An ice axe breaking the sea frozen within us

The chilling story of a man's quest to have his father re-born as his son :

Title: Moonstone

Author: Daya Dissanayake

Published by: Sarasavi Publishers

Reviewed by: Padma Edirisinghe

If ever a work of fiction penned by a Sri Lankan author proves challenging enough for a reviewer Moonstone does it.

The most apt adjective for it could be that it is bewildering, especially to naive readers used to hackneyed themes as the eternal love triangle with the Dushtaya (wicked monster) thrown in, the Kalu Sudu faction fighting an endless battle like our army versus the Devil's own cadre i.e. the LTTEs, and recently the theme of love affairs between members of the two factions.

Moonstone explores a very novel area, that of the relationship between Buddhist beliefs of rebirth and the spurt of scientific knowledge grown over the centuries.

The central character is Chandraratne, later Sandaruwan (a mathematician and software expert who reaches the heights of a Lankan Bill Gates), and after that just Chandare working on a coconut plantation. The reader may conclude that he gets reborn into these three lives. No. All these varied tri-lives, he spends in one single life.

Perhaps Sandaruwan gets fed up with his opulent and well-oiled or streamlined life at Seychelles where he works after winning a lottery and longs to come back to his home country and wishes to relax incognito. One never knows, for the tale has no specific end with the main character playing such an unpredictable role.

Earlier it was mentioned that Sandaruwan after his name change gets elevated into one of the world's richest men and becomes the double of Bill Gates in the software empire. But otherwise he is a character far away from Bill Gates for the latter (as far as the reviewer is aware) is a man leading a normal life with a, father, mother, wife, and children. But this Bill Gates is single. He does not want to get married.

Quote "Sandaruwan did not want to be burdened with a woman for the rest of his life. The society had no right to force every man and woman to get married." There is indication that AIDS or not, he has had casual love. But never is he romantic.

The hard core of the software giant is evident, especially when he manipulates to get an ovum from a strange girl to be conjoined with his sperm in order to produce a new life.

Feminists, take note of this new danger looming in the world of science. The author is almost ruthless when he writes, "The ovum could be obtained transvaginally or using a laparoscope through a small incision in the navel".

Procreation minus any affection between the would-be parents and performed by clever yet unscrupulous doctors! All for what? So that the life that escapes his father's body can enter the egg fertilized by his sperm at the correct time. He wishes to repay his father for all what he has done, bringing him up single-handed after his mother's death.

As a multi-millionaire he had neglected his father, to wilt away his life alone in a remote village of Sri Lanka and now overcome with remorse he wishes to make use of the Buddhist belief of rebirth to pay him back in his next life after re-creating him!

I only hope I have got the whole complicated wrangle correct, for at one instance the writer states that he wishes to change the concept of Kamma. There is also the issue of Gandabba stage, the intermediate stage between death and re-birth, an issue on which the Mahayanists and the Theravadins differ.

How does this Gandabba or Antharabhava concept entwine itself to the story? For as soon as his father dies, the conception has to take place or so it seems. Readers will have to come to their own conclusions after reading through the maze that reflects how much creative a writer can be.

It further transpires how skilled writers without getting bogged in traditional, themes can explore fields as the relationship between science and Buddhist beliefs. According to Albert Einstein Buddha was a religious leader who came closest to scientific thinking.

But neither Sandaruwan nor the author seem to be ardent devotees of the Buddha and there lies the irony. The software wizard is planning to murder his father (so that the life of his son capsuled in the stolen egg can commence at the ordained time) and so nearly become a perpetrator of patricide, one of the five heinous crimes according to Buddhism.

Romiel, the father is an intruder into a Sinhala Buddhist village and some even describe Tamil origins to him. But the mother is a devout Buddhist and her life stands out in relief against a background frothing with wicked scheming and ruthless scientific experiments.

The mother's life as she reads her Bana texts under the Bo tree reads like a poem. But the good die young, they say and she dies young leaving Romiel to exert himself into bringing up the son all by himself.

He does not marry again and devotes his whole life to his son, who having reached the highest levels of prosperity and social status, neglects him in his busy life of building up his empire. All in all, the book in many ways gives much food for thought. It is well nourshied with much background information and is exciting due to its novel theme. May be it would end up a trail blazer.

What will finally happen to Chandraratne alias Sandaruwan alias Chandare? The gods only know. The book has no end enhancing its mystique.

Chandare a menial worker in the environs of Chilaw, may or may not get back to Seychelles where his software empire flourishes even in his absence, for the instructions he had left behind work like the best of the technological innovations of the modern world. Or may be he would just end up going on with his saul-satisfying job.

Mental peace is far more important as his mother would have told him in his childhood as she sat under the village Bo tree with her book of Buddhist gaathas.

Life on the edge

Christine Spittel Wilson's inspirational autobiography

Title: Christine - a memoire

Author: Christine Spittel Wilson

Published by: Perera Hussein Publishing House

Reviewed by Anthea Senaratna

This story meanders through the life of one of our most distinguished writers and woman of many parts, Christine Wilson. From babyhood to the present ninety four years is no small feat to record.

But Christine has done it in a manner that takes the reader gliding through the years through breathless scenario, pausing from time to time to explore a new happening in her life, lingering to observe the beauty of nature, plunging into the complexities of relationships and sitting back just to enjoy the view.

The time lapses are dealt with in the most ingenious way and her lyrical descriptions of surroundings and scenery are exquisite to read. Christine has reached the perfect art of cutting out all the unnecessary trappings that can turn details into boring passages for the reader.

The opening poem 'This is my aim" and the other one dedicated 'To Alistair" linger in one's memory. Her prose is as musical as poetry and the reader will no doubt go back to passages to read the haunting words therein.

The descriptions are crisp and the precise usage of words is a joy to read - for example in the opening page "Twice a year, when the heat sucked the rivers dry and the rasp of the cicadas was harsh in the land, my father would disappear into unknown forests, for what reason I did not know."

We get to know Richard Spittel not only as his public image of the brilliant surgeon and researcher of the Veddhas in Ceylon, but also as the adored father of Christine. His indomitable perseverance, total unconcern in the face of danger, and his stubborn determination to overcome his physical pain are depicted in many instances.

His great love for reading - "letting the beauty of words or great thoughts act as an anodyne" promotes Christine's love for books. Her mother is portrayed as a gentler person, loving, clever and always wanting to protect Christine whereas her father wanted her to "run free." The writer talks about her grandparents and we learn not only about the people themselves but what life was like at that time.

Family situations and personal relationships play an important part in the book. Christine handles these with admirable integrity. The characters are described in great detail but here too Christine's evocative prose is precise and to the point and does not leave room for overtelling.

None of the "characters" is perfect, just like in real life, and this gives the story the authenticity that makes the reader want to read on. We may sometimes question certain decisions or actions taken by them. But then such is life.

We all do things when viewed in retrospect we feel we should not have done or could have done in a better or different way. Wycherly features much in the book. First as a Nursing Home and their family house, now turned into a school which she can see from across the road of her present home.

We move with Christine through her schooling at Bishops College to her transfer to England and her experiences there. There is tragedy and sadness too. The disappearance of her "playmate" Kaira - never to be found again; the death of a sibling which not only brings about a strain in her parents' relationship, but also leaves Christine as an only child who has to deal with much loneliness during her growing years.

In addition, her own personal relationships do not always run smooth and she faces her share of disillusion and unhappiness. But ultimately she does find happiness in her daughter and granddaughter and her marriage to Alistair. Through descriptions of her lifestyle we are shown an intimate glimpse of what society was like at that time.

Shifting from continent to continent Christine makes the most of life by becoming involved in discovering new skills (writing was one of them), and taking up new hobbies.

The range of places from Ceylon to London, Scotland, Europe in the war years and finally Africa creates a canvass of brilliant form and colour. The war years are depicted through experiences in Ceylon and also the trip she does with her family through Europe.

Some of the highlights of the book are the trips to the jungle Christine makes with her father. Wildlife and the jungles being close to her heart, Christine's descriptions of Yala and Wilpattu are described in detail- enough to ensnare the reader into the jungle habitat of the leopard, elephants, myriads of birds and other creatures whose domain it is.

A detailed account of a trip to Wilpattu by boat and a moving description of Horton Plains in its ethereal beauty of that time, depicts an era that can never be recaptured. Africa becomes yet another important chapter in her life. Here too the descriptions are absolutely breathtaking.

The Mara and other wild life sanctuaries are brought to life with the lions, zebra and giraffe, flocks of strange birds and other wild creatures. She also draws a picture of her lifestyle in Africa where she embraces new friends and interests.

The story dips in an out of all these places and phases in her life not in linear order, and the writer through her subtle use of language transports the reader from one place to another, from one situation to another with great ease. We move from Ceylon to London to Glasgow, Europe and finally Africa before finally returning to Sri Lanka.

From "Christine - a Memoir" we learn about a variety of places, some of them now lost to us forever, some still existing but much changed. We learn about people of the past and the present who are important to the writer. Most of all we learn about life and all its complexities and challenges. We congratulate Christine who with the indomitable spirit of her ancestors strove to write this memorable account of her life and times.