Short stories about the Sri Lankan experience. From war, Independence, and immigration we see the struggles of a people and the struggles of a person. One could escape war, but it is another thing to live.

Like a lot of my favorite books, I danced around Half Gods for awhile. There's that magical realism that Murakami does so well but Half Gods doesn't seem to be emulating other stories, there's just a beauty to the storytelling that left me feeling haunted.

I was given an advance copy of this book by the publishers in exchange for an honest review. I am Sinhalese and this novel has been written by a Tamil - both races were at bloody civil war against each other during the latter part of last century.
I was brought up in Australia and watched the Civil War in my native country with horror, just as many of the characters in this collection of stories did.
I know this is a collection of stories, and they are all different, and of course they reflect the author's own experiences. I knew this would be a difficult read.
I have empathy for Tamil people and for what they endured during that time. I really wanted to like this book..
Unfortunately, I couldn't finish it. The wiritng was a little to whimsical for me. I also felt that there was not enough realism in the characters and I wasn't compelled to read past the first four stories.
I can see how it would appeal to other readers. Perhaps those more removed personally from the subject matter.

[I am working on a complete review to be published soon and will add the link shortly.]

Kumarasamy gives us the painful fragments of these characters' experiences with care, as if she is handing us shards of broken glass. Her language is specific and precise in showing how they respond to their worlds like wounded animals whose ancient, primal fears are triggered easily beyond their own comprehension. There are some startling and fresh metaphors and similes (e.g., "he would lift his belly like a dress.") Scenes and settings are drawn with close, attentive brushstrokes. Relevant historical facts about Sri Lanka's long, bloody civil war are woven into plots and subplots thoughtfully.

Assiduously, Kumarasamy avoids the traditional tales of assimilation and identity conflicts that many other writers would have taken here. Going beyond those aspects, her gaze focuses more on the underlying and long-lasting patterns that occur in the lives of people who have been uprooted and transplanted and how they, in turn, affect the lives of others.

And yet, there's something about these stories that doesn't come together with the potency that, given the subject matter, one might expect. [Read the complete review at the link below.]

I'd like to preface this by saying that I've never read anything from Akil Kumarasamy. As far as I can tell, this work is her debut. It's ridiculous how good this is. It involves several well written and interesting characters. The way this novel is written is so good. I think this is a work that a lot of people will enjoy.

These linked short stories are generally about the brothers Arjun and Karna, who were named for half gods in the Mahabharata. The stories, set in America, Sri Lanka and India, shift back and forth in time and are told from varying points of view. Some of the stories feature the family members only tangentially, or not at all. However, the stories all deal with the feelings of displacement you can have, whether in your own country or your adopted country, due to separations along lines of ethnicity and religion. I'm not a huge fan of short stories. I prefer a more cohesive narrative, however I found these stories interesting. The writing was very polished, but maybe a little too massaged and unemotional. No character stood out. Nevertheless, I would be interested in reading more by this author.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

What is decisive for your character: your upbringing? your parents? the place you grow up? your friends? your skin colour? Your ancestors? And can you ever overcome the lives that your fathers and grand-fathers lived, the experiences they have had? Akil Kumarasamy’ debut “Half Gods” is a collection of ten stories some of which are linked since we encounter the same characters at a different stage of their life, one time as the protagonist, next time as a minor character. What links them, too, is the characters pondering about who they are, where they belong, where they go to and who the people are they call family.

I really liked some of the stories, others were a bit more difficult for me. The situation of immigrants who want to fit in, make an effort, try to assimilate but never really get the same status as the natives, that’s something I found a lot more interesting than those war scenes in Sri Lanka. It is especially the grandfather, remembering his life in Asia and who had never really arrived in the USA that I could identify with and that I felt pity for.

Even though the short stories are wonderfully written, with many beautiful metaphors and many phrases that are perfectly to the point, they only party worked for me. I appreciated that some are connected and that characters reoccur, even if this wasn’t in chronological order, but then there are also stories that stand completely alone which make it all a bit strange for me. Also the fact that there wasn’t a clear red thread recognizable was something I did not especially appreciate.

Fascinating and passionate set of linked short stories about a Sri Lankan family. Not all of the 10 stories soar equally but they are all beautifully written. I'm not sure whether I liked the insight into life in Sri Lanka or into the lives of the family members in the US more but I do know they all gave me insight into a culture I was not previously familiar with. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Try this for an immersive and wonderful read.

The connected stories in Half Gods by Akil Kumarasamy create an intergenerational history of an Indian Tamil family from the first generation who left India to work in the tea estates of Sri Lanka to children born in America.

The stories are heart-breaking, some addressing the discrimination and murder of Tamils in Sri Lanka while others explore the immigrant experience. I am haunted by these characters with their complicated back stories. The storytelling is mesmerizing. Sometimes I felt a bit lost, as if a visitor in a foreign land whose culture and reality jolt me outside my comfortable reality.

America has its horrors and violence, but for someone like myself who has been comfortably sheltered, it is an awakening to read lines like "They all loved people who were born to disappear," or "Refugees can't be picky," or "the real difference between India and American...there is no rule of law in India. You need to bribe everyone to live a normal life."

Imagine an engineer who in America must work as a butcher. A Tamil professor in Sri Lanka who receives death threats and whose son disappears. An old man who returns home to find his entire village missing and replaced by a hole in the ground. A Tamil man memorizes books because he saw the burning of books in his language.

The family patriarch in Half Gods is descended from Tamils who came to Ceylon harvest tea. The family experienced the end of colonization when the British left Ceylon, reborn as Sri Lanka. They suffered during the Anti-Tamil riots when their village was destroyed, fled to a refugee camp, and finally immigrated to America.

Sri Lanka, once called Ceylon, is an island first inhabited in the stone age. Beginning in the 16th c European countries colonized the island--first the Portuguese, then the Dutch, and finally the British. They built rubber, coffee, and coconut plantations. When the coffee plants were decimated by a fungus, tea was grown, and to harvest the tea, Tamils from southern India were brought over as indentured servants.

When the country gained its independence, the Sinhalese were the dominant group, making their language the official one. The Tamils were marginalized and tried to gain a political voice. Anti-Tamil riots arose; Tamils were killed and others left the country. Out of this conflict, the Liberation Tamil Tigers were birthed and civil war ensued.

Nearly 300,000 displaced persons were housed in government camps and 100,000 people died during the war. Sri Lanka ranks as having the second highest number of disappearances in the world.

I mistakenly thought the book was a collection of stories, which I usually read one at a time. After a few stories, I realized the interconnectedness and so suggest reading as you would a novel.

Akil Kumarasamy received her MFA from the University of Michigan. This is her first book.

I received a complimentary ebook from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

Did not read. Removing from shelf. Did not read. Removing from shelf. Did not read. Removing from shelf. Did not read. Removing from shelf.

The collection of stories didn't flow well for me. At all. The writing reminded me more of a text book than a book that I would want to read on my own time.

Akil Kumarasamy’s story collection, Half Gods, is, I think, a collection that requires a bit of background reading before readers open its pages—unless readers are familiar with the Indian epic, the Mahabharata. Half Gods references the epic in character names, themes of war and exile and sacrifice, and, I’m sure, a lot of other things I missed because I am not familiar with Hinduism and Indian literature. Even without understanding the cultural references, these stories create an affecting portrait of an exiled Sri Lankan family (and their acquaintances) who fell apart when they lost their homeland.

Even though this is a collection, it’s best read as a whole work because the stories are so interconnected. I picked up the book after putting it down for the night and had to co back and re-read the first two stories because of all the call backs. As the stories move back and forth in time, a portrait of the Padmanathan family develops that spans from just before Sri Lanka became independent in 1948 to the present. Each story is either narrated by or focuses on a member of the family or acquaintance who knew the Padmanathan family.

Every character in these stories struggles to cope with loss. The family patriarch is perpetually angry at having to go into exile because he is a Tamil, an ethnic group that was (and possibly still is) oppressed by the Sinhalese majority. His daughter tries her best to be a good wife, but she falls in love with her brother-in-law and loses her marriage. The grandsons feel adrift between their Sri Lankan past and their American present. One of those sons, Karna (named for a character in the Mahabharata), wrestles with his sexuality.

Watching the characters battle internal and external fights creates an opportunity to look at the world through the eyes of an exile. What might it mean to know that you can never go back to a place where people speak your language, understand your world view, and so on? It’s little wonder that most of the characters carry a heavy emotional burden of anger or sorrow that they can’t find a way to put down. I suspect that, if I had read the Mahabharata, this collection would have been more than just a family portrait. Perhaps, the stories might represent an entire diaspora. That said, this is still a unique look at a family dealing with problems most people have never considered before.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley, for review consideration. It will be released 5 June 2018.

This collection of interconnected short stories just did not work for me. I could not find a rythym to the writing and reading felt like walking through mud. Clearly, the words and phrases were painstakingly chosen but to the detriment of flow. I did not finish this book.