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3.55 AVERAGE
3.55 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This author is a master with words. He can create the place and the atmosphere with words in a way that transports you to that location and makes you feel the environment. He creates characters that are believable and emotions you can understand.
All of which is why I keep trying his books even though (so far) they haven't really appealed to me.
I really liked this one until the end. It's slow pace and meandering story were interesting and amusing. But the wrap up of all the stories, especially of the minor mysterious goings on, was entirely disappointing and left me let down.
All of which is why I keep trying his books even though (so far) they haven't really appealed to me.
I really liked this one until the end. It's slow pace and meandering story were interesting and amusing. But the wrap up of all the stories, especially of the minor mysterious goings on, was entirely disappointing and left me let down.
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Ready to embark on an Oriental journey that will leave you confused, pondering the meaning of life, maturity, power, truth and memory? Then this is just the right book for you.
The storyline takes a while to develop, but is full of mystery, thrills, crime, a light coyness as well as a dark menace hovering over them all. But don't be fooled, this book is more than its plot, it will leave you philosophising long after you've finished reading it.
Maturity & Power
In itself, the plot already speaks to the imagination. An eleven-year-old boy - on the cusp of becoming a teen - is travelling from Sri Lanka to England on a big steamer. During the 21 day long trip, he and his two companions (Cassius & Ramadhin) perform all sorts of mischievous things (running around the ship, plundering the First Class buffet (as well as the lifeboats' emergency chocolate supplies), creating multiple lairs on the boat, spying on a prisoner's midnight stroll, smuggling a dog onto the ship, etc.). All the while, they learn lessons about growing up and life itself.
This trip triggers Michael's adolescence and will leave a mark on his adult self. On the Oronsay, Michael starts to transition from innocent and wild child to a more guarded adult, aware of the dishonesty of most people and of the difference between so-called and de jure authority and de facto power/force. It is on the Oronsay (though mostly as an adult) that Michael realises that it is not always those who are overtly in power, who we have to be afraid of or listen to. Power is more subtle than badges, titles or the table you are assigned to.
Truth
We readers are narrated the story via an account from Michael as an adult. The story is a mixture of memories from the time on the boat that are being re-visited and adult Michael's (re-)interpretations of those events. Obviously, the lines between truth, (at times foggy) memories and imagination become blurred, which makes this narrative unreliable at best. Is Michael telling us the truth? Is he lying, leaving out parts or has he simple forgotten certain things? Even the truth is subjected to nonobjective understanding and interpretation.
Memory
It is interesting to see how growing up changes the way you look at childhood memories, re-interpret events or start understanding them in the first place.
This book really offers you to contemplate our lives and identities as the sum of re-told/re-visited/re-imagined memories. Our identity is a fictional narrative: both our own memories as well as the memories of others (narrated to us) are subjective and prone to distortion (especially over time).
Two points of critique:
- The characters - varied and complex as they are - were not explored as much as they could have been. There was so much more to these characters than was written down in the book. This could have been an intentional choice of the author (let the reader fill in the blanks and reflecting how little we really know of others in real life), but I was still left a little disappointed at times. Sometimes the chapters end quite abruptly and felt more like situation/character sketches than in depth chapters.
- Similarly, the plot also has a lot of elements in it, which at times make it seem like there is a lot going on at the same time. The short chapters (which constantly redirect the course of the plot) add to this feeling of chaos and/or things being left unexplored.
The storyline takes a while to develop, but is full of mystery, thrills, crime, a light coyness as well as a dark menace hovering over them all. But don't be fooled, this book is more than its plot, it will leave you philosophising long after you've finished reading it.
Maturity & Power
In itself, the plot already speaks to the imagination. An eleven-year-old boy - on the cusp of becoming a teen - is travelling from Sri Lanka to England on a big steamer. During the 21 day long trip, he and his two companions (Cassius & Ramadhin) perform all sorts of mischievous things (running around the ship, plundering the First Class buffet (as well as the lifeboats' emergency chocolate supplies), creating multiple lairs on the boat, spying on a prisoner's midnight stroll, smuggling a dog onto the ship, etc.). All the while, they learn lessons about growing up and life itself.
This trip triggers Michael's adolescence and will leave a mark on his adult self. On the Oronsay, Michael starts to transition from innocent and wild child to a more guarded adult, aware of the dishonesty of most people and of the difference between so-called and de jure authority and de facto power/force. It is on the Oronsay (though mostly as an adult) that Michael realises that it is not always those who are overtly in power, who we have to be afraid of or listen to. Power is more subtle than badges, titles or the table you are assigned to.
Truth
We readers are narrated the story via an account from Michael as an adult. The story is a mixture of memories from the time on the boat that are being re-visited and adult Michael's (re-)interpretations of those events. Obviously, the lines between truth, (at times foggy) memories and imagination become blurred, which makes this narrative unreliable at best. Is Michael telling us the truth? Is he lying, leaving out parts or has he simple forgotten certain things?
Spoiler
Which is also reflected in Emily's dilemma (did she or didn't she stab Mr. Perera?) as well as the unclarity regarding Niemeyer and Asuntha's escape (did they or didn't they survive?).Memory
It is interesting to see how growing up changes the way you look at childhood memories, re-interpret events or start understanding them in the first place.
This book really offers you to contemplate our lives and identities as the sum of re-told/re-visited/re-imagined memories. Our identity is a fictional narrative: both our own memories as well as the memories of others (narrated to us) are subjective and prone to distortion (especially over time).
Two points of critique:
- The characters - varied and complex as they are - were not explored as much as they could have been. There was so much more to these characters than was written down in the book. This could have been an intentional choice of the author (let the reader fill in the blanks and reflecting how little we really know of others in real life), but I was still left a little disappointed at times. Sometimes the chapters end quite abruptly and felt more like situation/character sketches than in depth chapters.
- Similarly, the plot also has a lot of elements in it, which at times make it seem like there is a lot going on at the same time. The short chapters (which constantly redirect the course of the plot) add to this feeling of chaos and/or things being left unexplored.
Beautifully written. Left me lingering with all sorts of thoughts about its meaning and purpose.
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Beautifully written prose, almost like a book of short stories.
I read a lot of YA fiction. And then I read something like this, which is just a whole other realm of fiction. YA fiction is like Ben & Jerry's ice cream--really tasty, creative, fun. But Ondaatje is like Haagen Dazs--more sophisticated, refined, higher fat content.
Ondaatje is amazing. He's thoughtful about language, his books are rich. I love his stories within stories. I am transported to other times, places, worlds when I read him. Bringing my brain back to reality takes awhile, and I don't really want to come back. I want to stay in his universe for just a bit longer.
Ondaatje is amazing. He's thoughtful about language, his books are rich. I love his stories within stories. I am transported to other times, places, worlds when I read him. Bringing my brain back to reality takes awhile, and I don't really want to come back. I want to stay in his universe for just a bit longer.
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No