The Professional

by Ashok Ferrey

BRAND NEW, Exactly same ISBN as listed, Please double check ISBN carefully before ordering.

Genres: Fiction

278 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Ashok Ferrey - Sri Lanka Born in Colombo, raised in East Africa, educated at a Benedictine monastery in the wilds of Sussex, Ferrey read Pure Maths at Christ Church Oxford, ending up (naturally) in Brixton, converting Victorian houses during the Thatcher Years.

He describes himself as a failed builder, indifferent mathematician, barman and personal trainer to the rich and infamous. Ferrey's Colpetty People was short-listed for the Gratiaen Prize in 2003.

His second book The Good Little Ceylonese Girl was published in December 2006. Today Ferrey continues to design houses, and is a guest lecturer at the Sri Lanka Institute of Architecture.

Reviews

[Uthpala Dassanayake · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve read all three previous books by Ashok Ferry and I think “The Professional” is written with more confidence than his earlier books. It is a moving story. The characters do have a depth. Yet Ferry is never short with dark humor and very often, the satire overtakes the bitter reality of situations. The book is composed nicely mingling two eras of a life. Best of Ferry so far.

[Steph De Mel · Rating 2 out of 5]

While this novel makes for easy and quite engaging reading, I didn't find it particularly satisfying.

I did enjoy reading about a number of familiar locations, and the experience of a Sri Lankan Oxford graduate building a post-university life in London is one that has a strong personal resonance for me.

Nonetheless, Ferrey's protagonist is vague, self-absorbed, and appears to lack any sense of morality, all of which are traits that I find particularly off-putting. While I often enjoy reading about morally ambiguous, or even downright villainous characters, it is in their act of grappling with, or at least, awareness of, their moral position that I find a point of access and empathy. I simply cannot get on with characters who, by contrast, lack the depth of thought or self-awareness even to consider such issues.

Relatedly, I feel that Ferrey's talent for acerbic caricature is more suited to the medium of the short story; in this novel, it makes for amusing, but ultimately shallow and under-developed, characters.

Unfortunately, therefore, while this novel is, by turns, quite amusing and sad, it leaves me cold.

[Anon · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was looking forward to reading this book, penned by a renowned Sri Lankan author and shortlisted for the Gratiaen Prize.

Alas - this is a bad book. There is no other way to say it. At times so bad that it was enjoyable to read, just to see what ridiculous antics Chamath might get up to next. "She looked at me, liked a monk turned rabid." I must say I felt like a rabid monk after finishing the manuscript. The protagonist, Chamath, was self absorbed and paper-thin (despite his bench-pressing). The time shifting between past and present added nothing to the story. The romances were flat and, frankly, confusing. Elena, despite being the key romantic interest, was never developed as a character; and Chamath's universal appeal was totally unbelievable.

*"Spoilers", if you can call them that, ahead*
The idea that the 'Old Man' has harboured some deep love for Ginnie over decades, and 'knows the terrains of her face as he does the back of his hand' was absurd. The way in which he and Jonas were recruited to Embassy Services was delusional. Chamath's indignation and self-righteousness along the way was infuriating. The list goes on.

CONCLUSION: The only redeeming feature of this book is Ferrey's knack for capturing Sri Lanka - the streetscapes, the turns of phrase, the insecurities and ambitions of Sri Lankans abroad. That is commendable. Otherwise, I am not sure how this got published.

[Ivy Blues · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read his the good little ceylonese girl a collection of the short stories, before I read this book, and it felt as if that those short stories were connected to this book.
For starters it was in the same time line as Vitamin V and Ola Ola club.
The Kandyan Princess a girl who gets arranged to be married to Chamath, who never shows up in the book, but you’d find the mother and father of the said girl having the same characteristics as the Kumarihamy and chef-de-Cabinet in Fidel Sent the Plane, in Good little ceylonese girl
The father even seems to be doing the exact same thing the Chef-de-cabinet was doing in the short story, making me think it’s either something author did to on purpose or it’s VERY bad character recycling. I prefer the first one.
The plot of the story seems to be a combination of “Vitamin V”, “The Ola Ola club”, “The jackfruit”, and maybe a teeny bit of “fidanza to fidanzata” with some twists and turns from here and there.
The book shows a huge area of Sri Lanka than a one week stay in it. From the history to the economy to the way of people think during some instances. The book goes through them all dipped in sarcasm.
Chamath, I found hard to love, pity maybe but never love.
The book was not the best of Ashok Ferrey but it is one good piece of literature.

[Seshan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this. Ferrey is able to convey so much emotion and feeling without ever being flowery or verbose in his descriptions. He paints a scene and then leaves you to your imagination. The subplots are all nuanced and feed into each other very well. The main plot line is of Chamath turning into Norton whilst also developing property on the side and trying to stay in England. The stories of his professional life are applicable to relationships generally.

[Angela Lewis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chamuth is a maths graduate of Oxford University and an illegal immigrant. His work on a building site is tenuous, he has no National Insurance number. To make ends meet when his, Sri Lankan, father tells him he's now on his own he becomes a 'rent boy'. Rules apply, including not to get involved, share personal details etc. When rules are broken the consequences get complicated.

[Tarique Ejaz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ashok Ferrey presents the tale of a simple Sri Lankan trapped in a foreign country with limited prospects and being forced to survive on the scrapes that he could muster from the underbelly of society and similar societal norms that exist. With his work permit being kept in the stronghold of the government, Chamath is forced (read drawn) to moonlight as Norton - a Professional. With his foreign accent, fluent command of a foreign language and an exotic appearance, he soon becomes a favorite of the clients while still overshadowed by the feeling of being an obscure figure in the large face of the often-uncompromising-often-stringent structure called society.

I had been skeptical when I picked up this particular novel but that skepticism soon gave way to an enjoyable experience as I became one with Chamath while he undertook a journey involving discovering himself and the emotional sensitivity that describes his mental psyche. Through this hulla-ballu of the serendipity that life carried for Chamath, he came across a love that was never fully realized and friendships that lasted only for a period bearing a certain purpose. The take on the protagonist enlisting his life events way later in his grey years is refreshing and the relationship shown between a distressed father and an equally confused child is subtly put out there for one and all to connect.

Ashok Ferrey has a style of writing that is simple and puts the ideas into perspective. His narration is straightforward and one that definitely carries the potential to appease one and all - from the experienced to the layman readers. The sensual aspect of the story remains elegant and at no point becomes imposing or obscene.

[Rossana Karunaratna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ashok's stories have a particular view of the Sri Lankan society. This story is all about migrating, the expectations here and there, the search for a sense of identity when living abroad and the critical phase of going back to the place you left. Great characters and fine storytelling. I liked it!

[Nazirah Nahar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty confusing plot to me :-(

But enjoyed reading the snapshots of locations around Sri Lanka that was included in the story.