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By Laurie Ashton

When I was asked to write about bookshops, I was in heaven. I’ve been known to spend hours in bookshops in Canada, browsing the various sections in the hunt for the perfect book. But bookshops in Sri Lanka are nothing at all like their counterparts in Europe or North America. They’re much smaller, the selection is never as good, and they’re not as well-maintained. Plus there are no plush oversized chairs to sink into while deciding on which books to buy. But as long as there are good books, such things do not really matter.

Odel Unlimited

(5 Alexandra Place, Lipton Circus, Colombo 7; Telephone: (011) 2682712/3, (011) 4722200; email: mail@eodel.com.)

In the second level of the department store there is a bookstore to your right immediately after you get off the escalator. It’s not a large department, nor does it have a large selection of anything.

The first thing that caught my eye was the display of the coffee table style books on Sri Lanka. You know the type. Lots of pretty pictures, sometimes not a lot of content, very nice to look at, but usually expensive.

There were only two titles of cookbooks which were obviously Sri Lankan, plus a few titles of travel guides. There were some historical and cultural books on Sri Lanka, but interestingly enough, there are at least as many on India. The Odel bookstore also has the only selection of legal, as in non-pirated, CDs and DVDs I’ve yet seen in Colombo. The selection of fiction is extremely limited – a few dozen titles at most.

Serendib Gallery

(36 1/1 Rosmead Place, Colombo 7; Telephone: (011) 4710002; email: serendib@asianet.lk.)

This was the most interesting and atypical book shopping experience I’ve ever had. The Serendib is mentioned in travel guides as a used bookstore, but that did not lead me to expect what was awaiting me. We found the location alright – it helped that Serendib is painted on the front of the building – but finding the entrance itself was something else altogether. We actually walked around the building a couple of times before we rang the bell of a rather small, unassuming and unlabelled door on the right side of the front of the building and were led up narrow stairs into a room that looked more like someone’s store room of old furniture than book store or gallery.

Luckily, the proprietor, Mohan Daniel, was in and had a few minutes to talk with me. The Serendib is an antiquarian and rare used book store and art gallery with thousands of books in stock. His oldest book? Robert Knox’s first edition of “An Historical Relation of Ceylon” published in 1681. He has many first editions and many books from the 1800s. They’re mainly English, but he also has some in Sinhala and Tamil.

If you’re looking for someone who is extremely knowledgeable about Sri Lankan literature, or if you’re looking for either specific titles or information on a specific topic, then this is the place to go. It’s advised to contact the proprietor first if you have any specific requests so he can gather appropriate materials together.

Lakehouse

(100 Sir Chittampalam A. Gardiner Mawatha, Colombo 2; Telephone: (011) 4734137/8; Facsimile: (011) 2430582.)

Lakehouse is not a large bookstore and doesn’t have a large selection of titles in general. It has a good selection of fiction – perhaps a couple of hundred or so titles.

It has a decent selection of postcards at three racks, which I was happy to see. Postcards are not easy to find here unless you know where to look. They’re not available at the usual touristy places – museums, the zoo, and the like. But they are available at book stores and the post office.

Lakehouse has a big selection of fiction by Sri Lankan authors, a very good selection of books on Buddhism, but otherwise limited non-fiction sections.

Bookland

(430-432 Galle Road, Colombo 3; Telephone: (011) 4714444.)

After Vijitha Yapa, it has the best selection of fiction. Postcard selection is good at a few dozen or so to choose from. Categorization needs work, so if you don’t immediately find what you’re looking for, either ask or keep browsing. This bookstore isn’t as pretty as the others – they just cram more books in to any available space.

They have a very good selection of books on Sri Lankan history, culture and local cooking, but not as good as either Vijitha Yapa or Barefoot. They also have an esoteric selection of legal and administrative type of books on Sri Lanka, such as “Negotiating Household Politics: Women’s Strategies in Urban Sri Lanka.” Not typical tourist fare, however.

Vijitha Yapa

(Unity Plaza, Colombo 3; Telephone: (011) 2596960; email: vijiyapa@sri.lanka.net.)

Vijitha Yapa is my personal favourite. It has the largest selection of fiction books around with enough titles to support it being split into the various genres. Add to that its excellent and extensive selection of children and youth books – including Sri Lankan fiction in English - and this is the popular choice for any reading family. It also has the best selection of general non-fiction books of any bookstore I’ve seen in Colombo yet, although some, specifically in the computer section, are outdated. Still, the selection warrants a browse.

It has a wide variety of non-fiction books on Sri Lankan history, culture, cookbooks, and the like – hundreds of titles. Definitely worth a good look, whether or not you’re looking for anything in particular. Sri Lankan fiction is well represented, as are local magazines, which are on display.

Their excellent selection of postcards and greeting cards are scattered throughout the store, and many are downstairs, which is easy to miss.

Barefoot

(704 Galle Road, Colombo 3; Telephone: (011) 2589305; email: sales@barefoot.lk.)

The Barefoot shop isn’t just about books – they have crafts, textiles, a café, and much more. It’s a fun place to browse around in if you’re not hampered by an impatient spouse. To find the book section, wander through the building towards the back and down a flight of stairs into the rear of the building.

General fiction selection is not as good as others bookstores, but the Barefoot easily has more fiction by local writers than any other bookstore in the area. The selection is positively impressive! Two notables – they had both a reprint of the original Robert Knox’s “An Historical Relation of Ceylon” complete with the old difficult to read font – as well as a modernized version that’s much easier to read. And that goes for children’s books as well – they have a decent selection of children’s books by Sri Lankan authors in both English and Sinhalese. There are a few dozen coffee table books on Sri Lanka, several dozen local cookbooks.

They have a pretty good selection of postcards at double the price of anywhere else (Rs30, photos by Dominic Sansoni). They have many non-fiction titles along the lines of “Butterflies of Sri Lanka”, “Snakes of Sri Lanka”, “Birds of Sri Lanka”, “Animals of Sri Lanka”, and, well, you get my drift. Barefoot has an eclectic collection of almost everything Sri Lankan.

Their selection is much better than anywhere else except Vijitha Yapa, and honestly, if I had to pick one over the other for selection on Sri Lankan non-fiction, I’d have a difficult time choosing.

Recommended reading:  An Historical Relation of Ceylon (1681) by Robert Knox, Ceylon (1869) by James Emerson Tennant, The Village in the Jungle (1913) by Leonard Woolf.  Reprints available.

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