Homesick

"Homesick" is described as "kaleidoscopic" and this certainly fits. It's the story of a Sri Lankan family, immigrated to London, that moves back and forth in time and setting. Each chapter is narrated by a different character and the cast includes family, extended family, and friends. It actually reads more like a collection of short stories than a novel.

The work's greatest strength is how poignantly it captures the sense of being "homesick." Some characters are homesick for the country they have left behind, others for a country to which they have never been, but which somehow calls to them. The feeling of being between worlds, the longing for a sense of belonging that is thwarted by the characters being "both" and "neither" Sri Lankan show more and British, is beautifully captured in the writing.

The difficulty lies in the kaleidoscopic nature of the work. Ultimately the scope was so very broad, that I was left feeling a bit adrift in a very large sea of characters. There were so many that at times it was difficult to remember who was connected and in what way, and the frustration of this created an emotional distance from the characters. The transitions between chapters were sometimes jarring; it felt as though you had just settled in with one group of characters in one place, and gotten a feel for things, when it was time to move on to another group or place in time. Perhaps the constant sense of displacement was intentionally created by the author to elicit in the reader the experiences of the characters themselves, but this unfortunately made it difficult to connect in a deeper way to the story.

By the end, one can see how the threads tie together, and how the larger theme of homesickness plays out in each of the characters' lives. It's an admirable book, but it didn't grab me in the way that I think it could have had there been fewer characters and a deeper connection with each. show less

So many characters were introduced in so few pages that I had trouble keeping them straight. And when I did learn more about them, I didn't like them and, ore importantly, didn't care what happened to them. For me, that means the book is a failure. The writing was disjointed, probably intentionally so that the various stories come together. To me, it just seemed choppy.

The story was filled with cruel people doing stupid things. I've read quite a few novels about emigration and assimilation or lack thereof, and I like reading those stories, so I expected to like this one. However, between the writing style and the characters, this one just didn't work for me. Reading it became a chore.

I was given an advance copy of the book for review.

This was a gift, but I can't remember who gave it to me or why as, being literary fiction and not even set in New Zealand, even though I like the concept of linked stories as a technique, it's really not my kind of thing. I read the first two stories and felt no interest in more. The cover is very pretty but I'll free it to grace the shelves of someone who better appreciates the genre.

I stuck it out as long as I could. Just couldn't get into the writing style. Some of the stories I couldn't find a character to be invested in. It happens. On to things that I find more enjoyable.