Michelle De Kretser: The Hamilton Case

[novella]

I'm getting into the meat of this novel, which I think was published at least a year ago in the UK to very positive reviews.

Set in Ceylon during the Colonial era and rife with classist references and many cultural details, there are aspects of the novel that I think may be explicated by discussion with UK folks or Ceylonese/Sri Lankans.

So far I find the writing very elegant and there's a nice ominous quality to the plot development.

Has anyone out there read it?

Novella

 

[novella]

Okay, looks like nobody is reading this, but I will go ahead and give my review, as I think its a very very good book and deserves to be read.

While there is a murder mystery in the book called the Hamilton Case, it turns out the book is not really a classic murder mystery (though the case is discussed at points), but the case serves as a metaphor for the sins of colonialism. This is delicately done, no heavy-handed pointing to instances, just something that's revealed over time.

Just as delicately, the protagonist is revealed to be something more or less than what he is at first presented as. Skillful writing.

Without spoiling, I'll just say, IMO, the end lived up to the beginning, a rarity in novels. There were some imperfect aspects to the book, but nothing that compell me to put people off.

It's a seductive read, bringing you into unexpected psychological places.

Novella

 

[Martin]

I hope I didn't get your hopes up by replying, because I haven't read this specific novel, but I just wanted to say that you should consider writing reviews for the Library Section of this site.

Cheers