Reviews
"The first genuine contender for the title of Great Sri Lankan Novel has entered the lists."--Richard Simon, Sunday Times (London) "This is one of the most astonishing novels I've read in a long, long while. The Legend of Pradeep Matthew transcends fiction archetypes and takes on a rhythmic, breathing, life force of its own. Just when you think you've got the story pegged, it refracts in a direction you didn't expect towards a conclusion that doesn't seem possible. Yes, there is cricket in this novel, but there is much, much more. To refer to The Legend of Pradeep Mathew as a book about cricket is a sin tantamount to calling Moby Dick a book about a whale. I have not felt that tingle at the back of my neck since my first experiences with Murakami and Bolano."-- Jamil Zaidi, The Elliott Bay Book Company "The best cricket novel I have ever read. Shehan's love for the game is matched by his flair for storytelling. As spell binding as an India-Pakistan one day match. I felt like shouting Howzat on every other page. If you love cricket read this, if you love novels read this and if you love both, you know this one is for you."--Mohammed Hanif "[ Legend 's] free-wheeling, zany tempo is part of its charm too. Its picaresque action, mainly based in Colombo and narrated in short bite-sized chunks, gives a vibrant comic pulse to Sri Lankan life, even though Karunatilaka's portrait of the country is scathing." -- Financial Times "Karunatilaka has a real lightness of touch. He mixes humour and violence with the same deftness with which his protagonist mixes drinks." -- The Guardian "It's funny and original, extremely revealing about Sri Lanka, and as for the cricket, in the author's own words: 'If you can't understand why anyone would watch, let alone obsess over this dull game, then this is the book for you.' Brilliant." --Kate Saunders, The Times (UK), Karunatilaka's rambunctious debut brims with inventive ideas and comic set-pieces. . . . Cricket aficionados will love The Legend of Pradeep Mathew , but Karunatilaka has stuffed his novel so full of life--albeit a crazily inflated version of it--for it to charm and dazzle the rest of us in equal measure., Endearing . . . disguised as a sports story yet it's really about a man's love and disgust for his country., "Karunatilaka offers the world a subversively funny, spot-on portrait of one tiny nation addressing its tragedy with humor, kindness and quiet, unwavering courage." -- Seattle Times "Shehan Karunatilaka's big-hearted, madcap novel reverberates with echoes of A Fan's Notes and Netherland ." -- Barnes and Noble Review "Karunatilaka's rambunctious debut brims with inventive ideas and comic set-pieces. . . . Cricket aficionados will love The Legend of Pradeep Mathew , but Karunatilaka has stuffed his novel so full of life--albeit a crazily inflated version of it--for it to charm and dazzle the rest of us in equal measure." -- Star Tribune (Minneapolis) "Endearing . . . disguised as a sports story yet it's really about a man's love and disgust for his country." -- Houston Chronicle "In pursuing the true-or-false legend of a cricketer named Pradeep Mathew, Shehan Karunatilaka brings forth meditations on corruption, politics, terrorism, and colonialism as well as match-fixing and ball-tampering in cricket-obsessed Sri Lanka." -- World Literature Today, Praise for The Legend of Pradeep Mathew : "Karunatilaka offers the world a subversively funny, spot-on portrait of one tiny nation addressing its tragedy with humor, kindness and quiet, unwavering courage." - Seattle Times "Shehan Karunatilaka's big-hearted, madcap novel reverberates with echoes of A Fan's Notes and Netherland ." - Barnes and Noble Review "Karunatilaka's rambunctious debut brims with inventive ideas and comic set-pieces. . . . Cricket aficionados will love The Legend of Pradeep Mathew , but Karunatilaka has stuffed his novel so full of life--albeit a crazily inflated version of it--for it to charm and dazzle the rest of us in equal measure." - Star Tribune (Minneapolis) "Endearing . . . disguised as a sports story yet it's really about a man's love and disgust for his country." - Houston Chronicle "In pursuing the true-or-false legend of a cricketer named Pradeep Mathew, Shehan Karunatilaka brings forth meditations on corruption, politics, terrorism, and colonialism as well as match-fixing and ball-tampering in cricket-obsessed Sri Lanka." - World Literature Today Star Tribune (Minneapolis), Praise for The Legend of Pradeep Mathew : "The first genuine contender for the title of Great Sri Lankan Novel has entered the lists."--Richard Simon, Sunday Times (London) "This is one of the most astonishing novels I've read in a long, long while. The Legend of Pradeep Matthew transcends fiction archetypes and takes on a rhythmic, breathing, life force of its own. Just when you think you've got the story pegged, it refracts in a direction you didn't expect towards a conclusion that doesn't seem possible. Yes, there is cricket in this novel, but there is much, much more. To refer to The Legend of Pradeep Mathew as a book about cricket is a sin tantamount to calling Moby Dick a book about a whale. I have not felt that tingle at the back of my neck since my first experiences with Murakami and Bolano."-- Jamil Zaidi, The Elliott Bay Book Company "The best cricket novel I have ever read. Shehan's love for the game is matched by his flair for storytelling. As spell binding as an India-Pakistan one day match. I felt like shouting Howzat on every other page. If you love cricket read this, if you love novels read this and if you love both, you know this one is for you."--Mohammed Hanif, Karunatilaka offers the world a subversively funny, spot-on portrait of one tiny nation addressing its tragedy with humor, kindness and quiet, unwavering courage., In pursuing the true-or-false legend of a cricketer named Pradeep Mathew, Shehan Karunatilaka brings forth meditations on corruption, politics, terrorism, and colonialism as well as match-fixing and ball-tampering in cricket-obsessed Sri Lanka., Shehan Karunatilaka's big-hearted, madcap novel reverberates with echoes of A Fan's Notes and Netherland ., "The first genuine contender for the title of Great Sri Lankan Novel has entered the lists."--Richard Simon, Sunday Times (London) "This is one of the most astonishing novels I've read in a long, long while. The Legend of Pradeep Matthew transcends fiction archetypes and takes on a rhythmic, breathing, life force of its own. Just when you think you've got the story pegged, it refracts in a direction you didn't expect towards a conclusion that doesn't seem possible. Yes, there is cricket in this novel, but there is much, much more. To refer to The Legend of Pradeep Mathew as a book about cricket is a sin tantamount to calling Moby Dick a book about a whale. I have not felt that tingle at the back of my neck since my first experiences with Murakami and Bolano."--Jamil Zaidi, The Elliott Bay Book Company "The best cricket novel I have ever read. Shehan's love for the game is matched by his flair for storytelling. As spell binding as an India-Pakistan one day match. I felt like shouting Howzat on every other page. If you love cricket read this, if you love novels read this and if you love both, you know this one is for you."--Mohammed Hanif "[ Legend 's] free-wheeling, zany tempo is part of its charm too. Its picaresque action, mainly based in Colombo and narrated in short bite-sized chunks, gives a vibrant comic pulse to Sri Lankan life, even though Karunatilaka's portrait of the country is scathing." -- Financial Times "Karunatilaka has a real lightness of touch. He mixes humour and violence with the same deftness with which his protagonist mixes drinks." -- The Guardian "It's funny and original, extremely revealing about Sri Lanka, and as for the cricket, in the author's own words: 'If you can't understand why anyone would watch, let alone obsess over this dull game, then this is the book for you.' Brilliant." --Kate Saunders, The Times (UK)
