krashlite2's Full Review: Shyam Selvadurai - Cinnamon Gardens
Is it the science of knowledge or the love of family that one should seek most? Are familial responsibilities greater than the sacrifice a forbidden love demands? These are but a few questions that are silently posed to the reader during the literary exploration of Cinnamon Gardens, a work of fiction by Shyam Selvadurai set against the historical background of 1920s colonial Sri Lanka. The setting is Cinnamon Gardens, a surburb of Colombo, an important trade connection between Britain and its colonies in the East. Cinnamon Gardens is a place for the wealthy and class constraints are left painfully obvious, as are the beginnings of proven dislike between the native Sri Lankans and the British along with the delicate burdens of interracial relationships.
The novel consists of a few intriguing plots, intrinsically woven together behind an almost true historical background to create a masterpiece that will also leave readers with lasting impressions of the inner conflicts and customs that eventually overlap British imperialism with native traditions and religions within the diverse ethnic groups residing in then, Ceylon (now known as Sri Lanka). Names of important Sri Lankan political figures from the past are invoked in order to lend that important degree of believability to the story.
Annalukshmi, a young girl with a mindset similar to the heroine in one of the books she reads, Elizabeth Bennett from Pride and Prejudice, is keen on developing her education and becoming a schoolteacher yet the restraints of family and her own longing for true love leave her with the ideological dilemma of choosing family or career. She also recognizes the "silent bars" set before her even by her protagonists. Based in the 1920s times of colonial Ceylon (or Sri Lanka as it is now called), education for women was essential only to a certain extent to allow them to recognize what is good for their husbands and children, but after a certain point is highly frowned upon. A male provincial leader reminds Anna's relatives of "what good, throwing pearls at an animal could possibly do?", as if to remind them that women could not be able to perform the tasks a man could, since her disposition and physical abilities are inherently weaker.
Balendran, a man in his forties from an aristocratic Sri Lankan family is forced to re-examine the choices he made in life and unwittingly explores the destructive influences of a man he respects most, his father.
Through all this shines the descriptive imagery of Cinnamon Gardens as how it must have looked in the 1920s. The tea-parties on the lawns, the large front porches where most family and business settings take place, the unique mixture of British custom and ethnic Ceylonese traditions and the manner with which its citizenry accommodated such a great diversion of philosophy.
While the storylines of this novel are not page turners, I'm struck with the descriptive details of associations of the multitude of characters and their development. Annalukshmi is introduced to us not, as some hurried authors might be tempted, as a character with her personality enclosed in a paragraph, but instead Shyam Selvadurai takes the time to describe certain events early on in her life that would indelibly inscribe in our minds, the nature of her character. With Balendran as well, we are not presented with a personality and a take it or leave it message. Instead, from the circumstances he is presented with, we are left to probe for meaning within his actions and therein lies the brilliance. Novels that actually inspires us to think about a character have been few and far between and this one is certainly worth of the accolades associated with it.
As one whose parents are native Sri Lankans, I was tempted at first to dismiss this book as yet another portraying the rifts that exist within the heterogeneous diversity that surprisingly, a small nation like Sri Lanka possesses. However, this is not a novel about ethnic clashes nor is it one blaming British colonialism as the root cause of the current struggles in my native land. Instead, the island is but a backdrop for issues that affected anyone living in the 1920s where feminism was just beginning and true love, whether it is for someone of another race or perhaps the same sex, was starting to be something not to be ashamed of.
There are many unanswered questions that exist after you read the last page, but perhaps that is how Shyam intended it. The happily ever after ending is usually not how life is lived but I feel that there was insufficient closure to this novel, as if Mr. Selvadurai was at odds to produce a satisfactory ending and so decided to leave the novel as it stands. There were numerous characters and circumstances that begged further enlightenment. The mysterious American girl who left her life behind to work as a maid is one that comes to mind. Others include the involvement of Mr. Jayaweera and his liason with the schoolmistress's adopted daughter and the budding relationship between Annalukshmi and Seelan.
Nevertheless, I highly recommend it as a novel that will not only teach but also inspire. Shyam probably did the right thing also by not overtly focusing on the political and feminist struggles within Sri Lanka at the time although within the Cinnamon Gardens setting where leaders frequently meet and clash, such a performance must have proven very difficult and perhaps not fully accomplished. As to the ending, maybe its best if you gave it thought and arrived with your own conclusions as to what a happily ever after ending truly should be. Or perhaps as Mr. Selvadurai seems to think, there isn't one after all. Really.
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