Virginia Hussin

This was one of the worst books I've ever read and I just can't understand how it won the Booker Prize! I only perservered with it because it was for Bookclub and I kept thinking, "it has to get better!" I've since discovered that the other bookclub members couldn't stand the book either and some didn't finish it. I don't mind working hard with a novel and I was very interested to learn about the politics of Sri Lanka at the time the book was set. However, the way that the politics was explored was disjointed and shallow so that it was almost impossible to sort out who was who and which characters were members of the JVP, LTTE or TULF etc. let alone how the politics played out. It all made little sense. I found the premise of the narrative,( being set in the after-life), pretty absurd in the way it was presented and then there was all the viseral violence which was largely, gratuitous. It was such a disappointment.