Impressed 💝
***2022 Favourite Book***
🔆Beautiful prose; life changing moments; heartbreaking romances (more than you can handle probably!); riots and communal violence; big family drama; school life; LGBTQIAP rep
Let’s talk about stereotypes!
💔 still a very underrated gem
I just couldn’t put down this book as the writing and the narrator did something to my mind hitting me hard once I get to know the characters and how the story started with such a lukewarm welcome that I found it quite comforting despite the horrors I was going to face knowing the secrets of each of the characters introduced.
Yes, hidden secrets and protected memories play a huge part in this story.
Narrated by a young person who is growing up quite innocently in a huge household, playing happily with the girls and loving the most precious moments with their mother watching her get ready for the day, the harsh reality gets thrown to them passive aggressively once people around them gets uncomfortable with their preferences and tastes.
What would people say plays a major role more significantly in the main character’s life than everyone else’s and nobody, I say, not even their parents and the adults who are supposed to protect them, are the ones who are making their life miserable more than the ‘people’ they are talking about.
This book gave me major Japanese and Thai BL vibes. Also, there’s a major school scene which reminds me so much of the ‘Three Idiots’ movie. You will know what I am talking about when you read this book.
Know their secrets. Know the dirty faces of the society. Know the reality of discrimination. Know the harsh truths of being born differently. This book has so many important things to tell you.
Absolutely recommending this book as a once in a lifetime unforgettable read.
*trigger warnings for corporal punishment scenes, homophobic comments, assault and abuse
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Impressed 💝***2022 Favourite Book***🔆Beautiful prose; life changing moments; heartbreaking romances (more than you can handle probably!); riots and communal violence; big family drama; school life; LGBTQIAP repLet’s talk about stereotypes!💔 still a very underrated gemI just couldn’t put down this book as the writing and the narrator did something to my mind hitting me hard once I get to know the characters and how the story started with such a lukewarm welcome that I found it quite comforting despite the horrors I was going to face knowing the secrets of each of the characters introduced.Yes, hidden secrets and protected memories play a huge part in this story.Narrated by a young person who is growing up quite innocently in a huge household, playing happily with the girls and loving the most precious moments with their mother watching her get ready for the day, the harsh reality gets thrown to them passive aggressively once people around them gets uncomfortable with their preferences and tastes.What would people say plays a major role more significantly in the main character’s life than everyone else’s and nobody, I say, not even their parents and the adults who are supposed to protect them, are the ones who are making their life miserable more than the ‘people’ they are talking about.This book gave me major Japanese and Thai BL vibes. Also, there’s a major school scene which reminds me so much of the ‘Three Idiots’ movie. You will know what I am talking about when you read this book.Know their secrets. Know the dirty faces of the society. Know the reality of discrimination. Know the harsh truths of being born differently. This book has so many important things to tell you.Absolutely recommending this book as a once in a lifetime unforgettable read.*trigger warnings for corporal punishment scenes, homophobic comments, assault and abuse
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Top reviews from India
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.
Reviewed in India 🇮🇳 on 19 March 2022
Verified Purchase
Impressed 💝
***2022 Favourite Book***
🔆Beautiful prose; life changing moments; heartbreaking romances (more than you can handle probably!); riots and communal violence; big family drama; school life; LGBTQIAP rep
Let’s talk about stereotypes!
💔 still a very underrated gem
I just couldn’t put down this book as the writing and the narrator did something to my mind hitting me hard once I get to know the characters and how the story started with such a lukewarm welcome that I found it quite comforting despite the horrors I was going to face knowing the secrets of each of the characters introduced.
Yes, hidden secrets and protected memories play a huge part in this story.
Narrated by a young person who is growing up quite innocently in a huge household, playing happily with the girls and loving the most precious moments with their mother watching her get ready for the day, the harsh reality gets thrown to them passive aggressively once people around them gets uncomfortable with their preferences and tastes.
What would people say plays a major role more significantly in the main character’s life than everyone else’s and nobody, I say, not even their parents and the adults who are supposed to protect them, are the ones who are making their life miserable more than the ‘people’ they are talking about.
This book gave me major Japanese and Thai BL vibes. Also, there’s a major school scene which reminds me so much of the ‘Three Idiots’ movie. You will know what I am talking about when you read this book.
Know their secrets. Know the dirty faces of the society. Know the reality of discrimination. Know the harsh truths of being born differently. This book has so many important things to tell you.
Absolutely recommending this book as a once in a lifetime unforgettable read.
*trigger warnings for corporal punishment scenes, homophobic comments, assault and abuse
***2022 Favourite Book***
🔆Beautiful prose; life changing moments; heartbreaking romances (more than you can handle probably!); riots and communal violence; big family drama; school life; LGBTQIAP rep
Let’s talk about stereotypes!
💔 still a very underrated gem
I just couldn’t put down this book as the writing and the narrator did something to my mind hitting me hard once I get to know the characters and how the story started with such a lukewarm welcome that I found it quite comforting despite the horrors I was going to face knowing the secrets of each of the characters introduced.
Yes, hidden secrets and protected memories play a huge part in this story.
Narrated by a young person who is growing up quite innocently in a huge household, playing happily with the girls and loving the most precious moments with their mother watching her get ready for the day, the harsh reality gets thrown to them passive aggressively once people around them gets uncomfortable with their preferences and tastes.
What would people say plays a major role more significantly in the main character’s life than everyone else’s and nobody, I say, not even their parents and the adults who are supposed to protect them, are the ones who are making their life miserable more than the ‘people’ they are talking about.
This book gave me major Japanese and Thai BL vibes. Also, there’s a major school scene which reminds me so much of the ‘Three Idiots’ movie. You will know what I am talking about when you read this book.
Know their secrets. Know the dirty faces of the society. Know the reality of discrimination. Know the harsh truths of being born differently. This book has so many important things to tell you.
Absolutely recommending this book as a once in a lifetime unforgettable read.
*trigger warnings for corporal punishment scenes, homophobic comments, assault and abuse
Images in this review
Reviewed in India 🇮🇳 on 28 September 2021
'Why?' Amma stared up the car, "Because the sky is so high and pigs can't fly"
'Funny Boy' by Shyam Selvadurai
The setting of the book is taut with political conflicts, sexual awakening and abandonment, reading the anticipated books from my bookshelf is really intimidating, sometimes it would disappoint me and destroy my expectancy, otherwise, it would break my heart to pieces, 'Funny Boy' resides in the latter category, throughout the book, I felt abandonment, the characters are abandoning people because of their race, political beliefs, sexuality. The constant abandoning throughout the novel intensifies the fact that the war period in a region will create an agonizing rift between people.
The novel is exquisite, written in the background of Tamil Sinhalese conflict, it unfolds the story of a young boy who is navigating his sexuality.
I wanted to read this book to explore the emotions of the characters in the background of fuming conflicts and tensions, Arjun Chelvarathnam is our protagonist who perceives the horrors and the trauma, his community is facing, while he's trying to navigate his sexuality, he's also going through the traumatizing events, the author has extensively sketched the setting of Tamil Sinhalese(Srilankan Civil War) conflict that happened for more than two decades, he's narrated the agonizing events and how the characters are discerning a situation, altering their political views and struggling in the suffocating environment. The author has also dealt with the forced diaspora and how the characters are threatened to breathe in their own lands.
'Funny Boy' is a breathtaking novel written in a heart rending tone. Recommending this poignant piece to those who want to read a moving war story.
Verified Purchase
Navigating Sexuality and Forced Diaspora
Reviewed in India 🇮🇳 on 28 September 2021
"Why can't he play with girls?"Reviewed in India 🇮🇳 on 28 September 2021
'Why?' Amma stared up the car, "Because the sky is so high and pigs can't fly"
'Funny Boy' by Shyam Selvadurai
The setting of the book is taut with political conflicts, sexual awakening and abandonment, reading the anticipated books from my bookshelf is really intimidating, sometimes it would disappoint me and destroy my expectancy, otherwise, it would break my heart to pieces, 'Funny Boy' resides in the latter category, throughout the book, I felt abandonment, the characters are abandoning people because of their race, political beliefs, sexuality. The constant abandoning throughout the novel intensifies the fact that the war period in a region will create an agonizing rift between people.
The novel is exquisite, written in the background of Tamil Sinhalese conflict, it unfolds the story of a young boy who is navigating his sexuality.
I wanted to read this book to explore the emotions of the characters in the background of fuming conflicts and tensions, Arjun Chelvarathnam is our protagonist who perceives the horrors and the trauma, his community is facing, while he's trying to navigate his sexuality, he's also going through the traumatizing events, the author has extensively sketched the setting of Tamil Sinhalese(Srilankan Civil War) conflict that happened for more than two decades, he's narrated the agonizing events and how the characters are discerning a situation, altering their political views and struggling in the suffocating environment. The author has also dealt with the forced diaspora and how the characters are threatened to breathe in their own lands.
'Funny Boy' is a breathtaking novel written in a heart rending tone. Recommending this poignant piece to those who want to read a moving war story.
Images in this review
Reviewed in India 🇮🇳 on 4 March 2021
Verified Purchase
I will be honest. Contrary to the popular saying, do not judge a book by its covers, it was the soft orange that ran the length of the book, the silhouette of a boat against the backdrop of a green sea, the occasional dark clouds sprinkled at the top, and an unconventional and a traditional way in which the word Boy was written on the cover that made me want to glance at the copy. I picked it up, read the brief story in the back, skimmed through the pages, and decided to buy it. Of course, this was 8 years ago.
I picked up the book for the second time last week and started reading the first couple of pages. I realised that I had not retained anything. Good, I thought. I made myself comfortable and started going at it page after page.
The story is narrated by a young boy, Arjie. Spread across multiple standalone chapters, the story captures his life, his relationships with his Tamil family, and his explorations as a "funny" boy against the backdrop of an intense political intrigue in Sri Lanka. Although every chapter has its own story and stands on its own, the stories are arranged linearly, moving as he grows older and arriving at a destructive climax, hinted at in small doses through the book.
It is extremely interesting to experience the naivety of a young boy, still unaware and partially unbothered and read his account of the political movement accentuated by his confusion, fear, and complete loss of control. The writer, Shyam Selvadurai, has captured these elements stunningly. No chapter seemed unnecessary. This tale of a boy thrust into a life too complicated to comprehend, too gruesome to withstand, and too contradictory to his life values relies heavily on simplicity in capturing the complex world and it works magically as you read through the book.
I cannot wait to look back years later, completely unaware and having retained nothing and pick up this beautifully written back and burn through it in a couple of days. For now, I will be picking up Cinnamon Gardens and hope that it will evoke the same emotions as Funny Boy did.
I picked up the book for the second time last week and started reading the first couple of pages. I realised that I had not retained anything. Good, I thought. I made myself comfortable and started going at it page after page.
The story is narrated by a young boy, Arjie. Spread across multiple standalone chapters, the story captures his life, his relationships with his Tamil family, and his explorations as a "funny" boy against the backdrop of an intense political intrigue in Sri Lanka. Although every chapter has its own story and stands on its own, the stories are arranged linearly, moving as he grows older and arriving at a destructive climax, hinted at in small doses through the book.
It is extremely interesting to experience the naivety of a young boy, still unaware and partially unbothered and read his account of the political movement accentuated by his confusion, fear, and complete loss of control. The writer, Shyam Selvadurai, has captured these elements stunningly. No chapter seemed unnecessary. This tale of a boy thrust into a life too complicated to comprehend, too gruesome to withstand, and too contradictory to his life values relies heavily on simplicity in capturing the complex world and it works magically as you read through the book.
I cannot wait to look back years later, completely unaware and having retained nothing and pick up this beautifully written back and burn through it in a couple of days. For now, I will be picking up Cinnamon Gardens and hope that it will evoke the same emotions as Funny Boy did.
Images in this review
Top reviews from other countries
E
Moving and edifying
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 14 November 2020Verified Purchase
Paul P.
Great book, now a movie
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 28 January 2021Verified Purchase
Katie
Fantastic novel - read it now
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 16 February 2019Verified Purchase
brixtonite
Enjoyable Sri Lankan gay novel
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 21 July 2020Verified Purchase
Mark
Hits the perfect spot
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 17 December 2019Verified Purchase
