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The Boat People (2018)

av Sharon Bala

MedlemmarRecensionerPopularitetGenomsnittligt betygOmnämnanden
25122105,643 (4.01)63
"For readers of Khaled Hosseini and Chris Cleave, The Boat People is an extraordinary novel about a group of refugees who survive a perilous ocean voyage only to face the threat of deportation amid accusations of terrorism When a rusty cargo ship carrying Mahindan and five hundred fellow refugees from Sri Lanka's bloody civil war reaches Vancouver's shores, the young father thinks he and his six-year-old son can finally start a new life. Instead, the group is thrown into a detention processing center, with government officials and news headlines speculating that among the "boat people" are members of a separatist militant organization responsible for countless suicide attacks--and that these terrorists now pose a threat to Canada's national security. As the refugees become subject to heavy interrogation, Mahindan begins to fear that a desperate act taken in Sri Lanka to fund their escape may now jeopardize his and his son's chance for asylum. Told through the alternating perspectives of Mahindan; his lawyer, Priya, a second-generation Sri Lankan Canadian who reluctantly represents the refugees; and Grace, a third-generation Japanese Canadian adjudicator who must decide Mahindan's fate as evidence mounts against him, The Boat People is a spellbinding and timely novel that provokes a deeply compassionate lens through which to view the current refugee crisis"-- "A debut novel about a thirty-five-year-old Sri Lankan refugee who has survived the harrowing experiences of civil war, a prison camp, and a perilous ocean voyage to Canada -- but his journey has only begun, as he and his young son navigate the morass of the refugee system"--… (mer)
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» Se även 63 omnämnanden

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Refugee
  BooksInMirror | Feb 19, 2024 |
“Did she now know what it was like to have so little agency? To be faced with such cruel options it was as if there was no choice at all?”
― Sharon Bala, The Boat People

My Review:

Before I even start, I must comment on the exquisite cover art, which is beautiful and perfect for the story itself.

The Boat People is not for the faint of heart, which I kind of am. Though I read many a dark book, this one I had reservations about reading due to what I figured would be the heart breaking content and the anger the book might inspire.

Immigration is a topic that never loses its relevancy and in this book we meet a group of refugees, fleeing from Sri Lanka to Canada. There are over five hundred of them and they arrive by boat. They are seeking new lives, arriving from a war torn country and dreaming of how it will be in a new, more welcoming country.

Except they are not welcomed. Instead, they are jailed. And there are child separations, deportation hearings and the questions begin to sweep the media and all the country. Are these people REALLY refugees? Or are they....terrorists?

So I went into this quite apprehensive. While I enjoyed the story, I did not fall in love with it although I'd be the first to recommended it as it is both interesting and deeply educational.

And indeed it does spark those feelings of anger..and bewilderment for the treatment of these fellow human beings. I also learned alot as I'd not known much of this story..it is a work of fiction but is based on a true story to an extent.

That being said, I found it very hard to follow. The writing is beautiful but also intricate and complicated. There were a bit to many characters for me and I felt it (the book) was a bit overly long. I neither disliked it or fell in love with it. Which surprised me as I was expecting one or the other.

And to be honest..and as others have said...the character of Mahindan was such a compelling one and his story told so powerfully that he was really the main focus of my attention. I found myself impatiently flipping to get back to his story. His fate...and the fate of his six year old son....meant something to me and I really found his story pretty much outshined literally everything else in the book.

The Boat People would make a great Book club read. In the last four years in America, since Trump was in office (feels good to say WAS!!) we have all seen the dehumanization of the immigrant community and the objectifying of human beings and its been painful. Maybe that is why I was not riveted. We've been living it here in America for so long.

But I'd no idea these issues were so prevalent in Canada so I learned something new!

SPOILERS:

I was OK with the end although I realize others felt cheated. It seems vague endings are all the rage now. I felt strongly that it was implied Mahindan was able to stay in Canada. I would have liked the ending to be fleshed out a bit more but I was OK with it.

I would indeed recommend this book and am glad I checked it out at last! 3.5 stars from me. ( )
  Thebeautifulsea | Aug 4, 2022 |
On August 13, 2010 the MV Sun Sea landed in Victoria with 492 Tamil refugees on board. This book is a fictionalized rendering of the aftermath. Manages to convey the Civil War in Sri Lanka and the tensions of the characters very well. Made me feel blessed that I never had to experience something like that. ( )
  charlie68 | May 31, 2022 |
After ten years of Civil war in Sri Lanka, the Tamils have come out on the bottom. Their lives, livelihoods and families are gone. They have been forced into camps and retributions are common.

Is it any wonder that many are desperate to escape?

And so a ship arrives in the Canadian port of Vancouver, British Columbia with over five hundred Tamil refugees on board, hoping for new lives. Naturally, the immigration system is overwhelmed. The refugees are housed in former prisons with men, women and even children separated, while officials sift through records to weed out any who might be terrorists. To be sent back to Sri Lanka will be almost certain death.

The story is told from several points of view. Mahindan has survived the war with his young son. His story is the most complex as we see a dual time line skipping back and forth between the ten years of war and terrible loss and his time in the prison without his son, waiting for his refugee status to be decided.

We also see a continuing story of a young woman, an adjudicator determining the fate of the refugees. She has no experience in the field and her appointment came from political ties.

The last viewpoint is another young woman; a law student wanting to be a corporate lawyer and resenting the fact that her corporate internship has been disrupted as she has been loaned to one of the overworked lawyers providing legal help for the refugees.

I enjoyed this human face of the refugee crises. The story was based on true events that occurred in 2009 and 2010 when two shiploads of Sri Lankan refugees arrived in Canada.

The Boat People won several prizes and was the selection for Canada Reads in 2018. 4 stars ( )
  streamsong | Dec 8, 2021 |
A careful tale of immigration, making decisions on immigration, innocence and guilt, and our histories of immigration. An important book that balances humanity against politics and war. Please read! ( )
  WiebkeK | Jan 21, 2021 |
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A real ship of refugees inspires a novel about the messy consequences of war... The headlines inspired Bala to write and launch her first novel as books about migrants are at flood tide. This one toggles between Sri Lankan flashbacks and Vancouver, British Columbia, where the passengers come ashore, mistaking the helicopter and Canadian ships for a welcome party...This is never a subtle book...Bala’s writing is generally crisp, with occasional glints of humor. ..This first book has a workshopped feel as well as a few memorable passages.. But compared to nuanced recent literature set amid Sri Lankan strife—On Sal Mal Lane by Ru Freeman or The Story of a Brief Marriage by Anuk Arudpragasam—this is thin fare.

A strong premise runs aground trying to form a set of convictions into a novel.
 
This news story provided the inspiration for Newfoundland-based author Sharon Bala's debut novel, The Boat People. The narrative is divided between Vancouver in the present and Sri Lanka in recollections..Bala displays her talent as a compassionate, reflective author early when she conveys this heartbreaking and absurd misunderstanding in two ways, through her characters....As the novel progresses, Bala carefully replaces the reader's instinctive sympathy with much more challenging ambivalence...Bala has vividly conjured worlds, both on Canadian soil and back in Sri Lanka, that show the dualities of living in any country – and that show how powerful the need for safety, the need for home, is in all of us. The characters Bala brings together in The Boat People are different and the same. They all want one thing: to be able to breathe. What we also get from a novel like this is a new way of seeing.
 
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We may have all come on different ships, but we're in the same boat now - Martin Luther King JR.
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This book is for my parents, Mohan and Swarna Bala.
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Mahindan was flat on his back when the screaming began, one arm right - angled over his eyes.
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"For readers of Khaled Hosseini and Chris Cleave, The Boat People is an extraordinary novel about a group of refugees who survive a perilous ocean voyage only to face the threat of deportation amid accusations of terrorism When a rusty cargo ship carrying Mahindan and five hundred fellow refugees from Sri Lanka's bloody civil war reaches Vancouver's shores, the young father thinks he and his six-year-old son can finally start a new life. Instead, the group is thrown into a detention processing center, with government officials and news headlines speculating that among the "boat people" are members of a separatist militant organization responsible for countless suicide attacks--and that these terrorists now pose a threat to Canada's national security. As the refugees become subject to heavy interrogation, Mahindan begins to fear that a desperate act taken in Sri Lanka to fund their escape may now jeopardize his and his son's chance for asylum. Told through the alternating perspectives of Mahindan; his lawyer, Priya, a second-generation Sri Lankan Canadian who reluctantly represents the refugees; and Grace, a third-generation Japanese Canadian adjudicator who must decide Mahindan's fate as evidence mounts against him, The Boat People is a spellbinding and timely novel that provokes a deeply compassionate lens through which to view the current refugee crisis"-- "A debut novel about a thirty-five-year-old Sri Lankan refugee who has survived the harrowing experiences of civil war, a prison camp, and a perilous ocean voyage to Canada -- but his journey has only begun, as he and his young son navigate the morass of the refugee system"--

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