About the book
Shyam Selvadurai pieces together the best of Sri Lankan poetry and fiction in this anthology. From the Sinhala and Tamil writers of the 1950s to diasporic writers of today, from stories of love and longing to those of brutality and death, this masterfully constructed anthology will give you a rich sense Sri Lanka’s history, its people and the stories they have to tell.
From Martin Wickramasinghe’s Gamperaliya (1944), the first modern Sinhala novel, to the poetry of Puthuvai Ratnathurai, the official bard of the LTTE, who was among the thousands who disappeared after the end of the civil war in 2009, this anthology on Sri Lankan literature draws a long arc.
Editions
Penguin India, May 20, 2014
Reviews
“It’s difficult to believe that an entire nation can be contained within one book. Many Roads to Paradise is an encapsulation of the essence of Sri Lanka that includes its history, social fabric, heart-wrenching tragedies, slow-healing wounds and rising hopes. This book absolutely teems with life.”
— Financial Chronicle, New Dehli
“Many Roads Through Paradise includes stories of ordinary affections and obsessions, as well as those that presciently signal the cleavages between Sinhala and Tamil people that would lead to a bitter, violent conflict.”
— IndianExpress.com
