I won't say this is my favorite novel, nor one of my favorites. I will say I had more fun reading it than almost any other book I can think of.

I am a huge sports fan, but I don't know anything about cricket. The way this book approaches the sport makes it universal for any fan. The characters, the emotions and most of all the foreboding sense of doom of the underdog fan feels so familiar, and comfortable, to me.

But there is more to this book. The search for Mathew is funny, smart, and maddening More...

It is difficult to figure out whether Chinaman is about Cricket or Sri Lanka or as some reviews claim "Sri Lanka through its Cricket". If it is about Criket, then it is a great book. If it is about Sri Lanka, then it is not certainly Sri Lanka's version of Midnight's Children.

It tells a story of W.G Karunasena, a retired sportswriter who is obsessed with Pradeep Mathew, an unsung sporting hero, a potentially great spinner spoiled by bureaucracy and betting mafia. Pradeep Mathew played not more More...

Failed Sportswriter, failed dad, irresponsible husband and alcoholic W.G Karunatilaka is convinced during the last years of his life, that one Pradeep Sivanathan Mathew who made a handful of appearances for Sri Lanka was and will always be one of the greatest cricketers to ever hold a cricket ball. Armed with this conviction and a bunch of buddies, Karunatilaka embarks on a quest to uncover the truth behind the disappearance of this gem of Lanka and the reasons for his exploits purged from all o More...

I must slightly caveat this 5* - if you're interested in cricket, the subcontinent (especially Sri Lanka) and have a tolerance for fictional unreliable memoirs, then you may love this book. If you are deficient in any of these criteria, this may not be the book for you.

However- for those still with me - I think this is a wonderful book. All about unfulfilled ambition, and legacy. And the beauty of sport. The beauty and the glory and the capriciousness and the tragedy - in short, the romance. All More...

There is a Sinhalese expression "Konde bandapu cheena," which translates as "ponytailed Chinaman," and connotes someone gullible -- someone who will believe anything. A "Chinaman" in cricket terms is (according to Wikipedia) "a left-handed bowler bowling wrist spin (left arm unorthodox). For a right-handed batsman, the ball will move from the off side to the leg side (left to right on the TV screen). " The question asked by the narrator of this novel is this:

"Is this a story about a pony-tailed More...

Sports writer W.G. Karunasena is drinking himself to death. The way he sees it, he has no choice. He needs the arack to sustain him through his final assignment: to resolve the mystery of Pradeep Mathew, the greatest bowler he has ever seen, and a man whose fleeting fame and subsequent deletion from cricket history begs unfathomable questions.
In Chinaman, Karunasena, fondly known as Wijie by his friends and neighbours, and the most unreliable of narrators, given he is blind drunk most of the tim More...

Our literary preferences are often a function of our own literary affectations. Those of us who are foolish enough to aspire to be writers invariably come across a work that we wish we'd created. The Moby-Dick of my nascent, but admittedly flagging, literary career is Shehan Karunatilaka's Chinaman. The author, in his modesty, might claim that the story is simply about an alcoholic sports journalist's quest to reconstruct the life and times of a mysterious spinner who played cricket for Sri Lank More...

‘Ten hours of cricket watching behind you. And hundreds more before you. I cannot think of a better description of heaven.’ These words from Chinaman – The Legend of Pradeep Mathew probably sums up the spirit of the book. This book, I picked up at a 3 for 2 sale at Landmark! I love myself for it! 
This hilarious story revolves around the mad cap journey of a retired sportswriter, W.G.Karunasena (Wiji/Gamini) with his friend Ari Bryd to find a Pradeep Mathew who he thinks was ‘the greatest crick More...

I started the book with an impression that it was based on Indian cricketers and finding out that it was actually about Sri Lankan cricket, disappointed me initially. But soon it really did not matter and I started enjoying the narrative. The writer, an alcoholic and cricket fan, himself is an interesting character. His stories (fictions or non-fictions) are fascinating. It was a little hard to keep up with the side characters esp because of their long and unfamiliar names. But eventually, it go More...

Is the book truthful written to make you believe it's all lies or is it a lie written to make you believe it's the truth . Either way it's either great satire or a brave book, my guess it's mostly a true account of life , death and cricket in Sri Lanka . Very well and innovatively written it has that beautiful sub continent sense of humour . This book is worth reading if you want a sense of the island and it's people if you know nothing about cricket you will get that much from the book , the mo More...

A book about cricket... yes i know i live in South Asia and we're all a little obsessed with this game but a whole book seriously? The answer: OH YES PLEASE!!!!!. This book made me keep going back to Google and wishing with all my heart that the bowler Pradeep Mathews was a real person, that he existed, that he was as great as sports writer W.G. Karunasena made him out to be, that his life was mostly bad luck, that he did disappear to live a life of obscurity. I Googled not just him but all Sri More...

I probably know as much about cricket as i know about crickets and i have played as many cricket matches as i have seen crickets (Which is zero). What made me pick this book? i don't know but once done the action was very hard to undo. Chinaman: The Legend of Pradeep Mathew is an addictive read. The text flows fluidly and the language is effortlessly witty. Once you accept that you know nothing about all the cricket talk and decide to treat it like an entirely fictitious fiction, the writer take More...

WG Karunasena (known to his friends as Wije) has won Sri Lanka's top sports journalism award twice. His particular passion, like many of his countrymen, is cricket. He believes that the greatest cricketer that ever lived is this man, Pradeep Mathew:

  
    http://thegreatpradeepmathew.com/index.php
  

Mathew played only a handful of matches for Sri Lanka and then disappeared. Wije was present at one of these matches, and was transfixed by the brilliance that he saw. However, official records of his prese More...

A novel about an alcoholic Sri Lankan cricket journalist writing a biography about an obscure cricketer called Pradeep Mathews who he believes is the greatest bowler he has ever seen and an unsung genius of Sri Lankan cricket.

The book uses the real recent history of Sri Lankan cricket as a backdrop and weaves the mysterious Mathews into it, telling a lot of tall stories along the way. It's well written and a lot of fun—the boozy journalist narrator is a great character—and I really enjoyed it. More...

"If you can't understand why anyone would watch, let alone obsess over this full game, then this is the book for you." (p. 16)

"To refer to [this] as a book about cricket is a sin tantamount to calling Moby-Dick a book about a whale." - Jamil Zaidi, the Elliot Bay Book Company

As well written as this is, it is still about cricket. And it never manages to make that interesting to me. The review quote really drives the point home for me, although perhaps not in a way the reviewer intended. For all t More...

W.G. is a writer in Sri Lanka who is obsessed with cricket (he muses a couple times whether he loves cricket more than his wife and family), and who becomes driven to tell the story of Pradeep Mathew, supposedly one of, if not the best bowler in Sri Lankan cricket history (akin to the pitcher in baseball) who no one has heard of, or only remembers poorly. Recorded history does not appear to remember him either, but, as this story reminds, that is sometimes a matter of who is keeping the records. More...

Having just come back from Sri Lanka to follow England in their 2 match Test series, this book had a special resonance to me, as the places, sounds and sights described by the author were still fresh in my mind.

While it was suggested that this book would appeal just as much to non-cricket fans, it has to be said having a knowledge of the sport is a distinct advantage. But I wouldn't let that put off those who aren't familar with cricket, if anything a lack of knowledge would add to the sense of More...

Hands down, one of the best books by a Sri Lankan author I have ever read. For the most part, books by SL authors tend to be dramatic, over the top, sad, war-related, etc. Chinaman is far from knee-slapping humour, but filled with dry and witty writing that always keeps the story moving forward. I did feel that it dragged on a bit in places, particularly because of the focus on cricket (not a fan) - which it had to be because of the storyline.

All in all, a great read! Check out Carl Muller too, More...

Very funny, wonderfully written, and one of my favourite books that I've read recently.

Probably the best Cricket oriented Novel I have read so far. The beauty is ,this is Shehan's first ever published work. However the book does not reek of amateur writing. It transported me back to the days of reading 'Jeeves' and other works by P G Wodehouse, with the same vein of wit running throughout the book. Narrated through an aged, dying,alcoholic Sportswriter, we witness a tapestry of events that shaped Sri Lanka, told in a perspective of Cricket (the National Past time). Highly recommen More...

This is very probably the first novel written in English by a resident Sri Lankan author that has any literary merit whatsoever. It's insightful, realistic, funny, ironic and a guaranteed page-turner to boot. I don't even like cricket, but it still kept me reading.

A full review, written from the point of view of a Sri Lankan reader, is available here. More...

Most of the other reviews of this book that you’ll come across have been penned by people who love cricket and understand it properly. But as one who has done her best to avoid any exposure to the game ever since being dragged off to an interminable test match at the MCG by a well-meaning MIL in 1972, I am here to tell you that you can have a deep-seated antipathy to all forms of sport in general and you can rejoice in complete ignorance about cricket in particular - and still love Chinaman, The More...

The last truly redeeming sports-themed novel I read was Nick Hornby’s Fever Pitch. Hornby’s memoir, which recounts his Arsenal soccer obsession, rightfully earned praise for its study of sports affinities and the roles they can play in father-son and even spousal relationships.

Shehan Karunatilaka’s The Legend of Pradeep Mathew is an equally important work. Karunatilaka writes with wit, insight and verve. And the man knows cricket, his vehicle of choice for the exploration of racism, corruption, More...

Simply amazing, this is the best book I have read this year. It is the People Magazine meets International Cricket meets Oprah of books!

Set in SriLanka, commenting on the Cricket scene in the 80s and 90s, this book to me was a bitter sweet reminder of the game I once loved and enjoyed through my own father's eyes. Having lived through the trauma of international cricket played in Sharjah, where India lost enough matches by fair or unfair means, I soon weaned off what should have been the nationa More...

Very much like a riveting Test Match. Some glorious attacking strokes by KP, interspersed with the stoic defence of Jonathan Trott, the excitability of Monty (yes I have been watching the series in India) combined with a barrage of stats to drive Beefy mad and enough barking madness and humour to have Aggers rocking and Johnners chuckling in his grave. However, I do think you need to be a cricket fan to like this novel as the made up bits about Pradeep are surrounded by actual cricketing events More...

THE LEGEND OF PRADEEP MATHEW is ostensibly about the world of professional cricket. Specifically, the story concerns a retired Sri Lankan sportswriter searching for a cricket player -- possibly the best his country has ever produced -- who mysteriously vanished after a few incredible games. There's a ton of cricket talk in the book, including recaps of real matches and explanations of terminology. It's probably possible for a determined reader to learn quite a bit about cricket by paying close a More...

"I may be drunk but I am not stupid. Of course there is little point to sports. But, at the risk of depressing you, let me add two more cents. There is little point to anything. In a thousand years, grass will have grown over all our cities. Nothing of anything will matter." [pg. 14]

"Sports can unite worlds, tear down walls and transcend race, the past, and all probability. Unlike life, sport matters." [pg. 357]

I know what you're saying. Nobody in their right mind would want to read a book about More...

First of all, a chinaman is a bowl that came from a racist coinage about a West Indian spinner of Asian descent. This novel bends genre and never claims to be telling the full truth, but at the same time has a very honest and personal tone. It taught me to appreciate cricket, a game I have only made fun of up until now. I adore the W.G. (Wije) that he presents along with the disclaimer that he doesn't remember everything clearly because of his alcoholism. This book made me laugh aloud at times a More...

This is one of the best books I’ve read this year (2011).

Let me start with telling this first, I used to like and play cricket a lot. But over the time I just got dragged away from the game and lost all interest in the game. Now I hardly watch or play it. I am not interested in cricket anymore.

So for exactly this reason I was reluctant to pick this book up, thinking of it containing all sort of cricket clichés and stuff, which is another way of making myself bored. I only bought it on the force More...

A great voice and a great cast to tell the story of the greatest cricketer who never was. Of the books I've lately read to playfully straddle the line of truth and fiction, this one leaves me most satisfyingly uncertain. Great sports stories, great bar stories, comedy, pathos, everything you want--including a very necessary cricket education, since I didn't know the game.

You'll hate me for the comparison, but it's maybe like a cheerful A Small Place? All the little injustices and instances of ba More...