A stellar effort by Canadian Lankan author

by Randy BOYAGODA

Toronto-based Randy Boyagoda's sophomore effort takes readers on an intriguing trek through a century of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) by following the life of an oddly unsympathetic 100-year-old man.

Boyagoda's parents immigrated to Ontario from Sri Lanka. His first novel, the political satire, Governor of the Northern Province, was longlisted for the Giller Prize in 2006 but received uneven reviews.

This followup seems to have more consistency but still has noticeable strengths and weaknesses.

The opening chapters are something like Anita Desai's young adult novel "The Village by the Sea" about a young boy struggling to support his family in an impoverished village in India, though the rest of the novel heads in a very different direction.

The story begins in the tiny village of Sudugama and follows a young boy who is not named.

He is a middle child, and a village astrologer claims he has been born at the wrong time, sure to bring ruin to the family. Before long his father has abandoned him at a monastery.

Soon the boy abandons the monastery and starts a new life for himself in the port city of Colombo.

He invents a name, Sam Kandy, after a town near his home village.

And here begins his journey to make something better of his life.

There are many political and cultural ideas that are important to the progress of the novel, but these details are passed over so quickly that it is easy for readers to become confused.

Sam is so often manipulating and making deals that readers may find themselves pressing on without really knowing what's happening or even giving up in frustration. The novel demands close attention but does not necessarily reward it.

Sam manages to visit a fair number of interesting places and these varied settings are easily the novel's greatest strength. Boyagoda has quite masterfully created a palpable sense of bustle and busyness.

Colombo and Sudugama are worlds away from what most Canadian readers will recognise, but Boyagoda shows us the everyday dirt and grime of these places and helps us to feel the novelty and excitement of clean, new clothes and sleek but noisy motorcars.

During the timeline of his story, Boyagoda touches on few important historical events, such as the Second World War and May Day labour riots. These certainly have an impact on Sam's life but are wisely kept mostly in the background since this is very much Sam's story.

But even large sections of his life story are simply left out. The novel focuses intensely on short intervals and then jumps years and years ahead. The last quarter of the novel plows through the last 40 years of Sam's life at breakneck speed. The story suffers from uneven pacing, and the only reason seems to be that Boyagoda wants to get Kandy to 100 years old before the end of the novel.

The early chapters of his boyhood and abandonment as an unwanted outcast are sure to draw sympathy. But once Kandy reaches his 20s he is a surprisingly unsympathetic and unlikable character and is revealed as the novel's greatest weakness.

He is a liar and cheat but not in a mischievous, lovable way as so many other literary cheats. He is selfish and cruel to his first two wives and his first two children.

That is, until he happens upon his third wife. This last marriage begins when he is 66 and is a happy and prosperous one, though the novel gives us no real reason for this transformation.

There are a number of things that this novel does exceptionally well, though they all hinge on a character that is not entirely deserving of his own novel. Though perhaps not to the same degree as his first effort, opinions about Boyagoda's second novel are likely to vary.