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VICTOR  MELDER  SRI  LANKA LIBRARY 7, Benambra Street, Broadmeadows, Vic 3047, Australia. Telephone + 61 3 9309 4040 E-mail < melder.rjvm1935@bigpond.com > Web Site < www.vmsl-library.com > THOSE WISHING TO DONATE BOOKS & OTHER PUBLICATIONS TO THIS LIBRARY, THEY ARE MOST WELCOME. PLEASE CONTACT ME AT ABOVE ADDRESS, BY EMAIL OR TELEPHONE. Thank You. ACQUISITIONS   FOR  THE  MONTH  OF  NOVEMBER  2022 BOOKS. Lay Bare the Roots by Martin Wickramasinghe, 2002,  translated by Lakshmi de Silva. Kuveni by Henry Jayasena, 2000, translated by Lakshmi de Silva. Uprooted by Martin Wickramasinghe, 2021, translated by Lakshmi de Silva & Ranga Wickramasinghe. Sinhabahu by Ediriwira Sarachchandra, 2002, translated by Lakshmi de Silva. 12 Centuries of Sinhala Poetry, A Sri Lankan Anthology, 2009, translated by Lakshmi de Silva. The Gajaman Story by Dayananda Gunawardena, 1991, translated by Lakshmi de Silva. Sardiel – Sinhala Publication, 2002 (No’s 1 – 7, donated by the translator, Lakshmi de ...

Dec 1, 2022 Posted by In Articles, Victor Melder Tagged , , ,
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Lester and Ceylon Theatres : The Peak of a career-By Uditha Devapriya Source:Island The three films that Lester James Peries directed for Ceylon Theatres – Golu Hadawatha (1968), Akkara Paha (1969), and Nidhanaya (1970) – stand out among the finest ever made in this country. They are an affirmation of life, sweeping epic-like fables that seem to tell us about ourselves, who we are and how we live. When Ceylon Theatres commissioned Peries to take on these projects, it was allegedly on the verge of bankruptcy. As he recalled for A. J. Gunawardena many, many years later, the company had reached a point where it preferred serious, low budget productions to expensive box-office flops. The trilogy marked Peries’s second foray into a production financed by a mainstream studio. The first was, of course, Sandeshaya, produced by K. Gunaratnam. But Sandeshaya was of a totally different calibre, mainstream and conventional in ...

Oct 9, 2022 Posted by In Articles Tagged , , , , ,
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Lester James Peries and the Gold Winning “Gamperaliya”-By D.B.S.Jeyaraj Source:Dailymirror After repeated failures to find a producer to finance ‘Gamperaliya,’ Lester and Sumitra tasted success finally by finding a businessman ready able and willing to help produce ‘Gamperaliya’. The commercial entrepreneur cum patron of the arts who was prepared to produce Gamperaliya was none other than the legendary Anton Wickremasinghe! The greatest compliment however came from the author himself. Martin Wickramasinghe was fully satisfied after seeing the film. He told Lester that in actual fact Jinadasa of the film was a far more vivid character than in the book. What better praise could the director and actor receive? Devoting the first article in each month to a film, film personality or film related topic was a practice followed by this column for several months last year. It was well received and widely appreciated by readers in general and film fans ...

Apr 3, 2022 Posted by In Articles Tagged , , , ,
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Almost all about Ambalangoda – By Uditha Devapriya Photographs by Manusha Lakshan Source:island.lk Recalling his travels across the country, James Emerson Tennent reflects on Ambalangoda only cursorily after passing through Hikkaduwa. He writes that upon entering the area he saw, of all things, a rock python, which upon seeing the visitor uncoiled its fold and passes through the fence into the neighbouring enclosure. Tennent recounts how, in 1587, the Portuguese, “hoping to create a diversion”, attacked several villages in this part of the coast and then shipped the peasants as slaves to India. History tells us that the residents of these areas of the country did not easily acquiesce to such treatment; so formidable were the residents of Ambalangoda that they formed the bulk of the porowakarayo or axe-wielders under the King. Paul E. Pieris tells us that these axe-wielders were so proud of their reputation that they would rather ...

Feb 27, 2022 Posted by In Articles Tagged , , ,
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The Koggala Lake – Exploring the islands hidden within an island-By Pradeep Dilrukshana   Source:Life There’s something to be said about exploring the water bodies of Sri Lanka. You could see tens and hundreds of them and each of them will offer something new and unexpected; something so exciting and surprising about each one that you are willing to explore the rest. Koggala Lake is already famous. It’s home to the island of Madol Doova which inspired Martin Wickramasinghe’s eponymous book that has bought many curious locals and tourists to the lake and then to the island to recount the adventures of one Upali and Jinna. Over the years, a whole ecosystem has been built around the lake and today, it’s a must-stop destination and experience on any southern coastal trip.  We were having lunch at the South Lake Resort at its waterfront restaurant gazing longingly at the still waters ...

Aug 7, 2021 Posted by In Articles Tagged ,
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Cumaratunga exemplified glamour of Sinhala grammar-By K. A. I. Kalyanaratne Source:Island Prof. J. B. Dissanayake By K. A. I. Kalyanaratne Senior Manager, Publications Postgraduate Institute of Management University of Sri Jayewardenepura Vice President, Hela Havula ‘Cumaratunga created a philosophy on Sinhala grammar’ Says Martin Wickramasinghe Without blindly following the tradition of grammar, commenced with the Sidath Sangarawa Cumaratunga Munidasa’s Vyakarana Vivaranaya can be considered as the first broad attempt to analyse the Sinhala language, placing it on a new vision.” (The 77th Death Anniversary of Cumaratunga Munidasa was commemorated on 02 March, 2021) Cumaratung’a Concept of Grammar In the introduction to his seminal work on Sinhala grammar, “Vyakarana Vivaranaya,” Cumaratunga says “Similar to a society that has no rules and regulations, a language also becomes messier and messier…Many a grammarian considered the grammars of other languages in formulating a grammar for the Sinhala language. In fact, the rules they followed were those of Pali and Sanskrit…The Sidath Sangarawa and ...

Mar 22, 2021 Posted by In Articles Tagged ,
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Watershed in Sinhala literature Source:Sundayobserver Seventy-six years have passed since Martin Wickramasinghe wrote his masterpiece Gamperaliya (Uprooted) and sixty-four years have passed since he wrote Viragaya (Dispassion). When asked about the highest service that Martin Wickramasinghe rendered to Sinhala literature, most critics say it is to write the first realistic novel in Sinhalese – Gamperaliya, or to write the best Sinhala novel in realism–Viragaya. But if you look into some other Sinhala writers, especially Ediriweera Sarachchandra, Siri Gunasinghe, Gunadasa Amarasekara, you can see that they also endowed us with some good novels, one can say better than Wickramasinghe’s Gamperaliya and Viragaya. Sophisticated readership The best service that Martin Wickramasinghe rendered to Sinhala literature was to build a sophisticated readership. His novels along with Kali Yugaya (Age of Kali), Yugantaya (Destiny) and short story collections, such as Gaheniyak (A Woman) and Wahallu (Serfs) helped a lot in this regard. ...

Dec 25, 2020 Posted by In Articles Tagged , , , , , , ,
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eLanka Newsletter – 6 Dec – 2nd edition – Sri Lankans in Australia Click here or on the image below to read this week’s elanka Newsletter First Sri Lankan born New Zealand MP makes maiden speech Pam Ayers Ode to Corona Virus – By Des Kelly Breaking the stigma through music-By Gabriella Payne Max Gerreyn the famous cartoonist and his wife Shereen, honored and awarded Life Memberships at the Australia Sri Lanka (Ceylon) Association Inc. AGM held in Perth Due for release on Netflix on Thursday 10 December is Funny Boy Photo of some the VIP’s that attended the Diplomatic and Consular Corps Christmas Dinner held at the Brisbane City Hall held on the 2nd December 2020 Sri Lankan-origin Dileeni Daniel-Selvaratnam appointed as the new Governor of Anguilla-By P. Sarojini People having diabetes should know what ‘Insulin Resistance and Sensitivity means?-by Harold Gunatillake A New Year’s Eve Celebration Kaleidoscope with ...

Dec 7, 2020 Posted by In Articles, eLanka Newsletters Tagged , , ,
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Martin Wickramasinghe, an avid reader on scientific subjects – Dr. Ranga Wickramasinghe-BY RAVINDRA WIJEWARDHANE Source:Sundayobserver Dr. Ranga Wickramasinghe, the youngest son of pioneering Sinhala writer Martin Wickramasinghe, is preparing to launch his new English translation of Viragaya (Devoid of Passion), the best realistic novel in Sinhala as regarded by most critics. Earlier, he had translated Martin Wickramasinghe’s short story collection titled Selected Short Stories which won the state literary prize for the best English translation in 2008 and also co-translated Martin Wickramasinghe’s trilogy, Gamperaliya (Uprooted), Kaliyugaya (The Age of Kali) and Yuganthaya (Destiny). The Sunday Observer met him to discuss his translation work and memories of his father. Q: You are now ready to publish the English translation of Viragaya by your father? A: Yes, I’ve just finished the English translation of Viragaya. Earlier, it was translated by Prof. Ashley Halpe, but I’m not satisfied with that as there are many ...

Dec 2, 2020 Posted by In Articles Tagged , ,
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