Hungry Ghosts: A BBC 2 Between the Covers Book Club Pick

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In both the family and the country, old sins and hatreds are neither forgotten nor forgiven and, instead, spin into a cycle of recrimination and violence. While members of the family and citizens of the country might try to flee relatives or emigrate from Sri Lanka, they bring their sorrows with them. The Lord said: It is the men of sinful actions actuated by their previous misdeeds who become ghosts after death. Please listen to me, I shall tell you in detail.

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What's up with these brilliant novelists from the subcontinent who emigrate to Canada and freeze after 3-4 novels? Rohinton Mistry is similar to Shyam Selvadurai in this aspect. Shyam Selvadurai weaves a certain magic in bringing together the personal and the political. This time around he also adds in this silky thread of Buddhist stories that really adds a lot to the narrative. Other than being very intriguing on their own, these Buddhist myths add a certain gravitas that helps us understand the mindset of the characters. This story is almost a re-imagining of one of those mythical stories - there are many echoes and as the author himself comments, this story is an exploration of how "fate" might work. O brahmana, by that sin I became a ghost with mouth as small as the hole of a needle and body as huge as a mountain. Lastly the major issue in the book, homosexuality. And no, it is not yet accepted and is no where close to being accepted. People hide their homosexuality as if it's a disease and others look at it as if they too would be infected. It is the 21st century and you would think people of our generation and those after us would be more open minded, yet the grim reality is somewhat completely different. I wish as a Sri Lankan living in 2021, a good 30+ years afterwards I can say that the situation would be different to that of Mili and Shivan I am sorry. This kind of thing can happen even now.While there are sections of lovely prose, I got tired of the metaphor of the hungry ghost (I got it the first half a dozen times) and the idea that people can't escape their fate added another dreary and fatalistic layer. The leif motif 'like rain on a parched land' became a cliche and revealed itself as a lie after the first 2 or 3 times it was used.

The Hungry Ghosts by Shyam Selvadurai | Goodreads The Hungry Ghosts by Shyam Selvadurai | Goodreads

There are a number of well developed and interesting characters. Shweta and Rookmin are probably my favourite. When we flee our vulnerability, we lose our full capacity for feeling emotion. We may even become emotional amnesiacs, not remembering ever having felt truly elated or truly sad. A nagging void opens, and we experience it as alienation, as profound as ennui, as the sense of deficient emptiness…” There is a lot of strong themes happening in the book and generally that is hard for an author to explore each and do it justice but Hosein was able to do it expertly. We had coming-of-age, love, poverty, classism, religion and racism well explored- each leaving you with food for thought. I also loved how truly authentic the book felt- you were taken to the island of Trinidad and Tobago during the 1940s and you feel that through the writing and research done. Mrs. Changoor agrees and then states her terms about night guarding, which she then doubles his pay. To that, he cannot say no, plus she is offering meals with the income, the outshed, and his return at first light. Themes of class, inequality, friendship, death, family relationships are dealt with in ways that open up discussion and debate. This novel has so much depth.

Book Summary

Good Gawd. This was ferocious. Am I biased because of my Trinidadian heritage? Nah, it’s a bloody fantastic book. If this doesn’t make the Booker longlist, I’m gonna riot haha.