{"product_id":"story-of-a-brief-marriage-9781250075277","title":"Story of a Brief Marriage","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eWinner of the 2017 DSC Prize for South Asian Literature\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"Brave...Brilliant...This is a book that makes one kneel before the elegance of the human spirit and the yearning that is at the essence of every life.\" \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOne of the best books I have read in years. --Colm Toibin\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eTwo and a half decades into a devastating civil war, Sri Lanka's Tamil minority is pushed inexorably towards the coast by the advancing army. Amongst the evacuees is Dinesh, whose world has contracted to a makeshift camp where time is measured by the shells that fall around him like clockwork. Alienated from family, home, language, and body, he exists in a state of mute acceptance, numb to the violence around him, till he is approached one morning by an old man who makes an unexpected proposal: that Dinesh marry his daughter, Ganga. Marriage, in this world, is an attempt at safety, like the beached fishing boat under which Dinesh huddles during the bombings. As a couple, they would be less likely to be conscripted to fight for the rebels, and less likely to be abused in the case of an army victory. Thrust into this situation of strange intimacy and dependence, Dinesh and Ganga try to come to terms with everything that has happened, hesitantly attempting to awaken to themselves and to one another before the war closes over them once more. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAnuk Arudpragasam's \u003ci\u003eThe Story of a Brief Marriage\u003c\/i\u003e is a feat of extraordinary sensitivity and imagination, a meditation on the fundamental elements of human existence--eating, sleeping, washing, touching, speaking--that give us direction and purpose, even as the world around us collapses. Set over the course of a single day and night, this unflinching debut confronts marriage and war, life and death, bestowing on its subjects the highest dignity, however briefly.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Flatiron Books\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 09\/19\/2017\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781250075277\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 208\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.40lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 7.90h x 5.10w x 0.60d","brand":"Anuk Arudpragasam","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":39521936736437,"sku":"9781250075277","price":14.44,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/products\/img_a9bed716-f045-4c5c-b7f8-5c9ba04a24ac.jpg?v=1616507432","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/story-of-a-brief-marriage-9781250075277","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}