Not just an ‘also ran’ but ‘also contributor’ to local book scene
The book did not win the Gratiaen Prize or the State Literary Award. Nor was it short-listed in these prestigious accolades. But, does that mean it is not a worthy read? Does that say it is less in readability and will not lean on a book-shelf adding yet another totally Sri Lankan novel to someone’s home collection?
No, I do not think so; this book is good enough to hold its own as a worthy contribution to English literature in Sri Lanka. That is my humble opinion. The late eminent and erudite Professor Ashley Halpe wrote the foreword to the book and added praise to what author Sasanka Nanayakkara wrote. The biggest publisher of English books in Sri Lanka, Vijitha Yapa, published ‘The Threshold’ for the book market. These two stalwarts are both heavy-weights of literature, both more than capable of evaluating the quality and the marketability of the book and if they had expressed appreciation of ‘The Threshold’ then that should hold good for the rest of us literature lovers as well. Who am I in the light of the mentioned expertise to add any negativity? In any case I am no literary critic, but more a literary appreciator.
I do laud the fact that a new author has come out of the doldrums and bravely written a book. This is the essence and the example for other ‘wanna-be’ authors to get cracking in converting their dormant thoughts of ‘book-writing’ to manuscripts and go looking for publishers to enter the literary world. Here is Sasanka, a travel man by profession, and he is no Salman Rushdie nor a Khaled Hosseini, but he has written his book, got it printed and published and presented beautifully to the public to enter his name to the list of authors in Sri Lanka. First we must applaud his quest, then we will look at what he has written.
As for the story, it is nostalgic for the generation that the author belonged to in his youth. Most places and faces filling the pages go back to the era 25 years ago. The protagonist exiled himself from his motherland for reasons more aligned to emotions and stayed away till the yearning for a lost love became unbearable. He uproots himself from his new-found nationality and flies home in search of nostalgic feelings and the love of his life from yester-year. She had left deep scars that refuse to be erased from mind and soul and come to life from time to time to suffocate him with memories that are chiselled into his heart for life. Of course she is happily married but fate grants them a re-union where the two parties instantly find that it is as if there was never a ‘time interval’ in their separation. They pick up where they left off, nothing strange, such things do happen. Yet, there are complications, there is bound to be when other gooseberries too are in the same bed cemented by matrimony. How it happens and whys and the whats you need to read to find out.
There is a lot more in the book about the political quagmire too, ethnic conflict and the war of three decades plus different opinions of how the country changed in twenty-five years. They are interesting and act as ‘path-finders’ to the reader to understand and unravel the complications that are Sri Lanka and Sri Lankan today. Prominent places too jump out of the pages, of course to the re-call of older generations. Lord Nelson, the waterhole down Bailie Street is mentioned and so is the Bambalapitiya Lion House plus so many others that were popular haunts of the protagonist’s youth. They do add colour to the narration and remind us of a beautiful motherland in a by-gone era sans the uncontrollable political corruption and the ever so sad race and religious divisions.
The book ‘Threshold’ is not just an ‘also ran’ in the literature world of Sri Lanka. On the contrary, it is an ‘also contributor’ to the local scene of book-lovers. Instead of sitting down and murmuring to himself about becoming an author, Sasanka Nanayakkara has woken up to a new world that has made him a literate. How big, how small and how great does not matter; he is an author, and I salute him for that courageous achievement.
Book facts
The Threshold by Sasanka Nanayakkara.Reviewed by Capt. Elmo Jayawardena