Reviews - L'ora prima dell'alba

L'ora prima dell'alba by Michael Ondaatje

435 reviews for:

I have loved almost all of Ondaatje's books, so I was not surprised that I enjoyed this one. The story of three young boys travelling more-or-less alone on an ocean liner from Sri Lanka to England is fascinating and reminds me of the sorts of daydreams I had as a child. My favourite book for many years was "From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler", about a child who runs away from home and lives in the museum, and many of the scenes in this book - such as hiding in the lifeboats and eavesdropping - remind me of that kind of childhood fantasy of living under the noses and yet unbeknownst to adults, and without need of help from anyone over the age of 15.

Unfortunately I had a hard time getting through this book - partly because I kept getting interrupted by more pressing things - but also because once the story of the ocean voyage started to be more significantly interrupted by the "present day" story of the ship's young passengers as adults, it lost my interest somewhat, making me more reluctant to pick it up again.

I wish the book had spent more time on the ship, but because I did read it over such a long period I'm sure I didn't enjoy it as much as I might have. I definitely need to read this again to get the proper flow and perhaps to take a bit more time to enjoy the parts of the book that I liked the most.

hildamarie's review against another edition

4.0

Lovely, lyrical, book of memory. The writing is beautiful. The story reveals itself layer by layer, marvelously intertwining past, present, memory, imagination, regret, and hope. This is one boy's coming of age story, but the characters who populate his voyage are so interesting and complex. Each one is worth considering closely, just as Michael does.

strauszm's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

callmejoce's review against another edition

3.0

Awesome story. Love the perspective of the boy & esp. the scene on the deck the night of the gale.

jslive's review against another edition

3.0

Lots of interesting set pieces around coming of age -- nice but doesn't hang together perfectly.

birdley's review against another edition

5.0

Mr. Ondaatje never disappoints. He is a masterful writer and should be set upon the shelf next to Morrison, Hemingway and Proust. I can only ask that Mr. Ondaatje keeps writing, and I promise to keep reading.