the story of a brief marriage by anuk arudpragasam

In the New York Times, Ru Freeman wrote: “This is a book that makes one kneel before the elegance of the human spirit and the yearning that is at the essence of every life.” A PhD student in philosophy at Columbia University, Arudpragasam has shifted away from the interests that led him to the program, but remains there since it is funded and allows him time to write. The novel, he admits, “was written out of guilt.” He writes in English-the language of his education-and has been well received in the English-speaking world. Such a marriage gives the book its title, and imparts on Dinesh a renewed sense of his future amid the ever-pressing present.Īrudpragasam grew up in southern Sri Lanka, insulated from the war by his family’s affluence. It became common for families to marry their children quickly-especially their daughters-in hopes of saving them from the violence, sexual and otherwise, of the army. While this isn’t a true story, it reflects behaviors observed near the end of the war. Bombing wouldn’t usually be thought of as a calming experience, but for Dinesh it brings mental silence, a break from the constant work of existence within a foundering country. While keeping us anchored in Dinesh’s body and immediate experience, Arudpragasam is able to talk more broadly about the nature of life in a war zone. The world became mute, like a silent film, and as a result the bombing often brought about in Dinesh a sense of calm.

They could be registered only as the pervasive absence of sound, as a series of voids or vacuums in the sound sphere so great that not even the sound of thinking could be heard.

It was a loud, unbearably loud explosion, followed immediately by others, so loud that as soon as the first one came, the rest could no longer be heard.

The story of a brief marriage by anuk arudpragasam