BOOK LAUNCH

Sittarakuta Pem Baenda

Jayakody Seneviratne's Sinhala novel Sittarakuta Pem Baenda will be launched at the Dayawansa Jayakody Bookshop, Colombo 10 on November 28 at 10 a m. Seneviratne is the author of several other novels including Kumarihamy, Kirigedara, Vajirapani, Urachakramalaya, Panchakalyani, Swarna Varna, Rubara Doni, Hituvakkari and Ridi Sela. Sittarakuta Pem Baenda is a Dayawansa Jayakody publication.

Purasanda Sema

Ariyawansa Kulathillaka's latest Sinhala novel, Purasanda Sema, was launched at Nugegoda recently as a Sarasavi publication. Kulathillaka's other novels are Yaksha Manavaya, Thunveniya, Duvillen Sedunu Liya and Me Mage Kedellai.

A Voyage in Sri Lankan Design

A Voyage in Sri Lankan Design by Tilak Samarawickrema will be launched at the Park Street Mews Warehouse, Colombo 2, on November 22 at 6.30 pm. The book will be introduced by Deputy Finance Minister Dr. Sarath Amunugama.

It is a Vijitha Yapa publication.

Up-to-date introduction to world’s most controversial writer

‘A valuable and thorough reading of a major contemporary novelist’s writing’
- Prof. Randy Boyagoda, Ryerson University, Canada.

Salman Rushdie is one of the most widely-studied and controversial contemporary British authors.

The revised and expanded new edition of an established text explores all of Rushdie’s fiction, non-fiction and biographical writings to date. Considering the author’s fiction as art, in all its richness of significance and technique, D.C.R.A. Goonetilleke examines the blend of autobiographical and historical elements and analyses Rushdie’s complex position as a migrant writer. Salman Rushdie, second edition: features new chapters which discuss the author’s most recent novels, including Fury (2001), Shalimar the Clown (2005) and The Enchantress of Florence (2008), reviews Rushdie’s texts in the light of recent research and critical developments, focuses on Rushdie as a novelist in the context of migration, post colonialism and globalisation, covers the ‘Rushdie Affair’, indicating that the situation surrounding The Satanic Verses is more intricate than simply ‘freedom of expression versus Islamic fundamentalism.’ It contains an updated bibliography and helpful new chronology to aid study.

In surveying Rushdie’s complicated writing career and the innovative and, later, ‘popular’ nature of his art, Prof. Goonetilleke provides fresh and original readings of all of the writer’s work.

D.C.R.A. Goonetilleke is Emeritus Professor of English at the University of Kelaniya.

The Dons who Rocked my World

Author: Dasun Abeysekera

The Dons who Rocked my World is a compilation of essays on a theory of intelligent design. The book chronicles how the author’s love of music and his musical heroes take him on a fascinating journey of discovery, where he follows his own insights and inspirations to decipher the truth while questioning the dictates of popular culture and mainstream opinion. The author believes humanity is now at her greatest threshold of evolution: We are given only two choices -liberty or slavery - but the choice is still ours to make.

According to the writer, “Earth is a spiritual battleground. While forces of darkness relentlessly conspire to enslave the soul of man, forces of light courageously challenge them to liberate man from the clutches of oppression. This epic struggle for the coveted human heart, mind and soul drives the evolution of human awareness of life and liberty”.

In today’s complex world, overwhelmed with a myriad of choices and alternative viewpoints, how does any man come to know the truth about reality? Should he follow the dictates of popular culture and mainstream opinion without investigation and verification? Or should he follow the directions of his own insights in deciphering the truth for himself? Under the patronage of global financial oligarchs, modern day scientists and social engineers have crafted sophisticated mechanisms with the intention of violating man’s natural instincts, in order to subvert society for their gain; under their patronage, popular media fronts have weaved a web of deception to mislead the public into acceding to these oligarchs’ self-interested designs.

The author is an emerging writer who closely follows global geo-political events and trends and writes about their psychological and philosophical undertones and implications for moulding human behaviour.

His passion is to bring to the foreground suppressed knowledge and history, as well as share his perceptions of the undercurrents of behaviour and creativity in both personal and sociological spheres, to create higher awareness and understanding of global citizenship. Expansion of consciousness, he believes, is the key to unearthing immense hidden human potential and the fostering of a new era of peace and prosperity.