AN INTERESTING BOOK I HAVE READ

 AN INTERESTING BOOK I HAVE READ

I was only eleven years old when read Martin Wickramasinghe's  Madolduwa for the first time.  It is a very interesting children's adventure story.  The book was so popular that it has been translated into several foreign languages.

 "Madolduwa" has become the most popular novel among school children.  It is full of rural youth fleeing in joy.

 Here is a summary of the story.  The main characters in this story are Upali and Jinnah.  We first meet Upali Giniwella as a seven year old motherless child.  His mother dies and his father remarries a year after his death.  The stepmother is not a woman but does not know how to take care of a child without a mother.  In other words, she cannot understand the world of children.  Upali does not receive parental love and affection.  He feels like he is an outsider.  He is not interested in school education.  Even his father does not understand the world of children.  Upali, saddened by each of these incidents, tries to seek relief from the outside world.  

Jinnah is his best friend.  We cannot find out more about him.  Jinnah is said to be a relative of Upali's family.  Both Upali and Jinnah led a number of escapes with the help of other boys such as Siripala and Dangadasa.  The bandits, the Vedda game and the siege of Kadju are some of them.

Upali is an energetic, brave and hard working boy and the real adventure comes when he goes to sea with fishermen.  After the siege of Kadju, Upali and Jinnah left home and found work in a field.  Its owner is Podigamarala.  He teaches them how to cultivate and how to use a gun.  After a while they go to Madoldua and start cultivating there.  Eventually they become successful farmers.  

"Madolduwa" is an instructive story.