I’m not a particular cricket fan but I know the basics, so for example I know the difference between Third Man and Fine Leg, or what cricketers mean when they talk about bowling a maiden over. I would say that knowing a bit about cricket would probably help with the enjoyment of this novel. I enjoyed the use of Sri-Lankan English in the spoken dialogue. The novel also touches on the role of sport in society, as well as Kuranasena’s relationship with his wife and his difficult relationship with his son. Pradeep is a Tamil and, this being the 1990s, there is a backdrop of the civil war between the government and the Tamil Tigers, and W.G.’s enquiries also lead him into the murky world of sports betting. In his attempts to trace Pradeep, he encounters all sorts of stories from people keen to make money out of his interest. In general, truth proves a difficult thing for W.G. Another is a man called Kuga or Kugarajah, who may be a gangster, a government agent or a senior commander with the Tamil Tigers (or all three). Jonny is one of several characters in the book about whom the truth is unclear.
He is assisted by his close friend and neighbour Ari Byrd, and by another friend, an Englishman called Jonny Gilhooley, who works at the British High Commission. Kuranasena is a retired, alcoholic and terminally ill sportswriter who decides, as a last project, to find out what happened to a (fictional) cricket player called Pradeep Mathew, whom he regards as the best spin bowler he ever saw, but who disappeared after playing only 4 Tests for Sri-Lanka.
I found my non-fiction reads more appealing and the result was slow progress with this one, until I gave the book the attention it deserved. This is a 400-page novel and I found the first 150 pages or so were, to use an appropriate metaphor, bowled at medium pace. Usually I try to have one work of fiction and one of non-fiction on the go, (and I often have an audiobook underway as well).
I’m one of those readers who is in the habit of trying to read more than one book at a time.
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