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A review by mikhail_mascarenhas
This Divided Island: Stories from the Sri Lankan War by Samanth Subramanian
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