Title: Anil's Ghost
Author: Ondaatje, Michael (1943 - )
New York : Alfred A. Knopf : Distributed by Random House, 2000
311 p. ; 23 cm
Ready by: 11/02/2012, my collection
Genre: Fiction


Not as good, still very good, I will move on to my fifth book by him. It was not what it appeared to be in the beginning, a detective or mystery novel. It was a path of discovery the meaning of life and death through forensic cases of organized political murders. The author took his time. The monarchy temple in the deep forest, the deserted beach hotel, the walawwa and so on were exotic, but the author didn’t linger his writing on them, he introduced politics and history to add the depth, the complexity, and the horror. Weaving Sri Lanka culture seamlessly into the textile of his books has been Michael Ondaatje’s feature but never his goal. It adds the richness, however, his interest goes far beyond culture. His skill I much appreciated is blending his sensitivity on life and humanity into compressed sentences or a few words. A born poet. “She used to believe that meaning allowed a person a door to escape grief and fear. But she saw that those who were slammed and stained by violence lost the power of language and logic.” Ondaatje wants to be their voice.

p.s. Ondaatje's most recent book Cat's Table is in the long list of Dublin's 2013 IMPAC prize nomination. His chance to win is not a sure thing, but I am so glad to see my star to be recognized worldwide. I lost my comments written on Cat's Table, without the slight intention to repeat, it was wonderfully done. Highly recommend.