mikhail_mascarenhas's review
4.0
'We have beer,' the waiter said. 'Tiger beer and Lion beer.' 'All right, we'll have the Tiger.' Two or three minutes passed. Then the waiter returned and said: 'I'm sorry, sir. The Tiger is all finished. We only have the Lion.'
The author, through his travels to Sri Lanka, documents the horrific instances of violence practiced by both sides during the long Civil war. Stories of abduction, impressment, murder, and terrorism are recounted to him through conversations with ordinary civilians, the people who paid a heavy price.
With painful memories etched in their minds, those who suffered firsthand the consequences of war describe the religious intolerance, deterioration of free speech and human rights, both during and post-war, instances of war crimes by the Sri Lankan army, and the terrorist attacks on Muslims by the LTTE amongst a few other stories.
Overall, the book is a fine piece of journalism and succeeds in reminding the reader of the futility of war.
One is left with the horrible feeling that war settles nothing; that to win a war is as disastrous as to lose a war - Agatha Christie
The author, through his travels to Sri Lanka, documents the horrific instances of violence practiced by both sides during the long Civil war. Stories of abduction, impressment, murder, and terrorism are recounted to him through conversations with ordinary civilians, the people who paid a heavy price.
With painful memories etched in their minds, those who suffered firsthand the consequences of war describe the religious intolerance, deterioration of free speech and human rights, both during and post-war, instances of war crimes by the Sri Lankan army, and the terrorist attacks on Muslims by the LTTE amongst a few other stories.
Overall, the book is a fine piece of journalism and succeeds in reminding the reader of the futility of war.
One is left with the horrible feeling that war settles nothing; that to win a war is as disastrous as to lose a war - Agatha Christie
rohan_42's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
kavity85's review against another edition
5.0
Terribly gut wrenching. While the author tries to keep it neutral, giving a third party view on all people affected, it is difficult for me to not take it personally given the proximity of the context. Kudos to the author for his courage and in depth research, in a country that is still smouldering, under the debris of a war gone by.
ajju_315's review
5.0
Having visited the neighbouring country of Sri Lanka once, I was naturally interested to learn more about its past. Though I enjoyed my Sri Lanka trip and found it very beautiful, this book and its horrors were a revelation. I had heard about the Civil war but this was the first detailed account that I read. Intially, when I started reading this book I quit it as I thought it was a bit slow paced. In fact, the actual story about the LTTE and the civil war starts a bit late. But once the actual story starts it is just gripping. The author consolidates various anonymous and non anonymous interviews with the local population (some Sinhalese and many Tamilians) to give a bigger picture of the realities of post war SL. A must read if you are interested in Sri Lanka's post independence history!
soniek's review
5.0
If one tries to find the true reasons of the Sri Lankan Civil War, one would go down a rabbit hole of layers of perceived persecution & privilege, and original claims to the island by SL Tamils & Sinhalese. It was a botched up action of reclaiming what each group thought rightfully belonged to them. The result was extreme violence & violation of human rights. Only citizens took the beatings from all sides, forced to leave their homes & belongings, their children snatched from their homes, their dignity, sanity & their lives under constant attack. It must be terrible to be alienated by their own government.
This book tells their stories, how the long war ravaged ordinary people's homes & lives. It's poignant, yet necessary to hear their stories lest the passage of time absolves the perpetrators under the guise of lost memories. Personally I wasn't aware of the extreme polarization inside this seemingly peaceful country. Samanth shows how even a spiritual religion like Buddhism has fallen to the worldly pursuits of power & politics and swiftly embraces violence, completely opposite to the ways of Buddha & Ashoka. A must read book on one of the significant tragedies in history.
This book tells their stories, how the long war ravaged ordinary people's homes & lives. It's poignant, yet necessary to hear their stories lest the passage of time absolves the perpetrators under the guise of lost memories. Personally I wasn't aware of the extreme polarization inside this seemingly peaceful country. Samanth shows how even a spiritual religion like Buddhism has fallen to the worldly pursuits of power & politics and swiftly embraces violence, completely opposite to the ways of Buddha & Ashoka. A must read book on one of the significant tragedies in history.
daisydoolie's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, War, Xenophobia, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Islamophobia, Grief, Sexual violence, Torture, Physical abuse, Mass/school shootings, Hate crime, Gun violence, and Police brutality
deepakchecks's review
5.0
A brilliantly narrated story on the Sri Lankan war. Samanth writes lucidly, with wit and empathy, as he goes around meeting people at the different spectrum of the war. They include some lapsed tamil tigers, a radical/racist monk, a moderate monk, non-tiger tamilians, muslims and so on. The book provides an empathic view of the people who had suffered violence due to the war - both from the Sri Lankan army as well as the Tamil tigers. It also remains a pointer to how similar the current Hindu/Indian nationalism is very similar to the Sinhalese nationalism exercise that has affected the island and made it a divided nation. A must read to anyone interested in the Sri Lankan dynamics.
nivi's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
At times this was tough to read but it is so important and it gave me a lot to think about. This is an amazing piece of unbiased, well-researched investigative journalism. It provides a chronological order of events starting from before the war began to the immediate aftermath. It does a good job of explaining all the political developments along the way whilst also detailing people's personal stories.