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The MGR Murder Trial
A powerful and gripping collection of stories about the darkest years in Sri Lankan history. A young man confesses to a bizarre crime. A girl is hailed as a miracle worker when she makes a desperate appeal to God. A seaside town is plagued by mysterious thefts. The death of a whore triggers a lifelong obsession in a teenage boy. A refugee returns to Sri Lanka to find a country engulfed in a living nightmare. In these vivid and inventive tales, Shobasakthi gives shape to the unspeakable violence, fear and trauma unleashed during the years of Sri Lanka's civil war and its aftermath. By turns visceral, moving and shocking, The MGR Murder Trial ably conjures the horrors suffered by a silenced people.
‘Shobasakthi's work is characterized by a dark playfulness [wherein] politics operates not only in the world at large, but also through family relationships and power structures'—Granta.com
‘Shobasakthi's work is characterized by a dark playfulness [wherein] politics operates not only in the world at large, but also through family relationships and power structures'—Granta.com
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First published November 1, 2014
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About the author
Shobasakthi
21 books60 followersBorn as Antonythasan Jesuthasan.
Shobasakthi lives in France. He is a Sri Lankan Tamil refugee and a former LTTE child-soldier. He has published two novels, a collection of short stories, three plays and many essays. His first novel, translated in English as Gorilla, was published to immense acclaim. For the last twenty years, he has worked as a dishwasher, cook, supermarket shelver, room boy, construction worker and street sweeper, among other things. He blogs at www.satiyakadatasi.com.
Shobasakthi lives in France. He is a Sri Lankan Tamil refugee and a former LTTE child-soldier. He has published two novels, a collection of short stories, three plays and many essays. His first novel, translated in English as Gorilla, was published to immense acclaim. For the last twenty years, he has worked as a dishwasher, cook, supermarket shelver, room boy, construction worker and street sweeper, among other things. He blogs at www.satiyakadatasi.com.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 30, 2015
A remarkable, visceral, almost painful collection of stories that mean far more than they say. The book deserves to be reread, and I'll post a longer reaction then.
The best of the lot - The title story, bearing so many layers it surely deserves a critic's eye.
Big shout-out to the translator. The notes and concluding essay help us establish context and understanding of where the story, and the writer himself comes from.
Highly recommended.
The best of the lot - The title story, bearing so many layers it surely deserves a critic's eye.
Big shout-out to the translator. The notes and concluding essay help us establish context and understanding of where the story, and the writer himself comes from.
Highly recommended.
April 25, 2018
Started reading it after watching Dheepan. A '50% autobiographical' film in which the author acted.
The stories are in same vein, but quite powerful in the way fact and fiction are intertwined. Particularly liked 'Ramadan' which was written after the author read an interview of an actor, and M Muddulinga, based on a real life sri lankan tamil author who is based in Africa.
After reading Rohini Mohan's non fiction 'The Season's of Trouble' on Sri Lankan civil war, this book provided more details on the various groups other than LTTE, and the travails of diaspora Tamil community.
The stories are in same vein, but quite powerful in the way fact and fiction are intertwined. Particularly liked 'Ramadan' which was written after the author read an interview of an actor, and M Muddulinga, based on a real life sri lankan tamil author who is based in Africa.
After reading Rohini Mohan's non fiction 'The Season's of Trouble' on Sri Lankan civil war, this book provided more details on the various groups other than LTTE, and the travails of diaspora Tamil community.
January 5, 2020
Good read. The author does a wonderful job of portraying refugee lives with sophisticated literary sensibilities. Each story has a feeling of its own!
November 25, 2022
This is of the best (Sri Lankan) books I have read! It took me awhile because some of the stories are painful - viscerally descriptive pain - and so I kept having to dip into it in small doses, for my sanity. But, having said that, this really needs to be on school syllabi (for older kids) everywhere in Sri Lanka!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews