The Match

by Romesh Gunesekera

As a teenager from Sri Lanka, Sunny is living the typical life of an expatriate in 1970s Manila―a privileged, carefree existence―until one day when the secret behind his mother's tragic death years earlier is accidentally revealed to him, turning Sunny's world upside down. His life takes a series of unexpected turns―first in England, where he falls in love with the luminous Clara, and later in Sri Lanka, where he returns during a brief lull in the country's brutal ethnic war. Reminiscent of V.S. Naipaul in his nuanced treatment of the melancholy of exile, Gunesekera takes the reader on an utterly absorbing journey across the late twentieth-century postcolonial world. Spanning three continents and thirty years, The Match is a "beautiful and atmospheric" (Irish Times ) exploration of the nature of loss and displacement, the search for identity and love, and the possibility, in the end, of redemption and renewal.

Genres: Fiction, Literature, London

310 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Romesh Gunesekera was born in Sri Lanka where he spent his early years. Before coming to Britain he also lived in the Philippines. He now lives in London. In 2010 he was writer in residence at Somerset House.

His first novel, Reef, was published in 1994 and was short-listed as a finalist for the Booker Prize, as well as for the Guardian Fiction Prize. In the USA he was nominated for a New Voice Award.

Before that, in 1992 his first collection of stories, Monkfish Moon, was one of the first titles in Granta’s venture into book publishing. It was shortlisted for several prizes and named a New York Times Notable Book for 1993.

In 1998, he received the inaugural BBC Asia Award for Achievement in Writing & Literature for his novel The Sandglass. The previous year he was awarded one of the prestigious Italian literary prizes: the Premio Mondello Five Continents. In 1995 he won the Yorkshire Post Best First Work Award in Britain.

His third novel, Heaven’s Edge, a dystopian novel set in the near future was published by Bloomsbury in 2002.

Four years later Bloomsbury also published The Match hailed as one of the first novels in which cricket was celebrated, and a forerunner of the many cricket-related novels that have followed.

In 2008, a collection of his Madeira stories were published in a bilingual edition to celebrate its 500th anniversary of the founding of Funchal in Madeira.

His most recent novel is Suncatcher. His other books are Noontide Toll, a collection of linked stories, and the historical novel The Prisoner of Paradise.

Romesh Gunesekera is an elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and has also received a National Honour in Sri Lanka.

He has been a judge for a number of literary prizes including the Caine Prize for African Writing, the David Cohen Literature Prize and the Forward Prize for Poetry. He has been a Guest Director at the Cheltenham Festival, an Associate Tutor at Goldsmiths College and on the Board of the Arvon Foundation for writing.

Reviews

[Pascale · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just dull. This book follows the story of Sunny, a boy born in Sri Lanka but brought up in Manilla. When Sunny accidentally discovers that his mother took her own life, he blames his father for it and ceases all contact with him. Sunny tries for an engineering degree in London, but gives it up and makes a living taking wedding pictures and selling photographic equipment. Eventually he marries an English girl named Clara with whom he has a son, Mickey. Throughout, Sunny remains somewhat apathetic, to the extent that the epiphany at the end of the novel where, surprise surprise, a cricket match suddenly enables him to take his best picture ever AND reconnect with his wife, feels totally contrived and implausible. Gunesekera doesn't delve very deep into the trauma inflicted on some of his characters by the long civil war between the Tamil Tigers and Sri Lankan authorities. The whole book is as limp and amorphous as its protagonist.

[Glen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this book up at a hotel in Trieste where a previous guest had left it and I decided to read it. I found it primarily interesting because I had not read a story about a Sri Lankan ex-pat living first in the Philippines and then in London, but that is Sunny's story, and this novel is all about that story. Cricket plays an adhesive role in the book, binding Sunny's experiences together, albeit loosely and at best symbolically, until the epiphany he has toward the end of the narrative. Sunny marries, has a child who grows into a teenager, but throughout he is a man without a center, a sort of pass-through for experiences of varying qualities, haunted by the suicide of his mother and, to a lesser degree, by his estrangement from his father and from his war-torn fatherland. It is too much to say that all of these various threads get resolved in the end, and while Sunny eventually determines that all he needs is one shot, photographically speaking, he also seems to realize that one shot is all any of us get.

[The Atlantic]

"'The Match' revolves around Sunny, who loved to play cricket growing up in Sri Lanka and the Philippines. As an adult, he’s living in London and going through a midlife crisis, worried that he is losing touch with his son, Mikey, and trying to rediscover himself while bereft of the things that connected him to his earlier life ... When he goes back home, he feels refreshed: Cricket has given him a sense of purpose, and soon he’ll attend a match with the son he worried he had lost." — Carey Baraka

https://www.theatlantic.com/books/arc...

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this an interesting read and enjoyed loving Sunny’s life and following his thoughts and decisions. Makes you think about life and decisions you make. I also liked learning about Sri Lanka’s history and has made me want to read more of their history.

[Sharon Carneiro · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It plods along but still draws you into the mundane life of Sunny. It has some depth, some inner struggles and a backdrop of politics, history and cricket

[Lorella · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had high expectations going into this book as it was recommended to me alongside “as the mountains echoed” (which I loved) in a small bookshop. But in the end I honestly found Sunny, the main character very annoying and his character development lacking. I think the story in and for itself had great potential but wasn’t built up well because the middle part was not adding any details to his character, it just felt like a repeating cycle that didn’t serve a larger point in the book - maybe that was the point, in which case I just didn’t like it and that’s ok.

Part of why I didn’t like it is that I thought it was recommended to me as a queer book but I must’ve misunderstood because it wasn’t but oh well.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having visited Sri Lanka helped my appreciation of this novel but is not necessary as the novel commences in The Philippines and moves to London for the rest of the novel. The author creates a realistic and personal voice which is ultimately the engaging factor. The novel resonates more as it progresses. I like the fact that the protagonist is flawed and the memoir provides many contextual insights. It is not a masterpiece. However, the writing style elevates this novel into an engaging memoir. Regardless of setting and experiences, the reader sees the genuine doubts and rewards of the protagonist who cleverly becomes the universal man/parent/husband, thanks to the authors craftsmanship. Will be looking for other works by this author.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is somewhat contrived in that it really does not come together until the end, after "the match". The earlier "coming of age" chapters feel somewhat empty which I think is because they are setting the stage for the final realizations. That said, I did enjoy where the book went with the main couple's relationship and its ups and downs and its lack of an overly dramatic ending.

[Baljit · Rating 3 out of 5]

Intersting theme of family and home as the subject has a rather disjointed connection with his family. The writer's style is emotionally detached and comes across as an anglophone. There are references to characters from other parts of the world, who are also seeking their niche, and this may reflect the writer's personal experience.

[Grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not at all what I expected, but interesting nonetheless. The whole thing felt a little numb, I guess, and it just glided along. But I liked the writing, and it's different than the kind of thing I normally read. The multi-cultural aspects were interesting.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is beautifully written in a conversational tone that immediately puts you inside the main character's head. The novel follows him through many decades, but never do you feel as though he is anything but a familiar friend. Well done; I will read more of Gunesekera's work.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

A coming of age tale about a Sri Lankan boy who spends his childhood in Malaysia, before moving to England as a young adult, where he falls in love with a woman named Clara.

[Nilu · Rating 4 out of 5]

...finally a story with a kind of a happy ending by romesh g.

[Anni · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reviewed on www.whichbook.net

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

My 2 fav things. Sri Lanka and cricket. What's not to like?

[Regina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Author of book selected for college freshman reading. This book describes how cricket enabled a young boy to connect with people of various classes in his new home. Well-written and engaging.

[Sharon Bakar · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://thebookaholic.blogspot.my/2006...

[Don · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found something more boring than cricket. A book about cricket...