After approximately seven months from the book being published, I decided that I just had to read it. The ravings of my friends, many who admitted to loathing poetry, made me wonder what the maddening frenzy was all about. I myself am particularly receptive to poetry of any kind, so I decided to find out what this book had that rendered men speechless and reverent, and caused women nod their heads in agreement and understanding.
To begin with, the cover was quite fetching and the illustrations remarkably elegant and appropriate. When I read the title, I must admit that I expected a tiring monologue on how cruel love was and how no sane human must ever love again, but I was pleasantly suprised to find extremely readable, emotional accounts which were not encumbered by ancient and vague cultural references.
Muthu Padmakumara's poetry has always had a unique flavour but 'Life after love' is a colourful collection with many different themes and tones which takes this account of love and loss to a whole new level. The ideas are fresh and she simply explains the feelings and emotions connected with love, may it be at first sight, new, old or forgotten. She has composed the verses as a young woman herself and does not attempt to judge nor give meaningless advice.
However, some of her poetry does seems to border on being rather theatrical in the sense that she explains concepts which cannot truly be explained in such short a verse which results in a rather inadequate narration and a very reader who feels cheated.
But I believe that 'Life after love' is one of the best examples of the immense talent of Sri Lankan writers.
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