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Anuk Arudpragasam

The Story of a Brief Marriage MP3 CD – Unabridged, Jan. 2 2018

by Anuk Arudpragasam (Author), Ronny Matthew (Reader)

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Shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize

Two and a half decades into a devastating civil war, Sri Lanka's Tamil minority is pushed inexorably towards the coast by the advancing army. Amongst the evacuees is Dinesh, whose world has contracted to a makeshift camp where time is measured by the shells that fall around him like clockwork. Alienated from family, home, language, and body, he exists in a state of mute acceptance, numb to the violence around him, till he is approached one morning by an old man who makes an unexpected proposal: that Dinesh marry his daughter, Ganga. Marriage, in this world, is an attempt at safety, like the beached fishing boat under which Dinesh huddles during the bombings. As a couple, they would be less likely to be conscripted to fight for the rebels, and less likely to be abused in the case of an army victory. Thrust into this situation of strange intimacy and dependence, Dinesh and Ganga try to come to terms with everything that has happened, hesitantly attempting to awaken to themselves and to one another before the war closes over them once more.

Anuk Arudpragasam's The Story of a Brief Marriage is a feat of extraordinary sensitivity and imagination, a meditation on the fundamental elements of human existence - eating, sleeping, washing, touching, speaking - that give us direction and purpose, even as the world around us collapses. Set over the course of a single day and night, this unflinching debut confronts marriage and war, life and death, bestowing on its subjects the highest dignity, however briefly.

Language

English
Publisher

Audible Studios on Brilliance Audio
Publication date

Jan. 2 2018
Dimensions

17.15 x 13.97 x 1.27 cm
ISBN-10

1543678750
ISBN-13

978-1543678758
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506
Hardcover
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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Audible Studios on Brilliance Audio; Unabridged edition (Jan. 2 2018)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1543678750
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1543678758
Item weight ‏ : ‎ 99 g
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 17.15 x 13.97 x 1.27 cm

Customer Reviews:
150 ratings

About the author

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Anuk Arudpragasam

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Anuk Arudpragasam was born in Colombo, Sri Lanka. He studied philosophy in the United States, receiving a doctorate at Columbia University. His first novel, The Story of a Brief Marriage, was translated into seven languages, won the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature, and was shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize.

Customer reviews

5 star		53%
4 star		23%
3 star		12%
2 star		6%
1 star		5%

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Top reviews from Canada

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THOMAS P T

Average story line

Reviewed in Canada on March 20, 2021

Verified Purchase

We can appreciate and empathize with the ravages of war on humanity but the scenes and feelings are over described to a point where it paralyzes the narrative

Reviewed in Canada on November 30, 2016

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Concept is good but too much description. Found it dragging most of the time.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Geoff Crocker

The banality of life and death

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 28, 2016

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Anuk Arudpragasam details the horror of the Sri Lankan army assault on the ‘Tamil Tiger’ strongholds in the north of the country which ended in 2009, for which the international community has accused the Sri Lankan government of war crimes. The ordinary civilian population was subject to indiscriminate shelling. Many died. Dinesh typifies the suffering and struggle for survival, living in the midst of routine, habitual death and mutilation. The population drifts on in hopeless futility. Life, including marriage, continues, but its banality is exposed. Death is expected. Arudpragasam’s writing is often flat and matter of fact, conveying the very ordinary detail of life reduced to mere existence.

4 people found this helpful

Robin

Big hopes but a little disappointing

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 15, 2017

Verified Purchase

Really wanted to like this. Good reviews and interesting subject matter. It's a short book but took me ages to get through. Just couldn't get into it. Very slow pace and the editing could be better as there is some odd phrasing in places. A little disappointing.

2 people found this helpful

Kristien Wynants

Not a great read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 17, 2019

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Not quite what I expected. Did not enjoy this book.

Karman S.

Read for the prose.

Reviewed in India on October 5, 2021

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The writing is poetic, yet grounded so it doesn't seem made-up. Innocuous activities are detailed in long paragraphs and multiple pages, yet to me it never appeared to be unnecessary. They're filled to the brim with metaphors, yet never does the subject seem exaggerated or the writing pretentious. It's words tiled together, in a raw and unapologetic way and the book is truly a work of art. For the writing enthusiasts.

P. S. The only trouble I faced was the lack of proper punctuations that confused me at times. Maybe it was a creative decision of the writer to do so, but it was certainly annoying.

2 people found this helpful

ramendra singh

A gory tale

Reviewed in India on December 27, 2017

Verified Purchase

An extremely gory tale written in a prosaic manner. Storyline doesn't seem moving and the author seems to be plunging deeper in the ravages of the internecine low density war . A good attempt to bring the dark side of the vagaries of an internal war , a subject which has not been touched upon widely but deserves more .
Well written , lucidly expressed , pregnant with dark images which could be disturbing and distressing .

5 people found this helpful

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The Story of a Brief Marriage MP3 CD – Unabridged, Jan. 2 2018

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About the author

Anuk Arudpragasam

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Top reviews from Canada

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Top reviews from other countries