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deepakchecks 's review for:
Anil's Ghost
by Michael Ondaatje
This is my first book of Michael Ondaatje - have heard a lot of good things about him, never knew he was born in Sri Lanka. Michael looks at the ongoing effects of the brutal war that had erupted in Sri Lanka in the late-1980s, how it has affected and numbed the general populace. Michael brings in an outsiders gaze, albeit not a complete outsider as Anil (the protagonist) had been a Sri Lankan native until she left for the US, into the happenings of this war torn small Island.
Anil lands at Sri Lanka on behalf of the Human Rights group of the United Nations to investigate the brutal repressions to which even the government is believed to be complacent. She befriends Sarath (an archaeologist) and along with him goes on investigating buried human remains. One such skeleton obtained amidst other ruins appears to be of recent origin and they set about to find further truth about it. The different people they meet in their journey to discover the truth and how they are followed by the system is what the rest of the book is about. This is a grim book, ruminating on the war effects, and how it alters the people amidst its wake, while also revealing the helplessness of the good people who are trapped within the system.
Anil lands at Sri Lanka on behalf of the Human Rights group of the United Nations to investigate the brutal repressions to which even the government is believed to be complacent. She befriends Sarath (an archaeologist) and along with him goes on investigating buried human remains. One such skeleton obtained amidst other ruins appears to be of recent origin and they set about to find further truth about it. The different people they meet in their journey to discover the truth and how they are followed by the system is what the rest of the book is about. This is a grim book, ruminating on the war effects, and how it alters the people amidst its wake, while also revealing the helplessness of the good people who are trapped within the system.