By Lal Medawattegedara
Restless Rust
short-listed for the Gratiaen Prize 2020
Restless Rust is a novel that was short listed for the Gratiaen Prize in 2020. In this novel, a nervous father talks to his unborn daughter in the womb and expresses his deepest fears. The daughter is irreverent and over-confident. Her father is timid and bookish. Together, they hear each other out as the father tells her about things in his life that he does not want to discuss in public. Set amidst the backdrop of the destruction of the Bamiyan Buddha statues by the Taliban, the novel explores how people re-negotiate their lives amidst misunderstanding, cultural disparity and potential illness.
“Let me tell you a story that really happened—a real life story, with cough, phlegm and breath. My characters are us, your family; the background is this house and others places near and far; a very human narrative of fears, insecurities, confusion and failures; and as often is the case with the living, unnoticed gains and uncelebrated joys.
Life lived as life lived.
A story mined from rusted paraphernalia resting in the deep gullies of my mind.”
(Quotation from Restless Rust)
Life lived as life lived.
A story mined from rusted paraphernalia resting in the deep gullies of my mind.”
(Quotation from Restless Rust)