In the Skin of a Lion
by Michael Ondaatje
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| Powerful sexual energy,with sweetness! Labor problems included. | 1 | 01/10/2008 12:11PM |
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 1172)
Read in November, 2007
"In the Skin of a Lion" is thick with memorable scenes. The plot advances from one evocative epiphany or boiling point to the next, threading together a small crew of intense and sympathetic individuals.
The stoic, unschooled and hard-working protagonists allow a fresh perspective on early 20th century industrialization, which Ondaatje manages without ever becoming preachy or obsessed.
The life circumstances that Ondaatje chooses to include impart an almost mythic quality to the...more
The stoic, unschooled and hard-working protagonists allow a fresh perspective on early 20th century industrialization, which Ondaatje manages without ever becoming preachy or obsessed.
The life circumstances that Ondaatje chooses to include impart an almost mythic quality to the...more
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Read in December, 2006
In general, this is a book I wanted to keep reading while I wasn't, which is a good sign.
I liked the setting of this book: the Depression in Toronto. I actually learned a lot about Toronto just reading this and looking things up. One of the best qualities this story had was that it was timeless enough to feel like it was happening in the very present.
I think the many messages the story had within it were actually quite clear once the story finished. It was a good 3rd person depiction of ...more
I liked the setting of this book: the Depression in Toronto. I actually learned a lot about Toronto just reading this and looking things up. One of the best qualities this story had was that it was timeless enough to feel like it was happening in the very present.
I think the many messages the story had within it were actually quite clear once the story finished. It was a good 3rd person depiction of ...more
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Read in July, 2005
The best book I've read in 5 years.
But everyone I recommend it to hates it.
The prose is poetry, and the genetic connection to Ondaatje's earlier prose-poem works like "Coming through Slaughter" is obvious. But the power of this book resides in his characterization - you come to be absolutely devoted to the individuals - and I choose that word deliberately - that populate this novel. Though sparingly described, they seem more familiar than the characters so exhaustively catalo...more
But everyone I recommend it to hates it.
The prose is poetry, and the genetic connection to Ondaatje's earlier prose-poem works like "Coming through Slaughter" is obvious. But the power of this book resides in his characterization - you come to be absolutely devoted to the individuals - and I choose that word deliberately - that populate this novel. Though sparingly described, they seem more familiar than the characters so exhaustively catalo...more
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Read in April, 2008
In the Skin of a Lion by Michael Ondaatje has some scenes that will stick with me but overall it lacked the cohesion of The English Patient. The novel covers the life of a would-be terrorist from his childhood growing up in rural Canada and then moving to Toronto. A depressed economy, unfair labor practices and a number of other factors bring Patrick Lewis bring him to extreme measures.
The novel which takes its title from a line from The Epic of Gilgamesh is in many ways a Canadian Jungle (U...more
The novel which takes its title from a line from The Epic of Gilgamesh is in many ways a Canadian Jungle (U...more
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Read in March, 2008
what love affairs! i was put off initially by the preening masculinity of long passages about loggers and bridge-builders and other big-biceped sorts. beautifully written, and a necessary set-up, but a bit much, for me, now, anyway. but in came the nun, clara, and alice. though clara was a little too much the woman that so many smart men (characters and authors and various other real-world types alike) dream up ---- poetically mysterious, eloquently vague, occasionally vulnerable but ultimately ...more
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Read in July, 2001
This is my favourite of Ondaatje's novels, and I am quite the Ondaatje fan, so. This is pomo in ways that are by now familiar: interested in collage-style historical documentation, nonlinear, imagistic, in opposition to grand narratives, obsessed with artistic creation, etc. And I love that stuff, because it is awesome. But what really makes this work is Ondaatje's prose, which is lush and visceral and delicious - he invests all of his characters with a specific kind of depth resultant from t...more
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Read in January, 2003
If you aren't already aware, this is more or less a prequel to "The English Patient," with a different focus - as if the existence of similar characters were accidental rather than explanatory. Hanna, the nurse who is central to the latter novel (but only supporting in the film) is a small child in this one, which is set in Canada before the war. One of the more interesting characters in both is David Caravaggio, the thief, given his due background in this one. I desperately want to...more
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Read in March, 2008
recommended to Celeste by:
Book Club Selection
Overall, my thoughts are mixed... while this is a superbly written book and I enjoyed it, I didn't love. And I found the large breaks in time in the story confusing and a bit frustrating. The story is beautifully written. And I really enjoyed the historical aspects of the building of Toronto. However, I was frustrated by the lack of character development; just as you would get into a character's story, the character would be dropped.
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Read in June, 2007
recommended to Lavina by:
Jean
I can't pinpoint exactly why I liked this so much; I can't even succinctly describe what it's about in a way that won't make the book sound, well, boring. Nevertheless, I loved reading this. It's a love story, in its way; it's a story of immigrants in Toronto, too; it's also somewhat a story of family (actual and created), displacement, loss. But the events of the stories are told in snippets, concise yet hazy fragments, that sort of form a neat and beautifully narrated picture book (without act...more
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recommends it for:
nuns, young Canadians, and the Polish
Michael Ondaatje is one of my favorite writers, so it's no surprise that I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Although it didn't touch me in the way that The English Patient did (how the freak do you write in italics on this thing?), it struck me with the same elegance of prose and haunting characters. Ondaatje is impeccable in his character development and his ability to bond a reader to those characters. I love the passage in which the dramas take place in the factory...such a beautiful scene.
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Read in July, 2007
I read this last summer when I was on an Ondaatje kick. It has the same characters as in the English Patient which was interesting but they are not like a trilogy or connected in that way. As with all Ondaatje books, the story is a bit vague at times but his writing is so poetic I don't think you read these novels for their plot.I must say though, that after reading this book and The English Patient back to back, it was time for some straight forward plot and dialog! Worth the read.
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I read this when I was trying to like Toronto more... it's always listed as one of the only books where Toronto is a character (the way New York City or Paris or London or St. Petersburg are in countless books). I don't think Toronto is really a character yet--just a place with a history. The best best part is the description of building the bloor via duct (a high steel bridge built in the early 1900s) because it feels like actually stepping back in time.
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Gorgeous prose, moving back and forth in time to follow the interaction of several characters whose lives intersect. 1920's Toronto brought to life with strong and sometimes startling detail. Ondaatje's style is intimate and searching, hypnotic really. Initially I was not sure I liked this book and then suddenly I could not put it down.
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Say Ondaatje and everyone thinks of The English Patient. This predates it, though some of the characters are the same. An extraordinarily well-crafted tale of survival and adaptation in a very strange land (Canada). Scenes written to be engraved on a reader's memory. Stealing warmth from a cow's gums, for instance.
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Read in January, 2004
recommends it for:
mechanics enthusiasts
This story starts with bridge-builders in Toronto in the 1800s. It brought in some Ondaatje repeat characters like Caravaggio the thief. I read this a while ago but I remember being struck by his delicate and precise language. A much less sweeping plot than the English Patient, but a really worthwhile story still.
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Read in August, 2007
ondaatje writes beautiful prose, and this book is no exception. this book enveloped me and left me feeling like a revolutionary in 1930s toronto. bonus points: the introductions of hana, caravaggio, patrick, and clara, all of whom i know (some better than others) from the english patient.
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Read in November, 2007
I was utterly swept away by this book. Ondaatje writes in that space between wakefulness and sleep. Beautifully poetic, the novel evokes images that are simultaneously startling and familiar, and captures a landscape of emotions inspired by events in Toronto in the 1920s and 30s.
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Touching and true to my Torontonian past. I love that Mr. Ondaatje uses real events and does his research to perfectly capture the setting. Also, the flip-flopping of stories and the intertwining of characters provides a great climatic ending.
I would highly recommend this one!
I would highly recommend this one!
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Read in February, 2008
Amazing writing, some ideas that Ondaatje articulates in ways that literally made me put down the book and shake my head in amazement. It's about turn-of-the-century Toronto and the working-class immigrants who lived there. Very impressionistic, not plot-driven. Awesome.
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Read in January, 2000
Unexpected plot twists and lyrical prose make this an unforgettable read. If you've read the English Patient, you'll recognize at least one character from that story in this one. Set in Canada during the construction of a bridge and full of bizarre happenings.
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book data (includes all editions)
avg rating (all editions): 3.99 (946 ratings) avg rating (this edition): 4.00 (865 ratings) number of reviews: 85popular shelves
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quote
"Nicholas Temelcoff is famous on the bridge, a daredevil. He is given all the difficult jobs and he takes them. He descends into the air with no fear. He is a solitary. He assembles ropes, brushes the tackle and pulley at his waist, and falls off the bridge like a diver over the edge of a boat."
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