Shehan Karunatilaka: The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida

谢汉·卡鲁纳提拉卡:马利·阿尔梅达的七个月亮

World Book Club

社会与文化

2023-12-01

49 分钟
PDF

单集简介 ...

Harriett Gilbert and readers around the globe talk to acclaimed Sri Lankan writer Shehan Karunatilaka about his Booker Prize-winning novel The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida. Almeida, a gay war photographer, recently deceased, with secrets aplenty, awakes to find himself sitting in line in an ethereal visa office, determined to find out who has murdered him. In a Sri Lanka beset by civil war, death squads and terrorist bombs, the list of suspects is long. He has 'seven moons' a week, to make contact with and steer his two closest friends to the evidence stash that could uncover the culprit and change the course of his country's destiny. Navigating the afterlife with a mix of sardonic wit and streetwise sensibility Maali roams war-torn Columbo confronting the ghosts and murderers who haunt Sri Lanka, in a country where the past is never really dead. (Photo: Shehan Karunatilaka. Credit: Dominic Sansoni)

单集文稿 ...

  • The Global Story with smart takes and fresh perspectives on one big news story every Monday to Friday from the BBC World Service.

  • Search for the global story wherever you get your BBC podcasts to find out more.

  • Hello, this is the BBC World Service.

  • I'm Harriet Gilbert.

  • Welcome to World Book Club, where this month we've been reading an audacious novel about Sri Lanka's long civil war.

  • Narrated by a man who's just been murdered.

  • It has ghosts, evil spirits, unscrupulous politicians, even a tragic love affair.

  • It's called the Seven Moons of Maali Almeida.

  • It won last year's Booker Prize for fiction.

  • And here to answer questions about it from BBC listeners around the world is its Sri Lankan author, Ceyhan Karuna Tilaka.

  • Sheyhan, welcome to World Book Club.

  • Well, thank you, Harriet.

  • Pleasure to be here.

  • Well, I gather you've just come hot foot from having a discussion with the Queen.

  • With Queen Camilla, I mean, that's extraordinarily glamorous.

  • What were you talking with her about?

  • Yeah, it's my second chat with her.

  • I chatted to her at the Booker event last year, and I think last time we chatted about her visit to Sri Lanka, I think 10 years ago with the king, and didn't have time to talk politics.

  • So it was a pleasant chat.

  • But you were there because she will be presenting this year's Booker Prize, presumably, or something like that.