I feel like I've lived the Sri Lankan struggle - Rated 
A.Sivanandan is a brilliant writer, who gives the reader an unbiased view of the Tamil vs. Sinhalese struggle. Once you have read this book you begin to see the world, and the history of its people, in a completely different light. All we hear of Sri Lanka's problems is how the Tamils are terrorists. But now I realise that really they are just freedom fighters, who began fighting as a last attempt to save their past and ensure a future. The tragedy is that it's already happened; they have forgotten what they were fighting for.
It is the longest book I have ever read, split into three generations which are cleverly woven together. I found the first generation a little slow in parts but this is needed as background to the next two generations, at which the intensity grew I became completely engrossed. The book can be read at different levels, because every event he writes about has some underlying meaning. I have never been interested in politics but this book really makes you think and broadens your understanding. This book is full of love, compassion, hope, fear, reason, haste, and real characters. It is beautifully written, capturing every moment, yet never growing any moment out of proportion. You really find yourself becoming involved with the characters and find parts of yourself in their personalities. I still have no idea how I would cope with what they have gone through, I have been filled with admiration for them. The scariest part is that the struggle goes on.
One of my favourites - Rated
This book is both insightful and beautiful. As someone with sri lankan roots, the characters never seemed two dimensional to me, but instead seemed incredibly familiar. Sivanandan portrays their thoughts and feelings with an understated elegance. This fits, as in my experience, tamil culture especially, and sri lankan culture, perhaps, is not overly demonstrative.
Most of all, there is a real evenness of tone - the book lays bare the real tragedy of sri lanka, that at its heart it is a place where both tamils and sinhalese have lived side by side for years, intermarried for centuries, have tried to build a future together, but are being manipulated by forces outside their control. The last part of the book, covering the massacre of JVP activits in the south, and the uprising of tamils in the north, show the real parallels between disaffected members of both communities. Gorgeously written.
Not the best of reads.... - Rated 
This book whilst making many important political points is not a great novel. It feels like a political textbook has been turned into poor fiction. Each character represents a view point and most of the people in the book are thinner than the paper they are written on. You never feel that you like any of the people in the book, they are all used as a means to an end by the author. Not a great novel to read for fun, but is easier than most post-colonial textbooks so suffices in that respect.
Enjoyable AND educational - a strange combination! - Rated 
The Tamil-Sinhalese conflict is one that remains largely ignored and misunderstood by the western world. By telling us a simple story, Sivanandan is able to convey the very real problems faced by Tamils and Sinhalese alike. I was glad to see that someone has at last shed some truth upon the history of the conflict in an easily digestible form. It is an enjoyable and easy read and what's more, you'll learn something without even realising you're being taught.
Superbly written. - Rated
This book tells of the development of Sri Lanka, in particular the racial tensions which led to the Tamil uprising, over three generations of one family. It is superbly written and gives an understanding of how the country reached where it is today.
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