Sunil Yapa

As powerful as its advance reviews, I revved through this book like a racing bike barely pausing to enjoy the fine writing, biting description, well-wrought main characters (three activists, three cops and a WTO delegate from Sri Lanka) caught up in downtown Seattle for the 1999 demonstrations. From time to time, I'd stop to take issue with some small geographic detail about my home town (a city by the Sound, not the sea as the author writes) but mostly I just barreled through the story, remembering the smell of tear gas as I drove back up to Capitol Hill that fateful day. I particularly enjoyed the passages with the delegate, concerned about his agenda and not grasping the enormity of the protest as he tries to make his way to the convention center. The police were harsh characters but their overreaction is well drawn in keeping with actuality. My sympathies were naturally with the protesters and how ill-prepared any were for the extent of violence encountered. The author's economic background slipped in nicely to explain issues without dampening a beautifully written story.… (mehr)

Fictional account of the Seattle World Trade Organization (WTO) protest in 1999. What began as a peaceful protest turned ugly and violent. This book gives us seven different perspectives of the protest through the eyes of one delegate, two police officers, the chief of police, the chief’s son, and two demonstrators. There are lots of ironies in this book, such as protestors trying to stop the WTO meetings while a delegate from one of the countries they’re trying to help is hoping to get the last signature needed to join the organization, believing membership will benefit his country.

One of the core topics of this book centers around the “haves” and “have nots” and how much one cares (or doesn’t care) about the other. Another focuses on control and protection, and how easily good intentions can devolve into chaos. Other themes include empathy, courage, suffering, the value of listening, what people do to fill voids in their lives, interconnectedness, and global community.

The author’s writing is evocative, though he uses numerous sentence fragments, which occasionally borders on excessive. He weaves flashbacks into the primary narrative; it worked but at times the story seemed a bit choppy. The characters are multi-faceted. The author gets into their heads and gives us he rationale of why they behave as they do. I found the story highly engrossing, and disturbing yet thought-provoking. This was a debut. I look forward to reading more from Yapa to see how he develops as an author.… (mehr)