What is the author's style in Reef by Romesh Gunesekera?

Romesh Gunesekera uses elegant language in Reef. The novel is full of beautiful imagery, vivid descriptions, and stark honesty about the world the characters live in. At first it is unbelievable that Triton's voice is so refined-after all, he was only a houseboy and servant. But then the author reveals that Triton learned to be who he was by watching Mister Salgado endlessly and imitating everything about him.