තී සහ තා / Thee ha Thaa / She and He - Surath De Mel : A young, youthful and mischievous love story
"තී සහ තා / Thee ha Thaa / She and He" is Surath De Mel's 392 page, 650 LKR valued novel. Surath De Mel is a marketer by profession.
Though this novel was marketed as an urban love story, a suburban Gampaha living reader like me also was able to have nostalgic memories of my youth and young age with my generation being depicted in the story very well.
Unlike novelists like Martin Wickramasinghe and later writers, the barriers to having multiple interpretations of the novels were avoided by departing from the realist writing style.
Surath De Mel has used Anti-Art novelization tactics used by Upul Shantha Sannasgala, Saman Wickramarachchi, Chinthana Dharmadasa, and K.K.Srinath is evident when reading the novel.
How post-modern life and love can be confusing, corrupted, and even open can be seen when reading this disturbing and somewhat weird novel.
Though the novel becomes tasteless in the middle chapters, its creative and detached writing style from reality gives life to readers.
The storyline and the book, in the end, are filled with sadness and creates hopelessness in the readers.
This novel can be considered as a countercultural and subcultural reflection of the Sri Lankan society with a post-modern writing style.
Delightful though at times bewildering read. The story of Geeth Fernando, the fuckboy with a heart of gold, and Divya Wickramasinghe, the goddess he’d move heaven and earth to be with (short of keeping it in his pants).
A very interesting book to read, describing the evolution of a relationship for almost 15 years. It is told from male side only, but frequently reminds us that there is an unheard side of the story from the female's perspective.
It is a very different creation even in comparison to most contemporary works in Sinhala literature, starting from the style of narration to how the story is presented in a non-linear fashion. The protagonist is brutally honest about his deeds, irrespective of the fact whether they are socially acceptable or not, and his unwavering love for his girl whom he considers a goddess on earth and totally out of his league, but miraculously his own. Being a f**kboy of the highest degree, he constantly tests the limits of his relationship, while his goddess of a partner is not exactly a saint either. The casual use of language to convey this convoluted story is quite an interesting read, though some parts seem exaggerated even for this genre. It does not hurt the overall presentation but was one of the personal quirks I came across.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
If I read this book a decade ago, I wouldn't have appreciated it much. wouldn't have accepted that this is reality based. but I have been exposed to much worse real stories in the last decade, in Australia related to my work as a psychiatrist, and of Sri Lankan women from a few women's pages that I am part of.
I applaud the author for being able to document events and emotions very truthfully, from the perpetrators point of view. This is Domestic violence, this is a human relationship, a very common human relationship, this is also a peek at our societies, at parent children relationships.