Economics sinhala books
In the short story Ali Midula the death of villager Bulathaiya and the reactions of the villagers shows the cultural conflict in society. Similarly, the short story Wela Depasa where the 3 characters Ananda, Nilanthi and Jayanthi shows the struggle to break away from traditional values by their reactions on the night the lights went off. The short story Kauruwath Nowe Api shows the values of two generations where the father is a paint bass and the daughter a music teacher. Therefore, these are a set of stories that needs to be discussed in the context of the development of short story writing in Sri Lanka. The uneven development of society which has led to a wide gap between tradition and modernity are economic and social.
These characters bring to the forefront the passing away of traditional values and a lack of development of alternative values in keeping with the social transformation brought about by the developments in the field of science and technology. It depicts the transformation of society, way of thinking and values with the development of science and technology which has led to domination of wealth and power. Short story is short in time, but the story runs into generations of thought processes. We are reminded of the ‘absurd drama’ that came out some time back which in fact had nothing absurd. One may complain of the lack of realism on the surface of the characters, but it is that which makes it a story worth relating. The complex hidden emotions, contradictions and the urge of the characters are presented to the readers through simple day to day behaviour of the characters. Most of the stories are real life in a language and style that makes it fiction. One may even call it an experiment in short story writing by looking far beyond tradition. The author creates a wider canvas for the expression of the conflicts in characters and society. Professor Amarakeerthi Liyanage’s latest book of short stories titled Duwana Wattiya Ha Hinawana Tikira opens a new page in Sinhala short story writing as it deviates from the traditional short story writing in style, use of language and presentation of characters.