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carolinehunter's review
5.0
wow. i am speechless. i loved this so incredibly much, maybe i’ll have more to say about later but for now, wowwww.
losh's review against another edition
4.0
This was a beautiful tribute from son to father. The first few chapters felt like they were scenes from films, but the last few chapters really tore my heart apart. It was both beautiful and sad, watching the deterioration and ending of human life. It departs from the standard biography formats, but I personally think that is what makes it what it is. Ondaatje takes us on a journey across Sri Lanka, through the jungles of Colombo, dark tunnels, sunny hilltops, over the top parties. This was a treat to the heart and the mind.
apurvanagpal's review against another edition
3.0
Running in the Family is Michael Ondaatje’s memoir about his family history and birthplace.
After 25 years of moving to Canada, Ondaatje takes a trip back to his native Sri Lanka (Ceylon) to meet his parents’ close friends, acquaintances and extended family to get a glimpse of his ancestors life and culture. He takes us on an exquisite journey and shares with us his family history in little snippets and brief stories, drawing a lot from the visual beauty of the landscape into his account.
We learn about his passionate grandmother, his alcoholic father, their social circle in the 1930s and some treasured memories of their past. There are a couple pages about how his parents defined and looked at their marriage, before it fell apart, and it’s beautifully written!
I found myself a little confused because the chapters were quite small and the stories very fragmented but even in a nonfiction format , Ondaatje’s prose is so lyrical and makes you want more.
I give this one 3/5 and recommend The English Patient as an introduction to the author’s writing style!
It was one of my favourite reads of 2018 and I know it took me more than a year to get back to his works but I finally did!
After 25 years of moving to Canada, Ondaatje takes a trip back to his native Sri Lanka (Ceylon) to meet his parents’ close friends, acquaintances and extended family to get a glimpse of his ancestors life and culture. He takes us on an exquisite journey and shares with us his family history in little snippets and brief stories, drawing a lot from the visual beauty of the landscape into his account.
We learn about his passionate grandmother, his alcoholic father, their social circle in the 1930s and some treasured memories of their past. There are a couple pages about how his parents defined and looked at their marriage, before it fell apart, and it’s beautifully written!
I found myself a little confused because the chapters were quite small and the stories very fragmented but even in a nonfiction format , Ondaatje’s prose is so lyrical and makes you want more.
I give this one 3/5 and recommend The English Patient as an introduction to the author’s writing style!
It was one of my favourite reads of 2018 and I know it took me more than a year to get back to his works but I finally did!
monique3's review
adventurous
emotional
informative
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
3.0
It was really interesting to navigate how Ondaatje entwined his family into the history of Ceylon/Sri Lanka and travelling back to rediscover his roots.
tabularasablog's review against another edition
5.0
I've never read him before, but his style is so familiar.
A powerful and enchanting memoir.
A powerful and enchanting memoir.
jasquid's review against another edition
3.0
Another book I read for school. I loved the prose, but I didn't see the point in some of the stories and towards the end, I was just glad to be done (that may have something to do with the fact that I had to read it for school). I often found that certain stories I was very engaged and it was easy to keep flipping. At other moments, the writing felt a bit to abstract and incomprehensible and that was when reading felt like trudging through thick mud. It was also difficult to keep track of family members and I specifically remember one chapter that was dialogue (without punctuation) between probably him and another family member but it was so mixed and muddled I couldn't keep track or understand it much at all.
analyticali's review against another edition
4.0
I'm a sucker for Ondaatje, particularly when he lets his prose flow like poetry and allows the reader to imagine the setting at its most exotic. This book is best consumed on rainy nights with the windows open, one small lamp on, read aloud just above a whisper. There's something about it that makes the only right adjective "delicious" - particularly the cinnamon peeler on p. 95