Sri Lanka best travel books to read before visiting - fiction and non-fiction?
3 Answers from travellers
Essential Sri Lankan reads:
Anil's Ghost by Michael Ondaatje (Booker-nominated, post-civil war psychological depth).
Running in the Family by Ondaatje (memoir, Ceylon aristocracy).
Reef by Romesh Gunesekera (Booker-shortlisted, sea + servitude).
The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka (Booker winner 2022, magical realism about the civil war).
When Memory Dies by A. Sivanandan (three generations, plantation Tamils).
Serendipity by Ashok Ferrey (short stories). Non-fiction: 'A History of Sri Lanka' by K.M. de Silva.
Buy at Barefoot Bookshop Colombo or Sarasavi bookstores across the island.
No. 30 Stanley Tilakaratne Mawatha, Nugegoda 10250, Sri Lanka
Also worth: 'Chinaman' by Shehan Karunatilaka (cricket + investigative fiction, uniquely Sri Lankan). 'The Story of a Brief Marriage' by Anuk Arudpragasam (Man Booker International winner, civil war reality). Both extraordinary literary works. Read Ondaatje first for lyrical entry, then Karunatilaka for contemporary edge.
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