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Summary: The emperor has no clothes
Review: This is one of those books where the elegance of the prose, the writer's reputation and the ecstasy of the critics mask the fact that there's nothing there.The characters - especially Anil - have no reality to them, and neither do the plot devices. I couldn't for the life of me figure out how an international commission working under poltically-sensitive guidelines, would be allowed to go off on the tangent of trying to identify a suspicious skeleton, and what purpose there was in doing this. I have some specialized knowledge of the situation in Sri Lanka and, terrible as it is, I didn't feel that the book reflected it in an accurate way. It highlighted atrocities and gore, but gave no insights into the ethnic and cultural causes and results of all these years of war. A terribly-disappointing effort.
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Summary: Ghost of a chance topping English Patient
Review: This Canadian literary legend has a ghost of a chance topping English Patient with this quietly dramatic effort but there are moments of the inspired lush imagery and poetic beauty which are hallmarks of Ondaatje`s early style in this new book which is sure to be set to film given the stormy political milieu in which it is set.
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Summary: A Writer's Writer
Review: A world away from Kay Scarpetta, Anil, a forensic anthropologist, is assigned by a Human Rights Commission to investigate government ordered murders in Sri Lanka, where she had been born. Her investigation of skeletons removed from an ancient grave reveals that one body had been moved from its original burial site and is actually contemporary. Can she substantiate her findings, and can she get her proof safely out of the country? Don't be deceived by this synopsis to think that this is a mystery novel. It is a contemplative novel with a similar atmosphere to "The English Patient," Ondaatje's previous novel. He suffuses his writing with a poetry that transcends the background violence of the story. Reading "Anil's Ghost", brought to my mind images of "Hiroshima, Mon Amour" - stark beauty against bleakness and atrocities; and the disquietude of "A Passage To India". Ondaatje writes with enviable rhythm and beauty. "Anil would slip out of her sandals and stand in the shallow water, her toes among the white petals, her arms folded as she undressed the day, removing layers of events and incidents so they would no longer be within her." The narrative moves with such deliberateness, one imagines it happening in real time. Do not overlook "Anil's Ghost." This is beautiful writing.
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Summary: wonderfully frustrating! You won't be able to put it down.
Review: Even after what was for me the disappointment that constituted over-hyped film version of "The English Patient," I waited with much anticipation for Ondaatje's latest, "Anil's Ghost." As soon as I saw the cover art for this book, I knew I would not be disappointed. An eerily calm image, yet a photo that seems to be shot in such a jarring way. For those more familiar with Ondaatje's work, gone is the lyricism and rhythm that characterized most notably "The English Patien"t (the novel) and "In the Skin of a Lion." Although the experimentation with form is still here, this is by far more straightforward. Comprised of the fragmented verbal snapshots and reminisces that mark his work, the frenetic jumping and uncertainty are most effective here considering the subject matter: the incomprehensible violence that for years has gripped Ondaatje's homeland, Sri Lanka. In previous works, beneath the poetry is the subtext critiquing modernity and war mongering and mad border-making. In this case, through the protagonist Anil's eyes and work in forensics, the violence is far more palpable. For those not familiar with the subject matter, the focus on the physical devastation in this ruined landscape without any attempt at explanation may be frustrating. Yet, how have atrocities ever been explained away by politics? Anil, returning to Sri Lanka under the aegis of an international human rights group after years in the West, is indeed haunted by many ghosts. For this woman with a boy's name, there are the ghosts that made her leave and those that drew her back. Anil is paired with Sarath, a senior archeologist of shady politics. Together they unearth bodies that would comprise the physical evidence of government-orchestrated killings and cover-ups. We never know if Anil is able to exorcise her ghosts, as the periphery characters of Sarath, his brother Gamini the strung-out doctor, and Ananda the artificer are far more developed while Anil remains shrouded in mystery. The most poignant metaphors involve Ananda---the decrepit miner who in another time and place was an artist who performed the sacred ritual of painting eyes on temple gods. Ananda's skills are employed by Anil and Sarath to reconstruct the identities of victims--the skeleton they have nicknamed "Sailor." As the ceremonial pomp of an ancient ritual is juxtaposed with the sheer futility of the killing fields, we are made to ask exactly what the massive gods of the temples have had their eyes opened upon.
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Summary: Anil's Ghost
Review: ...This book seems to have been inspired by the wonderful poetry in his book Handwriting. If only it could have been as good. Anil's Ghost feels like it was a screen play and treatment for Hollywood that was then turned into a novel. It is disjointed, hard to follow and poorly written...The buddhist images and thoughts are lovely, especially the story of the eye painter, but otherwise, it is uninspired and a big big disappointment for someone who has loved his work up to this point.
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Summary: Ondaatje Paints Heartbreaking Picture
Review: There is no other word for this book except beautiful. Ondaatje does much justice to his home of Sri Lanka, lavishing its beutiful jungles with his beautiful words. The book follows an internationally appointed foreinsic pathologist, Anil, and her search for the cause of the deaths of young men on Sri Lanka. She stumbles into a web of politics and murder that becomes dangerous, greusome and heartbreaking. The wonder that Ondaatje has for his characters glows on the page, making the reader care for all of his lost or broken people with all of our hearts. I was sad to finish it, I wanted to know more about Anil, the doctor, the sculptor and Anil's best friend.
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Summary: Absorbing
Review: A gripping read. I read ANIL'S GHOST in 24 hours, haunted by its provocative images and entranced by its mastery of language. The prose is at once spare and lush. Although situated in the specifics of Sri Lanka, the novel touches on universal themes -- brutality and war, the longing for truth, the fragility of life. Plus it's a page turner.
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Summary: An Island Paradise in Flames
Review: Anil's Ghost is set on the island of Sri Lanka against the backdrop of the civil war turmoil of the mid-1980s and 1990s. Here, three opposing groups battle for control: the government, the anti-government insurgents in the south and the separatist guerrillas in the north. The book centers around the character of Anil Tissera, a thirty-three year old Sri Lankan born forensic anthropologist sent to her homeland as a United Nations human rights investigator whose mission is to explore various "disappearances," i.e., murders. Her government-appointed partner is Sarath Diyasera, a forty-nine year old government representative who gives Anil little reason to relax. Although Sarath is capable of reconstructing a vibrant picture of the past based on the flimsiest of clues, his motives and alliances seem more than slightly questionable. Sarath, however, is often misunderstood, for this is a man who understands the moral complexities of the modern world in their historical context, who knows what can and cannot be done and who views "truth" as the ambiguous statement it is. While excavating a site in a sanctuary containing nineteenth century bones, a skeleton of recent date is unearthed, one whose remains also appear to have been moved twice. This unidentified body is given the name, "Sailor," and provides the catalyst for Anil and Sarath's search, a search which leads to the introduction of several engaging secondary characters: Palipana, an interpreter of ancient ruins, seventy-six, blind and living in a grove of ascetics; Gamini, Sarath's younger brother, a dedicated doctor and participant in a tragedy whose work consists of patching up the war's innocent victims; and Ananda Udagama, a drunken miner and artist whose skill and genius allowed him to paint the eyes of the statues of Buddha, a ritual that brought the statue to life. Ondaatje threads his way between past and present, giving us some stories that relate to the plot and others that do not. Some major plot lines and characters are dealt with far too swiftly and summarily as Ondaatje takes off on yet another political tangent. At times, the characters, who aren't developed enough to form a connection with, seem to be completely forgotten until Ondaatje suddenly makes an abrupt turn and brings us back to the story at hand. Those expecting the lush, dense prose of The English Patient will find themselves sorely disappointed. Yes, the trademark Ondaatje poetic prose does remain (though toned down) and it is gorgeous, but it is simply not enough to sustain us in what should have been a larger, more fleshed-out novel. Anil, herself, seems out of place in this book, for she is essentially a Westerner. Although born in Sri Lanka, she is not of Sri Lanka and does not share the same values and ideals as those with whom she interacts. Had Ondaatje concentrated only on those who had lived their lives amid the fire and flames of this island paradise, the book would have proven far more compelling and true. The final chapter, however, is beautiful and touching, in part because it deals not with Anil or the crime with which she became obsessed, but with Ananda and the spirit that is truly Sri Lanka. Ondaatje has done a marvelous job of dissecting the secrets, identities and memories that form the intricate layers of Sri Lanka and its tumultuous past. His quest seems to have been a personal one, one that was both essential and compelling. It is just not quite as essential for the reader.
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Summary: Bor-ing
Review: When will I learn that books on the BEST SELLER LIST may not be the best in the world? This is one of the worst books I have ever struggled through. I do not like the author's shifts in time, his imagery, the interweaving of the characters pasts with the present. Instead of Anil's Ghost, it should have been Gamini's Story. He was the most interesting, fascinating character in the book. I was never sure of what in the world was going or why! Amazon probably won't think this review worthy. Who decides what books gets on the bestseller list, anyway?
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Summary: Author loses his objectivity of his novel.
Review: I was enthralled with the first fifty pages of Anil's Ghost then something terrible happens with the rest of the novel. Michael loses his vision of the his story, his objectivity gets cloudy.He doesn't know what he wants to tell us.If he conitinued to tell the the story through the main charecter's eyes as he did in the opening pages, his book would of been a masterpiece. Instead he starts telling us about how certain people of Sri Lanka are effected by the civil war, in fact we lose sight of Anil for aperiod time as he tells about how the other charecters have been effected by the war. When he finally gets back to Anil I have almost forgotten about her. The problem is that he doesn't know what he wants to write about. He starts to go off and tells us about how war effects people and how it destroys lives instead of keeping with the main charecter. We already know that war destroys the lives of many people and that the real victims of a war are the ordinary citizens, so he really doesn't achieve anything new here. Michael Ondaatji has a book of poems which describes his experiences while travelling in Sri Lanka. The book is called Handwritings. He would have been better off in writing a non-fiction book of his travels in Sri Lanka and tell us the real stories of how the people of Sri Lanka were effected by the war . With Handwritings showing his greatness at writing prose, a non-fiction book would have been a great companion to Handwriings.
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