“Reef” by Romesh Gunesekera (Sri Lanka)

Favourite Quotes

‘It’s not what you do every day, but the thoughts that you live with that matter,’ he would tell me, tapping his head with his finger. ‘That, after all, is the sum total of your life in the end.’

At times of intense pressure I sometimes suddenly feel there is nothing more I can do; everything will take its own course, I can let go.

Synopsis

A single lighted match banishes Triton from his father’s home to the employ of Mister Salgado, a marine biologist obsessed by swamps, sea movements and a Sri Lankan island’s disappearing reef. Stranded in London years later, Triton plumbs the depths of his childhood memories – a period of brewing political, ethical and religious turmoil – and brings us to understand how he has navigated this brave new world, which once lost will haunt him forever.

Nicola’s Creative Reading Group reading list

Year 7 – “Asia & the Pacific” (Oct 2013 – Jun 2014)

“The Patience Stone” by Atiq Rahimi (Afghanistan)
“Burnt Shadows” by Kamila Shamsie (Pakistan)
“Narcopolis” by Jeet Thayil (India)
“A Golden Age” by Tahmima Anam (Bangladesh)
“Reef” by Romesh Gunesekera (Sri Lanka)
“The Solemn Lantern Maker” by Merlinda Bobis (Philippines)
“The Secret River” by Kate Grenville (Australia)
“Once Were Warriors” by Alan Duff (New Zealand)
“Frangipani” by Célestine Hitiura Vaite (Tahiti)