Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
21st out of 50 books
—
35 voters
The Hamilton Case
The place is Ceylon, the time the 1930s. Set amid tea plantations, corruption and the backwash of empire, this is a world teetering on the edge of chaos. Sam Obeysekere is a Ceylonese lawyer, a perfect product of empire. His family, which once had wealth and influence, starts to crack open as political change comes to the island, and Sam's glamorous father dies leaving gam...more
Paperback, 298 pages
Published
September 2nd 2004
by Vintage
(first published 2003)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
607)
A review in the New York Times Book Review got me to reserve The Lost Dog by her, but it didn't really appeal as much as this previous one--and I could hardly put it down. The details of daily life in Ceylon and Oxford, the story of colonialism in Ceylon and the murder mystery all are a really good read. I slowed down a bit in the last third, mostly because of being sidetracked by fact checking (what a "London silk" is, for example, and the flora and fauna and food). It is a very alive book and...more
Possibly the best book I've ever read about the invisible harm that colonialism does to the psyche of a nation. The Hamilton Case is told through the eyes of a native Sri Lankan who grows up during the British occupation and does fairly well in its systems. But through his story and that of his friends and associates, we see the elaborate self deception that is needed to be able to live with oneself and one's compromises under colonialism, and the unfocused hate (at one's self, at the colonial o...more
De Kretser wrote a biting critique on the effects of colonial rule on her native Sri Lanka in this novel. She begins with an excerpt from the memoirs of a Sinhalese lawyer, who identifies so strongly with the Brits that he adopts their love of law, their mannerisms, and their passions for crime fiction. The highlight of Obeysekere's career comes when he solves The Hamilton Case, accusing a white British citizen of killing another British tea planter. This was an audacious accusation that had lon...more
The Hamilton case is a murder in Sri Lanka in 1902 when it was still known as Ceylon. Born into a wealthy Celonese family and educated at Oxford, Sam Obeyskere is a home grown product of the British Empire. He returns home to practice law and finds that he is too British to be native and too native to be British. When he is asked to comment on a sensational local murder his arrogant belief in his own importance and his rash response that an Englishman is responsible for the killing will dog him...more
I first read The Hamilton Case in 2005 as a set Year 12 Literature text. At the time I did not enjoy it, along with the majority of the class. However I have wondered how I would have enjoyed it away from that class room environment, along with a couple of other school texts I disliked at the time. I also wonder how much I was subconsciously affected by my schoolmates. Five years later I have again picked it up for the Around the World in 80 Books Challenge which, being set in Sri Lanka, then Ce...more
As other reviewers can point out, the actual mystery of the Hamilton Case takes up little room in this drawn out novel. Whoever wrote the synopsis on the back of the book did an excellent job of what this book could have accomplished. In re-reading that paragraph, I am sort of tempted to give it a higher score because it sounds so intruiging.
de Krester certainly has a knack for description. She repeatedly takes delight in rattling off lists of every day objects that are perceived treasures by th...more
de Krester certainly has a knack for description. She repeatedly takes delight in rattling off lists of every day objects that are perceived treasures by th...more
Apr 16, 2008
Marguerite
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Travelers
Recommended to Marguerite by:
New York Times
Shelves:
contemporary-fiction
This was nothing like what I expected. What it is: a sweeping book about colonialism, especially the British variety, culture and families. The story, which takes place in Ceylon, is exotic and the writing original and beautiful. It made me think about the Philippines, where I spent almost two years of my childhood, and the spread of American culture more generally. I'll come back to this one, and look for anything else by De Kretser.
While the book begins with the compelling narrative of the central figure Sam Obeysekere who functions as a typically unreliable narrator, it loses momentum when it switches to other points of view—his wife, his mother—in the second part. It comes back into focus at the end when it begins to offer other possibilities for the solution of the Hamilton murder. Then when it refuses to certify any one of the solutions as the truth, it raises the interesting philosophical question of whether truth is...more
Set in Ceylon (Sri Lanka), the main character is an unlikeable Sinhalese caught up in the class and racial issues of the times. Sam goes to boarding school where he plays tennis and cricket, then goes to Oxford and eventually becomes a lawyer. I could really like these themes but I find it difficult when I don't like anybody in the book very much. I also find these kinds of stories where every marriage is dreadful and every woman is miserable just a bit much. It just seems as if all colonial sto...more
I trudged through this book. It had some interesting aspects to it, from a cultural and historical aspect. It takes place in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) primarily during the British invasion. The story covers the life of Sam from childhood, through his adult life, all the way through when his son is an adult. Sam becomes a lawyer, and the title refers to a case he becomes involved in that goes on to effect his career path. The case itself, however is a very small part of the book, although integral to th...more
De Kretser's delicacy, honesty and evocative style, which critics compare to Agatha Christie and Somerset Maugham's, garnered praise in all quarters. Within a wholly compelling plot, she offers psychological insights rather than icy, intellectual dissections of the characters. However, the tale shifts through four points of view, a device disliked by several critics. Still, Obeysekere's initially pompous, verbose, and mannered memoir struck some nerves. De Kretser handles the exotic material wit
...more
Michelle de Kretser is an unusually beautiful writer, a fact that is tenderly showcased in the first third of this book only to become somewhat tangled in the second. Despite this, however, The Hamilton Case is an accurate and suitable tribute to the Sinhalese people - from my vantage point as a first generation Sinhalese-Australian at least. The novel follows the life of Sam Obeysekere, a Sinhalese whose wretchedness derives mostly from that curious affliction of wishing to out British the Br...more
Dec 02, 2007
Joanne
rated it
1 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
no one
Shelves:
didn-t-finish
Another unreliable narrator -- this one pompous. Everybody in this novel is unhappy, abused, or slowly decaying. Bleh, bleh, bleh.
Originally published on my blog here.
The genre of post-colonial literary fiction has become one of the mainstays of the Booker Prize, with wins for several over the years. When starting to read The Hamilton Case, I thought that it was strange that this novel, set in Ceylon in the generation leading up to independence, had been overlooked by the judges - and I am not the only one, as Hilary Mantel (herself now of course a double winner of the prize) suggests that it should have made it to the sho...more
The genre of post-colonial literary fiction has become one of the mainstays of the Booker Prize, with wins for several over the years. When starting to read The Hamilton Case, I thought that it was strange that this novel, set in Ceylon in the generation leading up to independence, had been overlooked by the judges - and I am not the only one, as Hilary Mantel (herself now of course a double winner of the prize) suggests that it should have made it to the sho...more
The Hamilton Case tells the story of an ambitious young lawyer in Ceylon, as Sri Lanka was formerly known. The strange and tragic saga of his family is interwoven with a local murder mystery.
I read so many glowing reviews of this novel, but it was just "okay" for me. The protagonist wasn't very appealing, in my opinion. It made it difficult for me to care about his fate. There was a lot of good, quirky character work, but I found it hard to relate to anyone in the story. However, the writing def...more
I read so many glowing reviews of this novel, but it was just "okay" for me. The protagonist wasn't very appealing, in my opinion. It made it difficult for me to care about his fate. There was a lot of good, quirky character work, but I found it hard to relate to anyone in the story. However, the writing def...more
A lot of abuse takes place in this book. Of women by men, children by adults, workers by overseers, the powerful vs the powerless becomes analogous to colonialism. However, the protagonist, a Sri Lankan named Sam, is someone who has done well out of colonial rule; his parents are landowners, he is Oxford educated, but when Ceylon becomes Sri Lanka, he becomes obsolete.
The beautiful descriptions and lush atmosphere belie a corrupt society. There are two mysteries central to the plot: who killed t...more
The beautiful descriptions and lush atmosphere belie a corrupt society. There are two mysteries central to the plot: who killed t...more
An interesting book which explores the impact of colonization on Sri Lanka through the lives of characters which span three generations. It is slow moving and the 'Hamilton Case' itself and the mystery surrounding it is not examined in as much detail as you might expect. However, it is delicately written with exquisite details in places which can transport you to the forgotten world of Sam Obeysekere and his contemporaries. Obey by name, obey by nature is a phrase coined by de Kretser and its im...more
May 16, 2013
Robert Wechsler
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
australian-lit
Not quite as satisfying as The Lost Dog, but the writing was nearly as wonderfully unusual. And the male protagonist was equally as unattractive as the other, only completely different. Inadequate in different ways, sadder in a different way, not what readers of historical novels are looking for, that’s for certain.
The story held little interest for me, but fortunately de Kretser is about style and perspective. A minor character, a judge who writes novels, sums it up in his conclusory section of...more
The story held little interest for me, but fortunately de Kretser is about style and perspective. A minor character, a judge who writes novels, sums it up in his conclusory section of...more
The book starts off at fast a pace. Giving a interesting glimpse of the decadence of the upper crust of colonial Sri Lankan society. The 'Case' itself takes pace halfway through the book, here everything rises to a fever pitch and you just know that this will pan out to be one of those epic reads where a seemingly tangential subplot seamlessly combines with a broader narrative of the zeitgeist to give you a wonderful punch in the stomach tempered with illumination, education and unparalleled ent...more
My problem with The Hamilton Case is the way it is marketed. I should know by now not to trust a book by its blurb. When I picked it up I was somewhat excited to be informed that I would be reading about an intriguing murder mystery set in late colonial Ceylon. I was hooked for the first hundred pages or so, reading the first-person narrative of the main protagonist Sam Obeysekere. He's an interesting and likable character and I thought it to be a build up of sorts. Then, shortly after his narra...more
Aug 24, 2008
Teri
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
anyone who knows and loves Sri Lanka/Ceylon
Recommended to Teri by:
Amazon.com ratings
I saw this recommended somewhere online, and then at Amazon it has 5 stars, so I ordered a used copy. Set in late Victorian period Ceylon (today's Sri Lanka), it's about family relations as well as the colonial British rule of the local people, who are also of different ethnic groups. I'm halfway through and it's not 5 stars -- at least not yet. . .
Now that I've finished it, I can't give it any more stars. The ethnic and historical background were interesting, but the characters were not compell...more
Now that I've finished it, I can't give it any more stars. The ethnic and historical background were interesting, but the characters were not compell...more
A bit uneven - de Kretser's choice to shift points of view led to the middle section dragging in some seemingly purposeless (if stunning) descriptions. I loved the metaphors she explored, however,about how a narrative can only artificially organize events, and doesn't actually render truth or sense. In just the same way, the various Ceylonese characters try to array themselves against the encroachment of the jungle with a litany of objects, all of which prove ineffectual. Intriguing, experimenta...more
Remarkable book, beautifully written. So many lines capture sentiments or phenomena perfectly. A tough read through a middle portion (the book becomes driven more by the poetic evocation of lives in a number of conditions, than by a narrative driving toward an end), the book comes together powerfully at the end. The last line of the acknowledgments, which comes at the end of the book, feels like a part of the story itself, even as the author, characteristically, withholds that interpretation.
So...more
So...more
Without a doubt 'The Hamilton Case' by Michelle De Kretser is my least favourite book I have ever read.
Slow, dull and so heavy on repetitive descriptions of foliage it's like cutting through a jungle to read it.
The main character is weak, dull and is completely reactive to everything around it.
The book shifts from first person to third to a different first person for no discernible reason.
The book is so engaged with its desire to be lush it forgets to be clear, there are some moments that despit...more
Slow, dull and so heavy on repetitive descriptions of foliage it's like cutting through a jungle to read it.
The main character is weak, dull and is completely reactive to everything around it.
The book shifts from first person to third to a different first person for no discernible reason.
The book is so engaged with its desire to be lush it forgets to be clear, there are some moments that despit...more
If this novel is somewhat indebted to the style of fellow Sri Lankan Ondaatje, it is nonetheless beautifully crafted and involving. de Kretser very effectively modulates characterization so that in the course of the novel, the reader's perceptions of the agents of the story slowly evolve and a mystery slowly presents itself and is disclosed.
Another four star review sorry! But again, I really thought this was fantastic. I know so little about Sri Lankan political history and this beautiful book offers amazing insights into political and post colonial history of the country. It's an amazing character study, as well as a cultural study and so cleverly written. Fantastic.
Do not waste your time on this book. I read it for my book discussion group and it was a colossal waste of time. No one in the group enjoyed it if that tells you anything. The writing is incredibly flowery, the plot goes absolutely no where and you continually find yourself asking, "What is she talking about? Where is she going with this?"
This was a crisp and tantalising read with elements of detective novel, colonial mystery and magic realism. The protagonist was fully realised and revealed as more and more unlikeable as time went on, but the marvellous descriptions of the lush Ceylonese/Sri Lankan jungle remain with me. There were elements of the maddening irascibility of the romance of Gone With the Wind, where nothing goes into nothing.
Compelling novel set in what we now call Sri Lanka. The novel's life is mostly in post-WWII Ceylon. Beautifully written, the jungles, monsoons and mangoes make this an excellent companion for a Portland winter.
As much as I tried, I couldn't get into this book. Seventy-five pages into the book, I was completely bored by it and felt like it was a chore to read it. I gave up and didn't finish the book
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Michelle de Kretser (born circa 1958) is an Australian novelist who was born in Sri Lanka but moved to Australia when she was 14.
She was educated in Melbourne and Paris, and published her first novel, 'The Rose Grower' in 1999. Her second novel, published in 2003, 'The Hamilton Case' was winner of the Tasmania Pacific Prize, the Encore Award (UK) and the Commonwealth Writers Prize (Southeast Asia...more
More about Michelle de Kretser...
She was educated in Melbourne and Paris, and published her first novel, 'The Rose Grower' in 1999. Her second novel, published in 2003, 'The Hamilton Case' was winner of the Tasmania Pacific Prize, the Encore Award (UK) and the Commonwealth Writers Prize (Southeast Asia...more
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
“We believe the explanation we hear last. It's one of the ways in which narrative influences our perception of truth. We crave finality, and end to interpretation, not seeing that this too, the tying up of all loose ends in the last chapter, is only a storytelling ruse. The device runs contrary to experience, wouldn't you say? Time never simplifies - it unravels and complicates. Guilty parties show up everywhere. The plot does nothing but thicken.”
—
1 person liked it
More quotes…
Jul 25, 2009 09:44am