Comments on: Shyam Selvadurai: Literature, identity, politics and the Galle Literary Festival

By: Deshan Wijesinghe

Deshan Wijesinghe — Fri, 03 May 2013 17:02:50 +0000

I read this novel in last week and still I’m rereading!!!.Actually this not a friction ,this is a real life time experiences of Shyam I believe.I’m not gonna comment about this novel bcz I’m just a reader.But I want to say I really enjoyed this novel and I must thank for Shyam to bring this beautiful story for us.

By: sumati

sumati — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 17:22:21 +0000

I have read and reread Funny Boy innumerable times… I simply loved the way it is written.

By: DHP

DHP — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 18:03:03 +0000

As part of the Sri Lankan diaspora, I loved reading Funny Boy in my early twenties and Cinnamon Gardens in my late twenties. They were warm, engaging and insightful windows into different scenes of Sri Lankan life.

Shyam is absolutely right that he is first a writer and that being gay is only a small part of his life. But he is (and I say this as a heterosexual who is supportive of equal rights for those who happen to be attracted to the same sex) a wonderful role model for gay men, both young and old. He is showing them the courage to be true to themselves, rather than living an untruthful double life.

By: Elli Davis

Elli Davis — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 19:39:01 +0000

Dear Belle, thanks for casting light on other aspects of Shyam Selvadurai´s book Funny Boy. Neither have I considered the story to be primarily gay fiction. I tried to read the book in a cultural context. It was so much enjoyable and enriching since I don´t know much about Sri Lanka and life there. I haven´t read Cinnamon Gardens yet but as I see from your notes it is worth reading, isn´t it?

By: The Mervyn Silva

The Mervyn Silva — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 07:30:08 +0000

The Shyam,

If you think you are funny boy please be joining our goverment. Full of the funny men. (Coming to be thinking of it so is the opposition).

By: The Analyst

The Analyst — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 03:50:33 +0000

I was deeply moved by reading Shyam Selavadurai’s Funny Boy. Also I like his Swimming in the Monsoon Sea as well.

By: Belle

Belle — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 00:45:57 +0000

For me, Funny Boy was not primarily gay fiction. Rather it showed me that so much of what I had assumed to be Singaporean culture in my childhood life was actually part of my Sri Lankan cultural heritage. For eg, kids calling each other “Fatty, fatty, bom, bom,” and cousins being deposited at their grandparents’ home for the weekend so their sibling parents could enjoy the day out together. There was so much cultural recognition for me in that book, for which I will always be grateful. Cinnamon Gardens helped me understand the cultural provenance of the elite Colombo Tamil diaspora settled in Singapore and Malaysia–so different from the Jaffna Tamil diaspora here.