Swimming in the Monsoon Sea

The dust jacket makes it seem like this novel is just about a boy falling in love with another boy, but really, Amrith's love for Niresh is only peripheral to the plot. More important is Amrith's reconciling his feelings about his dead parents and the trouble in their families, and his adoptive parents and sisters, whom he both loves and hates. All the main characters in the story are fully real, and Amrith's growing maturity is well portrayed.

However, this book did have some flaws. It was overly didactic -- obviously written for a Western audience that had no notion of Sri Lankan life, there was a little too much explaining about customs and architecture and the weather. The other, bigger problem (in my mind) is that way too much was told rather than shown, particularly about Amrith's feelings. It was as if the author didn't trust the reader to draw the correct conclusions and had to spoon-feed them everything.

I would give this book a B, and might be tempted to pick up more of this author's work in the future. I hope he works out his showing-telling problem. ( )

Swimming in the Monsoon Sea is another partly heartbreaking story of first loves. Unlike previous young adult stories about gay young men, Selvadurai's novel is different. The story takes place in Sri Lanka, a place where (at least in the 80s, when the novel takes place) homosexuality is not something that's common or even talked about.

Amrith, a 14 year old boy, lives with his adoptive parents. His past is complicated and sad, but we don't find out the details until near the end of the novel. And in many ways, this is one of strongest coming of age novels I've read recently. In many of them, the boys have already come to terms with being gay, but Amrith doesn't even understand what's going on in his head. He doesn't even realize how he feels until his long lost cousin from Canada appears in his life.

Up until we meet Amrith's cousin, Niresh, the only things he cares about are not thinking about his mother's death and acting. He desperately wants to be in the school production of Othello -- and manages to win the part of Desdemona (a part he covets, after winning an award for his acting as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet). But the Niresh shows up, and Amrith's world is shaken up.

The world Selvadurai creates is both believable and emotionally driven. We follow Amrith as he struggles with his friendship with Niresh, slowly falling in love, and his relationships with his family (adoptive parents and sisters). Selvadurai allows us to watch as Amrith is torn apart, through his love of Niresh, mourning of his mother and love of acting and then how he must find a way to put himself back together.

As I was reading, I kept waiting for something to happen and then when it did, it was beautiful and heartbreaking. This novel is not like the majority of YA gay fiction I've read, there's no implied sex, no reciprocation of feelings. Instead, it's a story of love and loss, because when your first love with is your straight cousin, there's no way it can work out.

But don't let that stop you from reading. Swimming in the Monsoon Sea is so much more than just that storyline. Selvadurai is a brilliant story teller and I can't wait to read more of his books. ( )

As usual, Shyam Selvadurai draws a wonderful portrait of Sri Lanka, this time of Colombo in August, 1980. Amrith is a very charming character, polite and intelligent.

I’ve always enjoyed Shyam Selvadurai’s writing, so I wasn’t surprised to find myself absorbed in Swimming in the Monsoon Sea. It was Selvadurai’s first young adult novel, though, and it’s nice to see that he made the transition from adult to YA fiction without any signs of difficulty. ( )

Amrith tries to figure out who he is while coming of age in Sri Lanka in 1980. He discovers that he has a cousin from Canada, the son of his long estranged uncle on his mother's side. ( )