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[RLW]⋙ Download The Elephant Gates Vibrant Reflections of Life Family and Tradition in Sri Lanka Chamalee Weeratunge 9781632990013 Books

The Elephant Gates Vibrant Reflections of Life Family and Tradition in Sri Lanka Chamalee Weeratunge 9781632990013 Books



Download As PDF : The Elephant Gates Vibrant Reflections of Life Family and Tradition in Sri Lanka Chamalee Weeratunge 9781632990013 Books

Download PDF The Elephant Gates Vibrant Reflections of Life Family and Tradition in Sri Lanka Chamalee Weeratunge 9781632990013 Books

The Elephant Gates is a recollection of the simple pleasures of childhood caught up in an inevitable tide of change. With vivid and touching detail, it recalls Weeratunge’s life, home, and family in her native village of Depanama on the island of Sri Lanka.

Weeratunge’s memories reveal a yearning for past times when traditions like celebrating the New Year or a Full Moon Day, still endured. Her poignant reminiscences evoke compassion for a misunderstood vagrant and a captive elephant, and curiosity for the appearance of the Pot-Bellied Merchant and Uncle Robert the Capitalist. She celebrates everyday heroes like the Coconut-Plucker, the Cook of Sweet Meats, and the Buffalo-Herdsman. With delicate diplomacy, cultural change is signaled by events such as the abandoning of the firewood hearth and the arrival of the television.

These intricately woven stories are told with an engaging voice and graceful prose. Time, as it often does, has softened the edges and imparted a gentle humor in each vignette, whether in describing a rice harvest or sharing a game of checkers on the veranda. Ultimately, The Elephant Gates reaffirms our innate affinity for home, family, and the need to belong.

The Elephant Gates Vibrant Reflections of Life Family and Tradition in Sri Lanka Chamalee Weeratunge 9781632990013 Books

This book has two audiences, the ex-colonial/ Sinhala of the 50’s and the history buff. Its a nostalgic trip into the past with fond memories of people and places. Almost a sense of mourning the past, or at least the people. Disappearing rice fields and cocnut seller vs the arrival of a refridgerator... Most places referred to no longer exist nor to any great degree the post war (WWII) lifestyle.an enjoyable easy read, but at the end I wondered where the family has scattered to. Could there be another book about the same family/period ? Would be nice.

Product details

  • Paperback 154 pages
  • Publisher River Grove Books (July 25, 2014)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10 1632990016

Read The Elephant Gates Vibrant Reflections of Life Family and Tradition in Sri Lanka Chamalee Weeratunge 9781632990013 Books

Tags : The Elephant Gates: Vibrant Reflections of Life, Family, and Tradition in Sri Lanka [Chamalee Weeratunge] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The Elephant Gates</i> is a recollection of the simple pleasures of childhood caught up in an inevitable tide of change. With vivid and touching detail,Chamalee Weeratunge,The Elephant Gates: Vibrant Reflections of Life, Family, and Tradition in Sri Lanka,River Grove Books,1632990016,BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY Personal Memoirs
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The Elephant Gates Vibrant Reflections of Life Family and Tradition in Sri Lanka Chamalee Weeratunge 9781632990013 Books Reviews


I found Chamalee Weeratunga’s “The Elephant Gates” to be a wonderful sourcebook of sociology of Asian suburban life of the late twentieth century. Her clear and lucid writing style made it hard to put down the book before finishing it. Its chapters are so nicely interwoven into each other that the whole becomes a poignant story of joy, laughter and pathos.
Thank you!
This is a great book! I can relate to the stories as I am originally from Asia. The author brings to life a small village and it's inhabitants. The characters and events portrayed evoke a sense of nostalgia for a time long past. The writing is superb. The author is so lucky to have had such a wonderful grandmother. I await a sequel as I would love to learn more about the life of the author's mother and of course, the author herself.
The book helped me to become more familiar with Sri Lankan traditions and culture from the author's eyes,and to get snapshots of an earlier time in their history.On a personal level it also resonates with memories of family and home life.Recommended for anyone who is interested to learn more about Sri Lankan people and their culture,or anyone who appreciates the love of family
A beautiful and bittersweet story.
Bitter, only because this lovely time and place teeming with textures, aromas, time, and personal interactions has been lost to 'progress' and technology.
Sweet because through the author's words I feel as though I got to glimpse and experience this beautiful world before it was lost forever.
Written with such tenderness and grace, you will come to love the people you meet along the way on this journey of memories.
Dr Weeratunga's precise and detailed account of growing up in Sri Lanka is a joy to read. She demonstrates that even as a child, she could accurately catalog and interpret all that was transpiring in her village, including the various personalities that touched her life and the changes that occurred in her environment as her country modernized. One senses in the author a longing for the older traditions, but that does not dominate her writing. A sequel would be much appreciated.
In this truly childhood memoir, Namal Weeratunge, takes us to a vivid village where we can relate our childhood memories at many different levels.
I read this book while on a long flight to Sri Lanka and what a book it was! She describes the beauty of green paddy-fields, how villagers eagerly waited for the arrival of New Year and how richly they celebrated it with joy and respect. Her attention to detail makes the Memoir a classic for the people in Depanama Pannipitiya. I can't help but think this is the 'Avatar of Depanama,' but with a sad ending.
I wish the Author could add an accompanying website as a supplement to the book where readers could go see the various images of the village at different time periods.
I highly recommend this book to readers who are very interested in knowing different cultures and ancient customs and norms in different parts of the world.
This book has two audiences, the ex-colonial/ Sinhala of the 50’s and the history buff. Its a nostalgic trip into the past with fond memories of people and places. Almost a sense of mourning the past, or at least the people. Disappearing rice fields and cocnut seller vs the arrival of a refridgerator... Most places referred to no longer exist nor to any great degree the post war (WWII) lifestyle.an enjoyable easy read, but at the end I wondered where the family has scattered to. Could there be another book about the same family/period ? Would be nice.
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