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3.52 AVERAGE
3.52 AVERAGE
I have very mixed feelings with this book. Others have done an excellent job of summarizing the plot, so I will only say that when reading about a country and/or situation that I'm not all that familiar with, I need more background information, more facts, more story surrounding the story. I understood that there are three factions fighting each other, that they are all cold blooded, cruel to a degree that is hard to come to terms with, but why? What drives them? How do humans get to the point that they can inflict so much harm to another human? Because these people could write the New and Improved Book of Torture and Dehumanization. None of this was addressed in the book. I guess that if I want to read beautiful, haunting prose, I also want a book that is not as gruesome, there is some dichotomy in this aspect. If I'm reading a book about the cruel realities of war, I'd rather it be in straightforward language and linnear.
My least favourite of the Ondaatje books I've read, but as usual, beautiful prose. I just never managed to get caught up in the story enough to make this more than "I liked it".
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Torture, Blood, Colonisation
One of the most beautiful and heartbreaking books I've ever read.
3.5. I did not love this book, but Ondaatje is a wonderful writer and his treatment of death in this story is both beautiful and devastating.
I hate the way he ended the book, but you gotta give it to him. It was clever. How many thought of that ending? How many questions did you have? How many continued to think of that book?
For me, that was simply brilliant.
For me, that was simply brilliant.
This is a book that was almost very good, but it wasn’t. The story was interesting, the background context was also very interesting, however it was always missing something. The characters were not very believable. Anil’s personal story is almost non existent, apart from that incident with the sort of boyfriend. Sarandth wife committed suicide, but someone in the middle of the book is adamant she is still alive, but then she isn't and we end up not knowing why that misunderstandimng even appeared in the plot.
Flash backs and dreams keep appearing in the middle of the storyline with no proper context and made it somehow confusing.
By the middle of it, I was just wishing for it to end quickly.
Flash backs and dreams keep appearing in the middle of the storyline with no proper context and made it somehow confusing.
By the middle of it, I was just wishing for it to end quickly.
100 pages in and aborted. It was me at the time. Not you.
A little anticlimactic. If you’re expecting a story about a forensic anthropologist investigating a death in Sri Lanka during their horrific troubles you may be disappointed as this is probably only twenty percent of the book, the other eighty percent is padding and extraneous. This is obviously intentional and some may appreciate it, I however, was not a fan.
This is unfortunate as the premise, writing and characterisation are first class.
This is unfortunate as the premise, writing and characterisation are first class.
slow-paced