The marketing worked, because of Dua Lipa's speech, I paid attention to the Booker Prize in 2022 and the winner at that time, the second novel of the Sri Lankan author. The story is about a gay photographer who gets into trouble for his war pictures and wanders like a ghost trying to find out who is responsible for his death – for which he is given seven nights by the otherworldly administration office.
The novel takes place in an interesting world, a completely different environment on the other side of Earth, yet human behavior is the same as in my country. Corruption, selfishness, cowardice and indifference are common, this was great lesson I learned during reading this.
However, due to the description of a lot of cruelty, it is very difficult to read the text. I had to put it aside for months, it was the only way I could read it. Compared to this, by the end, the 'you' narrative form, which seems strange at the beginning, is nothing.
The characters are not really likable either, only the leopard made me smile at the end. The others, the pair of detectives operating like some kind of Pulp Fiction duo, the protagonist's lovers and clients are interesting but unrelatable characters – just like the protagonist himself.
It's an important book because of the topics it covers, it's interesting, but it's not really well written. There are too many repetitive, anecdotal details, and the cruelty that comes up again and again. The author sews all the threads to the end, but it's still not a real catharsis.
In any case, the Booker company gave the book a good promotion, including a downloadable reading aid. I still couldn't like it, so at the end of reading it I left it on the free book shelf of our vacation spot – maybe someone else will like it more.
by besucherke