in Reef. This and many other exotic features such as wildlife, native patois are obvious highlights and selling points in the book. Dialogues are sketchy, incomplete and we can fill in the missing words even if the degree of articulateness is lacking or obtuse.

There are dark, brooding undercurrents and Mr Salgado ultimately is a failed, lonely guy - in romance and in his job (though the romantic side is incomplete - by the end and there may be reconcilliation). His failure is because of the nature of Sri Lanka itself apart from anything personal. The way that the governments there cannot be expected to protect people or do any real good and the way the country swings from one extreme to another. This is captured in the dialogue.

There are also dark sexual overtones/undertones in this book. Things to do with homosexuality, male bonding, fear psychoses, violence. Sexual references are covert and psychological - e.g., there is a greatly distorted story of Angulimala, more violent than the original describing a necklace of fingers, but in a subtext, penises. True to Sri Lankan style, we don't hear much beyond a couple gazing at each other and finding comfort in company. At the end there is a violent break up, perhaps too violent.

I am concerned that the impression of Sri Lanka conveyed may be overcritical, brooding and dark. I think the Man Eaters of Punanai by C. Ondaatje, conveys something of Sri Lanka's troubles and potential treasures without any brooding sentiment.

This book was dark, depressing and aromatic. Good to have read its limpid, chatty and at times disturbing/churning prose.

Rating:
Summary: What a Great Book
Review: An absolutely lyrical story that transports you into another time and culture. The house and its beautiful tropical surroundings are touchably real to the reader. Triton, the boy, is achingly sweet and naive, yet his pride in his mastery of cooking - and life - is moving and complete. I can't wait to read more from this magical writer.

Rating:
Summary: To "those who keep the flame alive from night to night."
Review: Few readers will be able to resist the charm of Triton, who, eleven years old at the midpoint of the 20th century, becomes a member of Ranjan Salgado's Sri Lankan household as a houseboy. His life under the demanding and belligerent older servant Joseph is a challenge, and Gunesekera delightfully conveys Triton's point of view, skillfully revealing an 11-year-old's sensibilities and imagination as Triton envisions Joseph being brought low or stricken by disaster, while his own heroic acts save his master. As Triton gets older and acquires more and more responsibilities, Gunesekera reveals a character of unwavering conscientiousness whose personal devotion to Salgado and admiration for his intellectual accomplishments are absolute.

Reef is not just a story, however, as fascinating as that may be. It is a delicate allegory of the small changes which can bring cataclysmic results to a society, just as the coral reef which Ranjan Salgado studies is "very delicate. It has survived aeons, but even a small change in the immediate environment...could kill it." With the gap between the educated and the "underclass" in Sri Lanka very wide, and portentous changes occurring to the country politically, the reader is constantly reminded that, like the reef, "if the structure is destroyed...then the whole thing will go." As Salgado's love for Nili makes him more and more self-centered and less altruistic, and as political movements inspired by other countries become more aggressive, the "small changes in the immediate environment" begin for Triton.

In prose that shimmers with the light of the tropics and the scent of flowers, the reader is absorbed into the Sri Lankan jungle and sea, watching as the outside world propels along the small changes which may devour everything--the jungle, the sea, and the cultural fabric of which they have all been part for eons. As as one reads this remarkable novel, one joins with Triton and Salgado in yearning for peace, the "twilight when the forces of darkness and the forces of light are evenly matched and in balance [and] there is nothing to fear. No demons, no troubles, no carrion. An elephant swaying to a music of its own."

Rating:
Summary: Well written; made me miss the homeland!
Review: I sought this book because the author was a fellow Sri Lankan and I was curious as to the quality of writing and the content. Though I was disappointed with Gunesekera's "Sandglass," I couldn't put this one down. I enjoyed the story because it was written from the point of view of the house servant, who knew more about the goings on in the house than his own master. It was interesting to see (and realize) just how much "the help" can know about intimacies of the families they work for, and how those who stay on grow so close to their families as well. The language is descriptive and paints an accurate picture of life in a middle-class, post-colonial household. The references to Sri Lankan food, culture, places and ideas all made me feel like I was visiting a Sri Lankan village again. There are parts when the book does drag from over-description, but it's over pretty quickly. I plan on exploring other books by this author as well!

Rating:
Summary: Well written; made me miss the homeland!
Review: I sought this book because the author was a fellow Sri Lankan and I was curious as to the quality of writing and the content. Though I was disappointed with Gunesekera's "Sandglass," I couldn't put this one down. I enjoyed the story because it was written from the point of view of the house servant, who knew more about the goings on in the house than his own master. It was interesting to see (and realize) just how much "the help" can know about intimacies of the families they work for, and how those who stay on grow so close to their families as well. The language is descriptive and paints an accurate picture of life in a middle-class, post-colonial household. The references to Sri Lankan food, culture, places and ideas all made me feel like I was visiting a Sri Lankan village again. There are parts when the book does drag from over-description, but it's over pretty quickly. I plan on exploring other books by this author as well!

Rating:
Summary: Poignant, elegant and quietly observant
Review: Romesh Gunesekera's debut novel "Reef" is a poignantly observed tale of lost innocence, human courage and determination, and of the deep cultural divide separating the Western educated intelligentia and natives of post-colonial Sri Lanka. The humble servant boy, Triton, is steeped in old world values but hero worships the intellect of his marine geologist employer, Mr Salgado. Both fail to come to terms with the political issues of the day. Triton is too busy keeping house and entertaining Mr Salgado's friends to care. His employer spends his time astral travelling and nursing his many esoteric concerns while impressing his girlfriend, Nili, with his hospitality. Ironically, it is the humble Triton who shows more strength of character and resourcefulness than any of the educated lot. The outcome of Mr Salgado's affair with Nili is reflective of the tension generated by an evolving value system. "Reef" is both subtle and lyrical in its appeal and Gunesekera rewards us with an ending that is both heartwarming and uplifting. It is an impressive debut by Gunesekera and not surprisingly shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: What's cooking in Sri Lanka?
Review: Set in Sri Lanka, "Reef" is a beautifully-written story in which the narrator, young Triton, tells of his time as the servant/chef of Ranjan Salgado, and of Salgado's troubled love affair with Nili.

Nili's arrival on the scene makes the domestic situation in Salgado's house more complicated. Although Triton is not involved directly in what unfolds, he is affected by events and cannot dissociate himself from them.

Gunesekera handles all of this with great skill, making "Reef" an intimate and compelling read. I enjoyed particularly the descriptions of cooking - the section dealing with the difficulty of cooking a "traditional" Christmas meal in a tropical climate was great fun. To add to this, Gunesekera uses the civil violence in Sri Lanka to give the story a threatening and tragic background.

G Rodgers

Rating:
Summary: a mesmerizing tale
Review: This short novel has so many dimensions that it is hard to say where to start. It is a beautiful description of the growing up from a shy boy to a confident professional of Triton, the servant. It has as a background the change in the Sri Lankan society and the decay of the ruling class. Through Mr Salando, Nili and his friends we get a good view on the differences between East and West. To see the 70's hippie, going to India to seek whatever it is, suddenly turn up as a very destructive force in the Eastern cultural fabric is quite hilarious. Above all, it is a beautiful story, told in a very poetical way and never failing to make the reader feel part of it.. Finally, the scenes in London are, again, painted with a beautifully fine brush. I will on my visits to London never again look at an Asian shopkeeper or restaurant owner in the same way....