Too Fond Of Books
Posted on August 10, 2008
Filed Under Books
When I first heard that the premise of Too Fond of Books is positive-only book reviews, I didn’t expect to like it. I was expecting a list of titles and “This book was so good! You should read it!” after each one.
I changed my mind after reading MC’s thoughtful responses to each book. There are only positive reviews (MC must follow the adage that if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all!), but they are not repetitive, since the collection of books and authors that she’s discussing is so varied, her responses are varied as well.
Here’s a recent example (because I am a big Ondaatje fan since reading The English Patient and In The Skin Of A Lion):
Michael Ondaatje first came to international attention with his gorgeous novel, The English Patient, which won the Booker Prize. It cannot be easy for a writer to follow up on such acclaim, but with Anil’s Ghost he does just that. And though the two novels are vastly different in scope and subject, Anil’s Ghost is as lovely, thought provoking, and unforgettable as the first.
Anil’s Ghost takes place in Sri Lanka during the early 1990s in the days following the “emergency” (read civil war) of the late 80’s. Anil Tissera is a young Sri Lankan expatriate who has returned to the island after being educated abroad. She is a forensic anthropologist sent by an international human rights group to investigate disappearances and organized murders perpetuated by the government against citizens thought to be involved in one of two anti-government insurgent groups. Anil is assigned by the “cooperative” Sri Lankan government to work with an archeaologist, named Sarath Diyasena, who may or may not be sympathetic with her work.
The story centers around Anil’s and Sarath’s investigation, so there is a mystery at the heart of the novel, but Ondaatje gracefully weaves the stories of other characters into it as well. For every clue the scientists uncover as they build a case against the government, we learn of the human cost of civil war on the families of the victims, on the doctors who treat them, on the fabric of a society torn apart by fear and mistrust. The incredible thing about this novel is that while the story is often heartbreaking, Ondaatje offers it to us honestly and with a forthrightness that is never grotesque or hard to bear.
Via Too Fond of Books: Anil’s Ghost by Michael Ondaatje
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