Every so often an exceptional book by an emerging author reaches out and strikes the reader unaware. Somewhat less often does the book encompass more than 400 pages.  And rarer than that are cases in which the author, in some sense, predicts his own upcoming death. In an apt metaphor, the finally-fledged Sri Lankan writer Nihal De Silva, an amateur naturalist whose novels wax prosaically about native bird life, was killed before his career took full flight. The Road from Elephant Pass, his first book and the winner of the Gratiaen Prize of 2003 for the best Sri Lankan book in English (2003, ISBN 978-955-8095-38-6) is a significant first novel that represents a compelling read with every page, and contains an ironic and tragic twist, relating to the author’s own life.

The 428 page book is placed during Sri Lanka’s bloody Civil War, in which a Sinhalese officer is sent to escort a female Tamil Tiger (LTTE) informant through enemy lines, back to Colombo. On their way, they are forced to carry alone on foot through Sri Lanka’s Wilpattu National Park, a wilderness area populated by significant numbers of exotic birds. De Silva provides wonderful descriptions of the birds, their habits, and habitat, and the two enemies begin realizing that, in spite of sharing radically different political views, their common love and understanding of bird life provides a welcome, if brief, respite from reality. Jungle survival and forest craft (our favorite was the use of pulped cold fire ashes as toothpaste) take on an important element as the two trekkers flight through mosquitos, swamps, drought, and irregular army challenges.

From a romantic and war perspective, there’s a bit of Hemingway here, but the book is all De Silva, and impossible put down. The book is a red-hot read, the characters believable, the background well-researched. On page 358, through his protagonist, Captain Wasantha Ratnayake, the author displays his horror of landmines: “I’d rather handle any number of soldiers than risk stepping on a mine.” But neither Nihal De Silva’s awareness of mines, nor his knowledge of Wilpattu National Park would save his own life. He was killed by an LTTE landmine there in 2006. A businessman who had turned to writing in his later years, he was a little more than half-way through his fourth book when he was killed.

If you’re curious about the Sri Lankan war, birdlife, forest craft, or the human condition, this book is for you. It’s compelling on all fronts as an adventure novel of the first rank, and a sober reminder of a great writer who never lived to see much deserved international recognition. Buy it here at the WoWasis eStore.