The Cinnamon Peeler - Michael Ondaatje

The Collected Works of Billy the Kid - Michael Ondaatje

This isn’t a book of poetry. Nor is it a novel or could it even be truly called a novella. This book by Michael Ondaatje (author of The English Patient) is a unique hybrid of poetry and prose, mixed with both historical fact and fiction based on the true life story of the famous American outlaw William Bonney, who was better known as “Billy the Kid”. Already from this little bit of information, you can tell that this is not a book that follows any usual format or structure. I really can’t describe the “plot” of this book, because there is no real linear story here, but more of an account of a small period in one person’s life. How can I better describe this for ...

The Collected Works of Billy the Kid - Michael Ondaatje

This isn’t a book of poetry. Nor is it a novel or could it even be truly called a novella. This book by Michael Ondaatje (author of The English Patient) is a unique hybrid of poetry and prose, mixed with both historical fact and fiction based on the true life story of the famous American outlaw William Bonney, who was better known as “Billy the Kid”. Already from this little bit of information, you can tell that this is not a book that follows any usual format or structure. I really can’t describe the “plot” of this book, because there is no real linear story here, but more of an account of a small period in one person’s life. How can I better describe this for ...

Coming Through Slaughter - Ondaatje Michael

scant but varied elements and write a truly inspiring book that mingles the few facts into a melodic collection of fiction. The Book: If you ve read anything by Ondaatje, you ll know that he uses a very special style. For instance, in his "Collected Works of Billy The Kid" he mixes different types of writing to try to get inside the head of the character. In "Coming Through Slaughter" (CTS), he again uses this same unique story telling method - if slightly altered this time. In both books, Ondaatje puts together what seem like bits of conversations, recollections, letters, documents, poems and stories into a puzzle-like collection that the reader ...

Coming Through Slaughter - Ondaatje Michael

scant but varied elements and write a truly inspiring book that mingles the few facts into a melodic collection of fiction. The Book: If you ve read anything by Ondaatje, you ll know that he uses a very special style. For instance, in his "Collected Works of Billy The Kid" he mixes different types of writing to try to get inside the head of the character. In "Coming Through Slaughter" (CTS), he again uses this same unique story telling method - if slightly altered this time. In both books, Ondaatje puts together what seem like bits of conversations, recollections, letters, documents, poems and stories into a puzzle-like collection that the reader ...

Anil's Ghost - Michael Ondaatje

I found "Anil's Ghost" a flawed and failed attempt as a novel: neither its form nor its structure seemed capable of holding its material together, and the result is a fractured and inchoate narration that does not flow nor move nor urge the reader onward. The prose is often beautiful, but it alone cannot carry the action, which at time appears pointless and contrived. The novel's background is a multifaceted civil war which may very well have no meaning other than the great brutality it engenders; still, readers need to know something about the war's underlying issues if they are to become interested and emotionally engaged in its narration. The book does not inform ...

Anil's Ghost - Michael Ondaatje

I found "Anil's Ghost" a flawed and failed attempt as a novel: neither its form nor its structure seemed capable of holding its material together, and the result is a fractured and inchoate narration that does not flow nor move nor urge the reader onward. The prose is often beautiful, but it alone cannot carry the action, which at time appears pointless and contrived. The novel's background is a multifaceted civil war which may very well have no meaning other than the great brutality it engenders; still, readers need to know something about the war's underlying issues if they are to become interested and emotionally engaged in its narration. The book does not inform ...