VOA文化艺术2022--斯里兰卡作家卡鲁纳蒂拉卡获布克奖,英国王后为其颁奖

Sri Lankan Writer Wins Booker Prize

Sri Lankan writer Shehan Karunatilaka won the 2022 Booker Prize for his novel The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida. The story is about a dead war photographer on a trip to the afterlife.

The Booker Prize is awarded to what is, in the opinion of the judges, the best work of fiction written in English and published in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Karunatilaka received the award in person from Queen Consort¹ Camilla of Britain on Monday and a $56,000 prize.

The story is set in Sri Lanka during the country's civil war in 1989. It follows a gay war photographer and gambler Maali Almeida, who wakes up dead.

Even in the afterlife, time is running out for Almeida. He only has "seven moons" to find out who killed him and to contact his loved ones still living. He wants to guide them to hidden photos he has taken showing the cruelty of his country's conflict.

In his acceptance speech, Karunatilaka said he hopes people in Sri Lanka who read the novel will understand that, in his works, "corruption², race-baiting and cronyism³ have not worked and will never work."

Karunatilaka told the prize committee that Sri Lanka's civil war in 1989 was the darkest year in his memory. There was "an ethnic⁴ war, a Marxist uprising, a foreign military presence and state counter-terror squads," he said.

The writer said he borrowed teachings from Buddhism⁶ and other eastern religions about the afterlife to write the book. He said he "was seeing the afterlife as a visa office, as a government bureaucracy with spirits wandering around, not knowing where they are supposed to go."

"We have this illusion that all our questions will be answered when we breathe our last; you close your eyes, open them and it suddenly all makes sense," Karunatilaka said.

Neil MacGregor chairs the committee of 2022 Booker Prize judges. He said Karunatilaka's book is an afterlife novel about "life and death, body and spirit, east and west."

He said it takes the reader to "the murderous horrors of civil war Sri Lanka. And once there, the reader also discovers the tenderness and beauty, the love and loyalty⁷, and the pursuit of an ideal that justify⁸ every human life."

Shehan Karunatilaka is one of Sri Lanka's leading writers. He became well known after winning several awards for his first novel, Chinaman. His work has been published in Rolling Stone, GQ and National Geographic⁹ magazines. And he has worked as an advertising¹⁰ writer and played guitar in a band called Independent Square.

Past winners of the Booker Prize, which was first awarded in 1969, include Margaret Atwood, Salman Rushdie and Yann Martel.

Words in This Story

novel - n. a long story about imaginary people and events

gay - adj. sexually and romantically attracted to a person of the same sex

gambler - n. a person who bets money or other valuable things

bait - v. try to make someone angry by criticism or insult

cronyism - n. the unfair practice of giving jobs and favors to friends

squad⁵ - n. group of people

bureaucracy - n. system of government that has complex rules and ways of doing things

wander - v. to move around without purpose or direction

illusion - n. something that seems different from what it is

tenderness - n. gentleness and kindness

pursuit - n. the act of following something

ideal - n. an idea or standard of perfection or excellence¹¹

justify - v. to provide a reason for an action

1 consort   

v.相伴；结交

参考例句：

• They went in consort two or three together.他们三三两两结伴前往。
• The nurses are instructed not to consort with their patients.护士得到指示不得与病人交往。

2 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

3 cronyism   

n.任人唯亲，对好朋友的偏袒

参考例句：

• Many small town mayor and city official practice cronyism.许多小镇的市长和大城市的官员都有任人唯亲的行为。
• Bringing business people into politics can also produce corruption and cronyism.商人从政也容易带来腐败和任人唯亲。

4 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

5 squad   

n.班，小队，小团体；vt.把…编成班或小组

参考例句：

• The squad leader ordered the men to mark time.班长命令战士们原地踏步。
• A squad is the smallest unit in an army.班是军队的最小构成单位。

6 Buddhism   

n.佛教（教义）

参考例句：

• Buddhism was introduced into China about 67 AD.佛教是在公元67年左右传入中国的。
• Many people willingly converted to Buddhism.很多人情愿皈依佛教。

7 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。

8 justify   

vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护

参考例句：

• He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
• Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗？

9 geographic   

adj.地理学的，地理的

参考例句：

• The city's success owes much to its geographic position. 这座城市的成功很大程度上归功于它的地理位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Environmental problems pay no heed to these geographic lines. 环境问题并不理会这些地理界限。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

10 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

11 excellence   

n.优秀，杰出，(pl.)优点，美德

参考例句：

• His art has reached a high degree of excellence.他的艺术已达到炉火纯青的地步。
• My performance is far below excellence.我的表演离优秀还差得远呢。