In fact except for Hema and David (and that only at the very very end of the book - too little, too late), no one is this book is happy or kind or funny or decent. No one is redeemed or consoled. This is a world peopled by the mean, the petty, and the emotionally stupid. Especially Shivan. Themes of class, inequality, friendship, death, family relationships are dealt with in ways that open up discussion and debate. This novel has so much depth. Ron Rash is renowned for his writing about Appalachia, but his latest book, The Caretaker, begins ... Starting in markets in 1991, he opened his first store in the Sydney suburb of Newtown in 1994. I gave up my own career as a government scientist to join him in 2000 and soon convinced my partner Ian to join us in what was to become the Family Business. The form is not innovative, but the setting of 1940s Trinidad and Tobago is so unusual that it all feels very fresh.

The Hungry Ghosts by Shyam Selvadurai | Goodreads The Hungry Ghosts by Shyam Selvadurai | Goodreads

Often criticised for being bleak, this book draws in a harsh reality for hundreds of thousands of Tamil migrants to ‘western’ nations during the Sri Lankan civil war. Selvadurai creates characters with such lived-in experiences, allowing you to perfectly visualise each and every interaction that takes place throughout the novel. Absent too is Hans and Shweta’s infant daughter, Hema, whose death from a rapidly catastrophic illness they never speak about, although their grief remains acute. Krishna, born later, knows nothing of the sister he never met. Elsewhere, other parents and children are lost to one another, and lives are ruptured – Marlee herself has ascended to the position of local lady of the manor from beginnings so insalubrious that they fuel a low-grade but insistent motor of local gossip. References and Further Reading: Banish hungry ghosts from your home. The Philippine Star, 9 July 2011. Retrieved 25 October 2011 I thought this had some really solid storylines and they all tied in well together at the end. There were some really well written parts, and the plot was interesting to follow.

Kevin Jared Hosein was born and raised in Trinidad and Tobago. He has published three books: The Beast of Kukuyo (2017 Burt Award for Caribbean Literature), The Repenters (Fiction shortlist, 2017 OCM Bocas Prize) and Littletown Secrets.

The Hungry Ghosts by Shyam Selvadurai | Goodreads

Shivan, a gay man of mixed Sinhalese and Tamil blood, someone who could be a reflection of the author, grows up in a dysfunctional family ruled by his maternal Sinhalese grandmother. Grandma is a greedy, unscrupulous woman of immense wealth, extracted from the misery of others, including her family – she is the incarnation of the perethaya, the hungry ghost who cannot be satiated. And yet the grandmother has a strong emotional hold on Shivan, for she loves him in a cruel and possessive way to the exclusion of her daughter and granddaughter and showers him with presents as the form of expressing her love. She has plans and dreams for him which he does not share in. This book was quite an emotional ride for me, as were the other two books I have read by this author. It is dense, thought-provoking, and cathartic literature without much effort needed from the reader to be so. Definitely one of the best books I have read in 2013. An unflinching exploration of quotidian existence in 1940s Trinidad. Hosein is especially good at portraying the difficulty of life in a brutal world, and the paradoxically beautiful moments that visit those who struggle to survive. This is a very sensual novel, teeming with life but also frequently focused on decay, disease, death, and rebirth. The writing is rich and vivid. The subject matter is often unpleasant, but I was very invested in the story of this diverse, complicated, resilient community.To put into brief context—these are the words from the Lord of Dharma to a future king, Yudhishthira. When told that his brothers were in hell, the future king demanded to be taken there. Once there, he searched but could not find them. Instead, he found himself smothered under the screams of souls hollowed by unending fright. At first, Yudhishthira could not stomach it—he was tempted to leave many times. But he spent a long time there, surveying suffering and blight, only to eventually learn that his brothers were in heaven. Not all addictions are rooted in abuse or trauma, but I do believe they can all be traced to painful experience. A hurt is at the centre of all addictive behaviours. It is present in the gambler, the Internet addict, the compulsive shopper and the workaholic. The wound may not be as deep and the ache not as excruciating, and it may even be entirely hidden—but it’s there. As we’ll see, the effects of early stress or adverse experiences directly shape both the psychology and the neurobiology of addiction in the brain.” This is a story about a gay, upper-middle-class Sri Lankan teenager's immigration to Canada with his mother and sister to escape the island's ethnic violence and homophobia. Shyam Selvadurai writes in such a way that you are transported into a fictional place but still feel like the events are not fictional at all. The story is gripping. It was an emotional journey and my feelings were all over the place. It’s a very realistic book that will give you different perspectives into the conflicts that shaped Sri Lanka into the country it is today and how historical events impacted the lives of various people.

Hungry Ghosts by Kevin Jared Hosein review – lyrical

This is the kind of book that, upon entering the final chapter, the reader takes a deep breath, holds it, and only lets it out when the last word is read. There is so much to anticipate in the last moments of the story, that it is almost unbearable to breathe. This message about the dangers of ambition, of trying to rise above one's station, should be relegated to the bad old days and not retold except as an example of how religious and social structures are often used by ruling classes to keep those they are oppressing from rising up and demanding equality. The addict's reliance on the drug to reawaken her dulled feelings is no adolescent caprice. The dullness is itself a consequence of an emotional malfunction not of her making; the internal shutdown of vulnerability. Vulnerability is our susceptibility to be wounded. This fragility is part of our nature and cannot be escaped. The best the brain can do is to shut down conscious awareness of it when pain becomes so vast or unbearable that it threatens our ability to function. The automatic repression of painful emotion is a helpful child's prime defence mechanism and can enable the child to endure trauma otherwise be catastrophic. The unfortunate consequence is a wholesale dulling of emotional awareness.”We may not be responsible for another’s addiction or the life history that preceded it, but many painful situations could be avoided if we recognized that we are responsible for the way we ourselves enter into the interaction. And that, to put it most simply, means dealing with our own stuff.”

the Realm of Hungry Ghosts Quotes - Goodreads In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts Quotes - Goodreads

It appears to have been started by elites and finished by hungry but lazy Buddhist monks. It reminds me of recent news reports about con artists in New York threatening superstitious older Chinese women with curses if they didn't cough up offerings of cash. But the stories about the perethayas are even more insidious: they're designed to rob their victims of both their ambition and their valuables. Hooked right from the start because of the extraordinary use of language and the claustrophobic imagery (Hosein definitely knows how to conjure up atmosphere). This is a brutal and devastating read, but you just know it’s going to turn out that way right from the start. Every character is wound up so tight, you’re just waiting for the eruption (and everyone gets their moment, believe me). All the characters are desperately searching for a way out of their current circumstances.A deftly written novel with evocative, lyrical prose, vivid characterisation and a heartbreaking plot.