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silverseaslug's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death
Moderate: Suicide and War
Minor: Torture
nila's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
I wanted to read more from Sri Lankan authors AND read more books outside my comfort zone, so I picked this up knowing it was heavy on the introspection (is that a word?). The 2/3 of this book flew by, and I absolutely loved it. The secondary characters were so great I didn't even think of how it's all in the main character's head. However, in the last third, the main character is by themselves and the pace slowed down too much for me, and I sadly lost interest.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Death, and War
rumaho76's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
I wanted so much to like this book but I just found it really hard to read. I'm superficial and prefer short paragraphs
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Genocide, Racism, and Suicide
sahanasri's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
This book details a beautiful and reflective journey north through Sri Lanka. The descriptions of Sri Lanka are gorgeous and transported me as I read (and now I’d love to visit). The main character reflects a lot on his life and stories he’s read/watched on his journey to a funeral, which feels very meditative and helped me to reflect on many key experiences in my own life. I loved how lush the descriptive writing is, even though it can be a bit lengthy at times, as well as the motifs of time = water, vision, and grief.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Death, and Sexual content
luise96's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and War
czidya's review
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
A Passage North is a beautifully written reflection on trauma, grief, memory, and love, set largely within the mind of Krishan, a young professional, as he travels across Sri Lanka to attend a funeral in a remote village.
Arudpragasam's writing is wordy, but never unnecessarily so, such that it allows him to communicate complex, often difficult to express ideas with stunning beauty.
"What for lack of a better word was sometimes called love, he had realized that night, was not so much a relation between to people in and of themselves as a relation between two people and the world they were witness to, a world whose surfaces and exteriors gradually began to dissipate as the two individuals sank deeper and deeper into what was called their love."
Arudpragasam's writing is wordy, but never unnecessarily so, such that it allows him to communicate complex, often difficult to express ideas with stunning beauty.
"What for lack of a better word was sometimes called love, he had realized that night, was not so much a relation between to people in and of themselves as a relation between two people and the world they were witness to, a world whose surfaces and exteriors gradually began to dissipate as the two individuals sank deeper and deeper into what was called their love."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Mental illness, Torture, Grief, and War
Moderate: Drug use, Gore, Hate crime, Racism, and Suicide
Minor: Homophobia, Self harm, and Alcohol
elizabethgreads's review against another edition
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
2.0 Stars.
What I enjoyed. Learning about some historical moments of the Sri Lankan Civil war which is now something I want to learn more about. The look into how war affects people and future generations and the hard journey of healing after a war. The look on aging love ones affects familial relationships and the mental health of the elderly. The relationship and unlikely friendship between the grandmother and her care taker. That being said there wasn't enough of this through out the novel.
What I didn't like was the stream of consciousness writing with run on sentences and long paragraphs. As a reader with learning disabilities this made reading the novel extremely frustrating as I was continually getting lost and having to go back and read sections multiple times. I also think this novel would have been better if told from a different pov. Say maybe dual pov of the grandmother and her care taker. The author also would take pages to summarize movies, epic poems, and other events to the reader which really took me out of the story. It was also very introspective and too much which lead to me being bored. The entire book takes place over about a period of 3 - 4 days with lots of flash backs and this didn't work for me in this story.
What I enjoyed. Learning about some historical moments of the Sri Lankan Civil war which is now something I want to learn more about. The look into how war affects people and future generations and the hard journey of healing after a war. The look on aging love ones affects familial relationships and the mental health of the elderly. The relationship and unlikely friendship between the grandmother and her care taker. That being said there wasn't enough of this through out the novel.
What I didn't like was the stream of consciousness writing with run on sentences and long paragraphs. As a reader with learning disabilities this made reading the novel extremely frustrating as I was continually getting lost and having to go back and read sections multiple times. I also think this novel would have been better if told from a different pov. Say maybe dual pov of the grandmother and her care taker. The author also would take pages to summarize movies, epic poems, and other events to the reader which really took me out of the story. It was also very introspective and too much which lead to me being bored. The entire book takes place over about a period of 3 - 4 days with lots of flash backs and this didn't work for me in this story.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Death, Self harm, and War
alexandralengquist's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
I enjoyed the story especially when talking about his relationship or stories of family. It was very descriptive and sometimes very slow paced and overly "literary" for my english level and taste. Loved lagning more about the war that I didn't know a lot about before.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death and War
narpetcards's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and War
Moderate: Drug use, Homophobia, Self harm, Grief, and Medical trauma
serinalovesreading's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death and Suicide