This is a Sinhala translation, by Dedigama V. Rodrigo, of the short novel by Chingiz Aitmatov. Buyers outside Sri Lanka should note that the text is entirely in Sinhala; there is no English in it.
Aitmatov was born in Kyrgyzstan, then part of the Soviet Union, and wrote within both Russian and world literature, where this title has long held a standing of its own. The story is set against the period of the Second World War, and turns on love, personal freedom, and the pressures a society brings to bear on those caught between the two.
The translation has appeared before under other publishers. This edition comes from M. D. Gunasena & Co. of Colombo, issued with the formal permission of the Russian embassy — a detail the publisher itself sets out, and one worth knowing if you are looking for a particular issue of the Sinhala text rather than simply the work.
Rodrigo's name will be familiar to Sinhala readers of Russian literature, and this is one of the translations by which Aitmatov reached a Sri Lankan readership. For a reader of Sinhala who wants Aitmatov in their own language, or for a collector assembling Sinhala translations of Soviet-era fiction, this is the book in its current Gunasena form.
- Author: Chingiz Aitmatov, Dedigama V. Rodrigo
- Publisher: M. D. Gunasena & Co. (Pvt) Ltd
- Language: Sinhala
- ISBN: 9789552132667
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