Running in the Family

Rating:
Summary: It was so good that I caught myself drooling!
Review: Ondaatje is an amazing master of words, and this book certainly shows it. I would not recommend this book to an inexperienced reader, for it is challenging, but very rewarding! I am 17 and really enjoyed it. In fact, one evening, I was so entranced by the book, that I caught myself drooling! This is a fine piece of literature!

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Summary: Poetic prose at its pinnacle of excellence
Review: Ondaatje makes prose poetic like no other writer, and this is his best example of poetic prose. Divided into many fragments, each fragment is as dense as a small poem, as alive with imagery, and yet still contributes to the narrative as a whole. A wonderful merge of history, fiction, truth, and lie, Running contains not only the most mournful writing I have ever read, but also the most sexually charged poem, and the most loving treatment of an imperfect family. Excellent reading, even on your tenth time through

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Summary: magical realist sensual family saga
Review: Running in the Family is a wonderful autobiography, in the magical-realist, crazy-family-saga vein of Garcia-Marquez or Rushdie. It's funny, poetic, sensual, moving and strongly evocative of Sri Lanka, the author's eccentric family, and the sultry damp tropical greenness. It took me until the middle of the book to really get into it, but then i couldn't stop, and i had to re-read the beginning again; there's something about the events and the time-cycle he's describing that throws you right into the middle of things at the beginning, and becomes more understandable and linear from the middle of the book onwards. But it's well worth any initial confusion, and if you loved the English Patient, this book is a must

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Summary: A tragic comedy that keeps you on your toes
Review: The book jumps from hilarious stories about Lala's removable breast to increadibly moving beautiful poetry, then to tragic anecdotes on Ondaatje's father's drunkeness. A good read.

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Summary: Sensual writing at it's best
Review: There are some books that can transport you beyond your surroundings, that effortlessly overwhelm your senses. Where words themselves disolve into a picture, and the memories are so lush that feels as though you lived it yourself. This is a book of such astonishing prose that it is no longer anchored to the print, but extends into reality itself. On a cold, rainy Seattle day, I was in Sri Lanka, I could feel the heat and breathe the stifling air. I could see the exotic jungle and animals slinking inside around the trees, I could taste foods that have never touched my tounge, while hearing the laughter of people I have never met. I greedily consumed this book, not moving from my couch, and when finished, I sat in a trance, letting the words sink slowly into my skin.

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Summary: Ondaatje's childhood was full of splendor and heatbreak
Review: This book explains a lot about Ondaatje's background and the surroundings that may have led him to the life of a poet. The collection of "tales" has a touch of magical-realism, as though they are still looked at through the eyes of a boy. Very different from the English Patient, a lighter read, easy to put down and pick back up. One chapter a night before you go to bed will give you delightful dreams.

Rating:
Summary: What a family!
Review: This book was just so enjoyable and hilarious but yet so beautifully written. From the beginning till the end Ondaatje opens up to the reader (in a journal entry) this magical and beautiful world. Onddatje's adroitness to include the reader right there in the conversations he has with various family member will bring you to tears. His captivating sytle takes the reader back in time with him trhough such tear jerking and amusing experiences.

This memoir will give you a deatiled verbalization of each city and place in Ceylon, so that the reader has a clear picture of what it was like to actually be there. His simple structure of setting things up, will make you feel the temperature and jungle like atmosphere by his entailed descriptions.

Ondaatje reminds me of Stein in certain passages because of how he holds nothing back from the reader. It's as though he's sitting down and talking to you while showing photographs and stories of his exuberant and loud family.

Rating:
Summary: What a family!
Review: This book was just so enjoyable and hilarious but yet so beautifully written. From the beginning till the end Ondaatje opens up to the reader (in a journal entry) this magical and beautiful world. Onddatje's adroitness to include the reader right there in the conversations he has with various family member will bring you to tears. His captivating sytle takes the reader back in time with him trhough such tear jerking and amusing experiences.

This memoir will give you a deatiled verbalization of each city and place in Ceylon, so that the reader has a clear picture of what it was like to actually be there. His simple structure of setting things up, will make you feel the temperature and jungle like atmosphere by his entailed descriptions.

Ondaatje reminds me of Stein in certain passages because of how he holds nothing back from the reader. It's as though he's sitting down and talking to you while showing photographs and stories of his exuberant and loud family.

Rating:
Summary: An extraordinary poetic adventure!
Review: This book was such a pleasant surprise, with sweet language dripping off both hillarious and tragic events of Ondatje's journey through life. He crafts the events in the book with absolute brilliance and entices the reader into desiring to visit this magical little jungle of Sri Lanka. I highly recommend it!!

Rating:
Summary: for all that is painful and beautiful in our pasts. . .
Review: This continues to be one of my favorite books. I give copy after copy away to new friends when I recognize theirs as families whose best intentions and selfish motivations collided in the making of their lives. While Ondaatje's post-colonial collage is partly the story of the love and destruction of the idea of Ceylon, it mostly speaks not just of his family, but of the way we all share stories and romanticize our selves. The erotic poem "The Cinnamon Peeler's Wife" is alone worth the cost of the book.