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jennifer_mangieri 's review for:
The Cat's Table
by Michael Ondaatje
The Cat's Table is a beautifully written novel about 11 year old Michael (aka Mynah), who travels from Sri Lanka to England on the ship Oronsay, in the early 1950s. The journey takes about three weeks. The book recounts Michael's adventures with the friends & odd characters he meets on the ship - his friends Cassius & Ramadhin; his cousin Emily, travelling separately from him; Miss Lasqueti, Mr. Fonseka, Mr. Gunesekera, Mr. Mazappa, & Mr. Daniels, among others. It's about how a short but out of the ordinary experience can shape you for many years to come, & be a turning point in your life. On the Oronsay, Michael & friends play, get in trouble, & learn about their fellow passengers in the odd sort of way you do learn about people when you're 11 - you know some things about them, but so much remains hidden. Michael & friends get involved in a mystery involving the shackled prisoner being transported to England on the Oronsay - & what happens will influence & change their lives in ways they can't foresee.
The great thing about this book is that it's not ashamed to mix humor with drama & emotion. It's a great travelogue & adventure tale - full of crazy characters. As it's being told through Michael's eyes, you don't get to hear any one character's full story - you just get pieces, as you do when you're a child. Despite this, as a reader you will get involved with these odd people & you will want to know what happens to them! (Pigeon-toting women! Piano players! A wealthy man with a curse on him! An amorous botanist!)
Beyond the fun, there's a genuine mystery & then oonflict surrounding Michael's post-Oronsay life. What happens on the Oronsay is so seminal that he is not able to let go of it, & it carries over into his life for many years afterward - & that's the case for others involved in the story as well.
I feel the central thought behind this book has to do with the "moved heart" that Ondaatje mentions toward the end of the book. As a result of things that happen to us in life, we harden our hearts & seal ourselves off - & this happens more as we grow older - which makes us look back on childhood with that nostalgia - because we know we were more open to feelings & experiences then. Ondaatje asks whether this may result in "cold-blooded self sufficiency that is damaging to us? Is this what has left us, still uncertain, at a Cat's Table, looking back, looking back, searching out those we journeyed with or were formed by, even now, at our age?"
That resonated with me because I think the age that Michael is during his journey is a very formative one; things that happen to you around that age are things you remember for the rest of your life, especially if they're things beyond just ordinary, day to day life. It doesn't surprise me that Michael is continuing to search for the people he had those experiences with.
Bravo to Ondaatje for writing a book that combines travel, adventure, & a sensitive exploration of how childhood experiences shape us in adulthood. Well done.
The great thing about this book is that it's not ashamed to mix humor with drama & emotion. It's a great travelogue & adventure tale - full of crazy characters. As it's being told through Michael's eyes, you don't get to hear any one character's full story - you just get pieces, as you do when you're a child. Despite this, as a reader you will get involved with these odd people & you will want to know what happens to them! (Pigeon-toting women! Piano players! A wealthy man with a curse on him! An amorous botanist!)
Beyond the fun, there's a genuine mystery & then oonflict surrounding Michael's post-Oronsay life. What happens on the Oronsay is so seminal that he is not able to let go of it, & it carries over into his life for many years afterward - & that's the case for others involved in the story as well.
I feel the central thought behind this book has to do with the "moved heart" that Ondaatje mentions toward the end of the book. As a result of things that happen to us in life, we harden our hearts & seal ourselves off - & this happens more as we grow older - which makes us look back on childhood with that nostalgia - because we know we were more open to feelings & experiences then. Ondaatje asks whether this may result in "cold-blooded self sufficiency that is damaging to us? Is this what has left us, still uncertain, at a Cat's Table, looking back, looking back, searching out those we journeyed with or were formed by, even now, at our age?"
That resonated with me because I think the age that Michael is during his journey is a very formative one; things that happen to you around that age are things you remember for the rest of your life, especially if they're things beyond just ordinary, day to day life. It doesn't surprise me that Michael is continuing to search for the people he had those experiences with.
Bravo to Ondaatje for writing a book that combines travel, adventure, & a sensitive exploration of how childhood experiences shape us in adulthood. Well done.