Cut Pieces

by Ashok Ferrey

Situated at the very heart of the ancient Maritimes Silk Route, Sri Lanka is probably the most colonized country in South Asia, having played host during its two-and-a-half-thousand-year history to numerous civilizations that have made it their home giving its people and customs a certain quirkiness.

In this collection of humorous essays -Ashok Ferrey's first work of creative non-fiction, the author attempts to come to grips with the gloriously complex, hugely illogical, absurdly satisfying society that he has been privileged to call home for the past thirty years.

170 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2018

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

[Hashan Alwis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilarious... Contains alot of painful truths about Sri Lankan Society

[David Kimber · Rating 4 out of 5]

A series of essays written by Ferrey about the attitudes, beliefs and behaviours of modern Sri Lankans - as he says "29 Top Secret Recipes for understanding the Sri Lankan Psyche". He writes in a very easy way - a skilled columnist reflecting with humour on how and why Sri Lankans do what they do He draws on his experience as one of those who fled the country in his youth and returned to work out how to live and write about his country and fellow Sri Lankans. A valuable read for those who are trying to understand the island.

[Tharindra Galahena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilariously written set of essays on Sri Lankan Psyche containing rants, theories and anecdote. As a Sri Lankan a little bit painful to read but quite entertaining.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy his fiction tremendously, but as a columnist he needs a strong editor. (At least these pieces read like they were originally written for a newspaper or magazine; there's no sign of where that might have been.)

Ferrey is so good-natured and eager to amuse, he lets all jokes into his pieces - old, new, funny and not so. I could have lived without the "Take my wife, please" stuff, but on the plus side there are more than enough sharp observations about life in Colombo and elsewhere, as well as authentically clever anecdotes, to go around. (Attention directed in particular to the story whose punch line is "No, it must be the cobblestones," and in a more serious vein, Ferrey's thoughts on southern Sri Lankans as tourists in Jaffna.

Not to be read before, say, "The Professional" or the wonderdul "The Ceaseless Chatter of Demons," but a nice way to spend a couple of hours in between his novels and short stories.