Beggar's Feast

by Randy Boyagoda, Nicole Winstanley (Editor)

Sam Kandy, born to low prospects in a Ceylon village in 1899, dies a hundred years later as the wealthy headman of the same village—a self-made shipping magnate and the father of sixteen who’s been married three times and widowed twice.

Told in four parts, this enthralling novel traces Sam’s story from his boyhood—when his parents, convinced by his horoscope that he’d be a blight upon the family, abandon him at the gates of a distant temple—through to his dramatic escape from the temple, his daring journey across Ceylon to Australia and Singapore, and his bold return to the Ceylon village he once called home. There, he tries to win recognition for his success in the world—at any cost.

A novel about family, pride, and ambition set on a gorgeous, troubled island caught between tradition and modernity, Beggar’s Feast establishes Boyagoda as a major voice in international literature.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Canada, 20th Century

336 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2011

Reviews

[Kristina]

This beautifully written albeit verbose journey through the 20th century history of Ceylon was ultimately worth the effort it took to read it. The most difficult part was coping with the sheer loathing of the main character, Sam Kandy. Critically described as an anti-hero, he really was nothing more than a clear villain. The writing and history were gorgeous; the story depressing and forgettable.

[Darcy]

Nowhere near as bad as some Goodreads members make it out to be, and yet not amazing. I enjoyed Beggar's Feast for the most part, but Boyagoda has a tendency to get a little too in love with his own prose at times. It's like he's already painted a fine picture, but feels the need to slap on a few more layers for emphasis that at times isn't really needed. There are standout moments of true intensity for sure, but on the whole I was never completely engaged. Still quite a well written book, which mostly suffers from the wide expanse it tries to cover and the dozens of characters it throws together.

[Gemma Alexander]

After the first headlong rush when Beggar’s Feast finally hooked me, when after a week of trudging through the front of the book I read the rest in one sitting and was shocked to discover that I’d been sitting for hours, until the next day even, I had to go to bed and then to work. But as soon as I could I sat down again and read the final chapter and confirmed that yes, life wore the rough edges off Sam Kandy, cracked the seams just enough so that with his third marriage, at last something warm could slip in and melt the cold thing driving even such a one as Sam Kandy. The cold thing wasn’t original sin or even actual sinning, not anger hatred shame revenge. It was just lonely. Simple lonely. And it’s hard to understand remember believe that something so simple and common could drive a lifetime of hurting and punishing and even killing. That it doesn’t actually take evil to explain a world of callous nonfeeling and that’s why we need fiction.

[Randi]

I am one to finish what I start, even when it comes to bad books, but this I finally gave up on around page 250. It is poorly written and hard to follow. Whatever the storyline is, it's forgotten about during multiple attempts to figure out at which point you found yourself lost and trying to catch up. I felt very scatterbrained trying to follow along and often caught myself going back through previous pages to make sure I didn't miss something. After reading the teaser on the back cover, I was excited to read what lay between the pages. I'm disappointed to say that was the best part of the book.

[Brenda]

In exchange for doing an online survey for Penguin Canada, I was given a free book of my choosing (from about a dozen different novels) and I decided to give this one a try. "Beggar's Feast" is an intricately woven tale with brilliant writing and I must say that the author has an amazing way with words. The plot line is very imaginative, but I think gets a little far fetched in the last quarter of the novel. The story spans over 100 years and was well paced except for the last section which sped up way too fast and where I think the author got a little too carried away with his imagination.

[Steve Castley]

"Beggar's Feast" and a confusing, strange and wonderful book. I loved it. It is written in a style that is very fitting for a Sri Lankan story. The language idiosyncrasies take some getting used to but stick with it. It is worth it. Sam Kandy is the main character and he evolves throughout the book. I felt sorry for him, hated him, and ended up worshipping him. The history of Sri Lanka is detailed throughout this book and inserted to make the plot come alive.
It is not an easy read, but many great works of fiction are also difficult. Stick with it and you will be glad you did.

[Chris Wharton]

You can take Sam Kandy out of the village, but you can’t take the village out of Sam Kandy, whose life spans the 20th century and three marriages while taking him from Ceylon to New Zealand and back again. Often impressive writing and starts, ends nicely. In between a bit disjointed, uneven, and sometimes overwritten.

[Karen Klein]

I really tried, but couldn't get into this book at all. The writing just didn't flow and I was really confused. I kept thinking that it would get better after a few chapters, but it didn't....so it's going back to the library.

[V]

Forced literary fiction is like bad dancing or mannerist painting- so utterly graceless and contrived it's painful all-round.

Didn't even make it all the way through.

[Nilu]

A colossal mess of a story plus a poor narrative style and underdeveloped caricatures of characters.

[Joyce]

It's a tough book to follow through. If missed a line you may end up missing the whole plot. Not my cup of tea.

[Liam Moiser]

I found that it was a very complex story. It was hard to follow in places and so it wouldn't be a book I would want to read again and again.

[Mimi]

much better than I expected, set in Ceylon

[Rosemary]

3.5 stars. Hope to review later!

[Peter Spaulding]

This was amazing.

[Catherine]

Beggar's Feast
I was very pleased to receive this book from goodreadds.com.
This book is not an easy read - it is a book to admire, rather than to love.
It covers a century spanning political changes and "moernisation" in Ceylon/Sri Lanka.
The main character, the self-named Sam Kandy, is not likeable, but he is an admirable vehicle for getting across the points Randy Boyagoda wishes to make.
I have read books covering similar periods in the history of India, and find Beggar's Feast has much of the same feel when depicting life in the villages and trading hubs of Sri Lanka. I find it quite fascinating.
It is not a book which can be read quickly - some chapters have very long paragraphs of descriptive prose, which add background, rather than move the story forward. However, I found these very well written.
All in all, I enjoyed this book, but I would not recommend it to everyone.

[Sofie Tyger]

Sam Kandy is at turns pitiful, endearing and entirely repulsive, but so deliciously real. In Beggar's Feast, Boyagoda also captures a perfect moving still of the post-colonial Asian world through his dip into trading hubs like Colombo and Ceylon in all their glorious filth and promise.

Boyagoda's poetic prose is also a defining feature. When his writing lapses smoothly into his run-on, stream-of-consciousness style, it just sucks you into the book and starts channeling wave after wave of raw emotion at you. Boyagoda's penchant for describing events in mere glimpses also hits hard, as he reveals entire dimensions of characters and events through unexpected, selective details.

Sure the narrative gets a little draggy at times, but the richness of its characters and settings definitely merits more than this book's current Goodreads rating.

[Jane]

I received this book as a Goodreads First Read.

This isn't an easy read. There are some beautifully written passages, but there are some that seem very awkward, making it easy to miss important detail. The book denotes the life of Sam Kandy in a style befitting the oral tradition. This allows the book to lose characters, some areas of the story are short, and it moves on quickly; this isn't perhaps what some readers would expect of a novel. Sam's life also deals with periods of history that tell the story of Ceylon, later to become Sri Lanka.

It's an ambitious novel but at times it doesn't feel like it works. It would be perfect for those studying post-colonial theory as there is so much to look at and taken in parts the book is quite wonderful. It's not a light read, you need to take your time over it so if you just want a bit of escapism this isn't for you.

[Uthpala Dassanayake]

What I like about the book is not the story but the way it’s written. However, for a reader who doesn’t give the full attention to the story may not get it as there are things that not said in so many words but reader is supposed to put two and two together and get it.
The story of Sam Kandy runs through almost for a century along with the history of Ceylon/Sri Lanka. The beginning of the book was so promising but the beauty did not survive long. A boy who is nobody and a misfortune to family runs away to escape his fate and wants to become somebody like no other. Wickedly committed to his mission, Sam Kandy bags one success after the other, but still ends up nobody. Ironically, a person who actually understand that Sam is nobody makes the change.

[Victor]

This was a 'giveaway book' first read, having been selected through Goodreads.

The ‘beggar’s feast’ is a remarkable circle of life tale of a man, a village, a community and an island.
It is narrated uncompromisingly sharp, through the eyes of one man’s meteoric rise through all the repressive obstacles of cast, social and colonial indifference. With every line on the page permeating the hustle and bustle of daily life which weighs down not only onto the protagonist but also the very existence of his community to which he too is a part off.
A thoroughly captivating story and human to the very end.

[Annabel]

I received this book as part of the Goodreads Firstreads program and I am very grateful for receiving it.

The plot of this novel was strong, yet the writing itself let it down. I found that the language was slightly over-used and complicated things that didn't need to be elaborate - in this case, less would definitely have been more.

I enjoyed the switching of narratives but again, it was just over-complicated which spoiled the emphasis it could have had. I appreciate the author's efforts, and I believe that his next novel will be stronger if he takes on board the constructive criticism from this book, as the foundations and skills are there, they just need to be refined.

[Michael Von]

I wanted to like this book, but I didn't, despite the fact that I found the historical and cultural background of potential interest. My primary issue with the novel was Boyagoda's opaque and confusing writing style. It almost felt in parts like reading hieroglyphics. Was this a pretentious attempt to imitate the writing styles of more talented authors- who knows, but the fact is Boyagoda could not pull of this level of complexity. In addition, he fails to properly develop his characters- leaving you with one dimensional half-characters. There is talent there- but this novel is not what I would call a success.

[Margarita]

There are too many characters and terribly inadequate character development. Too much time is spent on descriptions rather than on moving the plot forward. The ending is unrealistic - A sixty-something year old man and a thirty-something year old woman manage to have 14 children together. All pretty healthy. Due to the poor character developtment, it's impossible to reconcile the inconsistencies in Sam Kandy's behaviour. His 'epiphany' moment toward the end feels contrived. A disappointment.

[Carol Harrison]

This book was hard to follow and sometimes a bit Joyce-like in its language, which was both a good and a bad thing. The main character, Sam Kandy, was creepy,mean, homicidal and sociopathic, and I didn't like him at all, but kept reading nevertheless. There was humour in the story as well, which I guess is what kept it readable. Not one I'd recommend though!

[Chris]

After winning this as a first reads giveaway I was excited to read this book. Unfortunately I didn't enjoy it,the book is hard to follow switching between characters and places and felt as if I was always playing catch or had missed a vital piece of dialogue. Shame as the blurb on the back of the book sounded great.

[Lorraine]

I received this book as a gift from Penquin Canada after filling out a survey. I wasn't really sure how many stars to give this book and this is why. While I enjoyed the story, I didn't like how vague the story was if that makes sense.

[J. Thompson]

A very complex story. Sam Kandy becomes a memorable character. Filled with great descriptions, unusual word order and other complications. I must admit I took two breathers from reading the book but, in the end, I'm glad I went back to it.

[Helmali]

A very unlikely main character, whose life is governed by his inferiority and a shame at being poor. Surprisingly justice is not served at the end and Sam Kandy resumes to thrive till the last page.

Found it a bit boring at the beginning though. But it got interesting in the middle.