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A review by pearloz
Running in the Family by Michael Ondaatje
4.0
Fun evocative stories collected from Ondaatje's early life in Sri Lanka. Less a memoir than an anthropological/genealogical study of his family, his hardass grandmother, and his drunkass dad in particular. Reading it, it often feels like a blithely rollicking careless Tenenbaums-type life. But there is a quote from one of his brothers near the end of the book that sort of shattered that illusion:
"I showed what you had written to someone and they laughed and said what a wonderful childhood we must have had, and I said, 'It was a nightmare.'"
I think that disconnect is a credit to the writing. But I think it also hints at how terrible, even traumatic events, can morph or be forced to evolve into more palatable anecdotes as a means of surpassing them.
"I showed what you had written to someone and they laughed and said what a wonderful childhood we must have had, and I said, 'It was a nightmare.'"
I think that disconnect is a credit to the writing. But I think it also hints at how terrible, even traumatic events, can morph or be forced to evolve into more palatable anecdotes as a means of surpassing them.