There is no question that Ondaatje is an outstanding writer, conjuring up believable characters in gripping situations, and inviting prose that leads us along several moving parallel plot lines. I found sadly that the book meandered more than I could manage, and indeed that the many plots never did intersect, and in fact were simply dropped off in favour of new ones. This left the novel feeling...
more There is no question that Ondaatje is an outstanding writer, conjuring up believable characters in gripping situations, and inviting prose that leads us along several moving parallel plot lines. I found sadly that the book meandered more than I could manage, and indeed that the many plots never did intersect, and in fact were simply dropped off in favour of new ones. This left the novel feeling disjointed, while nevertheless beautifully written. The last page seems to try abruptly to tie the loose ends together, but in the end seems to be a message to the readers directly from the author rather than from the story-line, and thereby breaks the spell of the novel. I can't help feeling the story could have been much much more.
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