Amdens Stories (ඇම්ඩන් - නුතන ජනකතා)

Last week I managed to step into the National Library for the book launch of Amden Noothana Janakatha (ඇම්ඩන් - නුතන ජනකතා) which translates to english as Amden- Modern Folk tales. There's hardly anyone in Sri Lanka who hasn’t heard about Amden or one of his stories. Though his stories may not have reached some of our elders the younger generation is quite familiar who Amden is. So as someone who has grown up amidst all types of Amden’s stories, this event was something I was really looking forward to.

The book had been compiled by Asanka Sayakkara a young talented author who had inked the stories in far more different style. It can be considered that his attempt has been to convert Amdens stories which are told in everyday language (with so much filth) to a more traditional literature oriented text. This attempt gave book a different twist and made it an interesting read. 

The event also featured three interesting lectures that discussed how Amden has impacted the modern day society and the reasons behind birth of characters such as Amden. There was a very interesting lecture by Sudheera Jayaweera which discussed how Amden’s stories have become sort of a alternative path to go beyond the so called ethical boundaries in religious, social, political and sexual contexts that exist in the modern society. He discussed how it had paved the way for the common man to challenge the so called moral entrepreneurship with vile little funny stories based around this character called Amden. 

Anyhow, the event was quite interesting and the book was also a good read, which featured a selection of Amdens stories (not all of them) and is priced at Rs 200. I don’t actually know which bookshops would have it but if you come across it grab a copy and check it out. (Its publishers are Script House (pvt) Ltd)