Seven Moons of Maali Almeida

There’s so much wrong with this book. Every fundamental plot device is silly: the existence of a spirit after death; the idea that said spirit could see hear smell (violation of laws of physics); that said spirit could have desires and emotions (chemical/biological processes); and then the gimmicks on top of that, like the amnesia thing, how convenient; all of it makes for a book I would toss aside in the first few pages.

But I didn’t. And it wasn’t a stick-with-it thing: I enjoyed every page—okay, almost every page; some of the violence was sickening but I breathed through that—and despite the absurdity I fell deeper and deeper in love with the book. And the payoff is oh so worth it.

The book triggers so many of my hot buttons (in good ways) but I’ll focus on asymmetry because so many central themes revolve around it and because Karunatilaka does such a masterful job weaving it into every element of the story. Porous asymmetries: Maali’s spirit is thrown into an afterlife whose rules are only partially explained, ... with dangerous gaps; the amnesia gimmick is an effective tension-building device, leaking information slowly to Maali and the reader, information that changes the context of what has transpired so far. In addition to the information asymmetries there are asymmetries of power, of attraction/attractiveness, and of morality. The unusual second-person narration is powerful: I often find that gimmick distancing; here it drew me in, made me identify with and feel a strong connection to Maali.

Some of my other hot buttons: Letting things go. The value of life. Compassion. All of them exquisitely handled, not necessarily with the resolution I would’ve preferred, but one I find more than satisfying.