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Jul 01, 2008

Marguerite rated it:

I tried to read this once before, but I couldn't get much past page 80. This time, I couldn't put it down, which just reinforces my belief that there's a right time and a wrong time to read each book. This time, I'd been prepared by The Ministry of Special Cases and "The Caretaker," a story in Anthony Doerr's The Shell Collector. I wonder, now, about my recent attraction to refugee fiction or desaparecido fiction. What, exactly, am I looking for? What have I lost, or left behind?
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Jul 22, 2008

Ellen rated it:

Meh. Listened to this on tape. This contributed to the fragmented feeling of the book, but only a little. I didn't know why certain characters were being fleshed out when they were, or how they were related to the story at all sometimes. Maybe if I'd known more about Sri Lankan politics it would have been more clear. There was some suspense, but it never climaxed. Some of the writing was beautiful and vivid, but not enough to keep my attention if I'd been reading this myself.

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0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Oct 29, 2008

Cameron rated it:

Anil Tessira, a 33-year-old native Sri Lankan who left her country 15 years before, is a forensic pathologist sent by the U.N. human rights commission to investigate reports of mass murders on the island. Atrocities are being committed by three groups: the government, anti-government insurgents, and separatist guerrillas. Working secretly, these warring forces are decimating a population paralyzed by pervasive fear. Taciturn archeologist Sarath Diyasena is assigned by the government to be Anil's More...

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Jun 21, 2007

clare rated it:

this story is heartbreaking. michael ondaatje is a fantastic writer. let me give you a little taste:

"The mothers were always there. Sitting on stools, they rested their upper torso and head on their child's bed and slept holding the small hands. There were not too many fathers around then. He watched the children, who were unaware of their parents' arms. Fifty yards away in Emergency he had heard grown men scream for their mothers as they were dying. 'Wait for me!' 'I know you a More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Aug 28, 2011

Karlo Mikhail rated it:

Literary texts are ideological forms of social consciousness that arise out of the material foundations of society. Michael Ondaatje’s Anil’s Ghost can therefore be said to have a particular relationship with the social order from which it was written: a Sri Lanka wracked by civil war, chronic crisis, and diaspora.

Anil Tissera, a Sri Lankan forensics expert returning to her homeland after fifteen years studying and working abroad, is sent by the United Nations back to the island-nati More...

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Jun 15, 2011

Sharon rated it:

Anil's Ghost, the story of a forensic anthropologist investigating the bones of a war victim in Sri Lanka, is a painful, beautiful book. It is also very honest: the science does not magically resolve itself, but must be worked at; the war is hideous; the cultural knowledge is first-hand; and the heroics are small, if they exist at all, and usually brutally punished.

It is as frequently frustrating, unfortunately, as it is beautiful. Maybe it's just my simple, Hemingway-esque soul, bu More...

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Jul 31, 2010

Matt rated it:

A beautifully written book, with a muted thriller taking place in Sri Lanka to keep the pace going. I definitely want to read more Ondaatje after this. Some favorite lines...

"She used to believe that meaning allowed a person a door to escape grief and fear. But she saw that those who were slammed and stained by violence lost the power of language and logic... In a fearful nation, public sorrow was stamped down by the climate of uncertainty. If a father protested a son's de More...

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Aug 13, 2009

Andi rated it:

I believe I have met my match in terms of audio books - Ondaatje just didn’t work for me in this medium, but I am fully willing to imagine that it is simply because of the complexity of his language and imagery and the failure of a magnetic strip to convey that information to my mind well.

Anil’s Ghost tells the story of a young woman, Anil, who returns to her native Sri Lanka after an absence of several years. She returns to assist the government with work studying ancient bones and More...

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Jan 07, 2012

Monica rated it:

Michael Ondaatje was born in Sri Lanka, and this book is set in that country during its civil war in the mid-1980s.

Anil Tessira, a native Sri Lankan who left her country 15 years before, is a forensic pathologist sent by the U.N. human rights commission to investigate reports of mass murders on the island. There are three groups committing atrocities: the government, anti-government insurgents, and separatist guerrillas. These warring forces are terrorizing a population paralyzed by f More...

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Aug 08, 2011

Matthew rated it:

First, let me state that this books has nothing to do with ghosts. The main character is Anil, and just to be clear, she is not a ghost.

Anyway, this is a beautiful, dark and mostly satisfying book (minus some boring back story about the main character's failed affair with some nonentity of a character) with some particularly compelling secondary characters (the bit about the blind archaeologist is awesome) and side stories that revolve around human rights investigations in 1980s Sri L More...

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Aug 31, 2011

Karen rated it:

I listened to the CD in the car during a long drive, and I must say something about the reader, Alan Cumming. He was wonderful. I must admit that generally I don't enjoy books on tape/CD, and would prefer reading print, but in this case I was transported by Cumming's versatile acting. My enjoyment was not based solely on his acting, but that his portrayal made me forget about the actor and focus on the character. That is a rare occurance for me; I am rarely "taken" by a reading, I' More...

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Oct 20, 2011

Vicki rated it:

I really wanted to like this book. At dinner parties I always try to blend with the wallpaper when somebody starts raving about how the English Patient was the greatest film of all time. I always cringe when I have to admit I thought it was complete rubbish. I'm obviously a uncultured philistine.

This book was going to be my redemption, my step up into the intellectual elite. I wanted to be able to tell all my ever-so-clever friends that while The English Patient didn't rock my wor More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Aug 14, 2011

Shirley rated it:

Our world is a dangerous place and in various places and various times throughout history it remains so, even in the present day. As a world community we have not learned very much in our centuries of existence. This book is a testament to that ever-present danger. The setting is in Sri-Lanka during the 1980's and 1990's when there was much political upheaval and political unrest. Ondaatje paints a chilling picture of the everyday world that ordinary citizens lived in at this time. People disapp More...

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Nov 16, 2009

Bryn rated it:

I first encountered Michael Ondaatje's writing through the English patient (via the film) and was so taken by his style that I sought out other books.

What captivates me is the incredibly pared down, minimal writing that manages to communicate so much. I find it breathtaking to read.

This is a brutal novel. I gather Shri Lanka is Ondaatje's country of origin, so it's hard not to see this book as having a eprsonal element. Anil is an expert at determining what people did in More...

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Jan 29, 2011

Rob rated it:

(6/10) I just have this thing with Michael Ondaatje. He's one of those authors that seems like they should be write up my alley -- great prose, vaguely postmodern trappings, interesting things to say about how history is written, and Candain on top of all that. But I just find myself not able to engage with his novels, despite being able to recognize their quality. For all the beauty in the passages of this book, I found my attention wandering. Such is life.

Which isn't to say that More...

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Mar 16, 2009

Kariena rated it:

I picked this up because it's by the same author who wrote "English Patient". I didn't read that book, but the movie made me ooze with girlie feelings and a massive crush on Ralph Finnes (which lasted even after seeing his performance in "The Red Dragon"), so I thought I'd probably enjoy another Ondaatje story. I did.

The book is similar to English Patient- themes of human rights and archeology- but the story and characters are different enough that it is fresh. A More...

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Sep 23, 2011

V rated it:

I saw the movie made from Ondaatje's book, The English Patient, and didn't like it at all. So when I came across this book, I decided I owed it to Ondaatje and myself to read something he had written. Perhaps his writing would be more interesting than the movie had been. Also I did not know much about Sri Lanka, where the story takes place, and thought that would be interesting too. Now that I've finished it, I'd have to say I found it somewhat interesting, but not really compellingly so.

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Mar 01, 2011

Chip rated it:

Just finished Anil's Ghost. I want more! Two of the three main characters drop out of the narrative before the end of the book. While there are allusions to what happened, the reader is left to wonder and I don't think that's fair. It cost this book a star. Otherwise the prose is wonderful, the characters deep and flawed and lovable, the settings are varied and beautifully described. If asked I would hold this book up and say 'this is how you write a novel.' As I finished I found myself c More...

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Aug 05, 2007

Kaisa rated it:

Anil's Ghost is a book that should be read slowly. Even if you aced the JFK speed reading correspondence course, you will do yourself a grave disservice if you skim through Ondaatje's stunning prose. His graceful words construct a female protaganist that will not escape your memory.

Unless you are a popcorn movie style short term amnesiac.

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Nov 20, 2010

Robin rated it:

I thought the author did a wonderful job in creating the world of Sri Lanka and the tropical forests there. I liked the idea of an archaeologist teaming up with a doctor, and their meeting up with a Buddha face painter who became blind and his eyes were his relative. This book had some horrific scenes of war, and the casualties of war, and people fighting and being shot incongruously. Anil is an archaelogist who finds a human skull and they try to recreate the face of the person. This person More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Apr 10, 2009

Louise rated it:

Uggghh!! I loathed this book, but for your information here's a blurb off the back of the book.

"The time is our own time. The place Sri Lanka, the island nation off the southern tip of India, a country formerly known as Ceylon, which is steeped in centuries of cultural achievement and tradition - and forced into the late twentieth century by the ravages of civil war and the consequences of a country divided against itself.

Into this maelstrom steps a young woman, Ani More...

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Aug 02, 2011

Gina rated it:

As someone who doesn't really care too much for all the TV programming about forensics, I actually really enjoyed this book, the main character of which is a forensic scientist. For me, it brought together geopolitics, history, art and medicine together in a fluid balance, but perhaps most interesting to me was the setting in Sri Lanka. I've certainly been aware of the civil strife that has led to a staggering number of brutal deaths within the country, but this is an evocative addition to news More...

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Sep 30, 2010

Cornmaven rated it:

Well, I tried it. But it was way too intellectual for me. There was a good story in there somewhere, and the language was very poetic. Probably too poetic.

I like historical fiction, and I was interested in this tale about finding the bodies of the "disappeared". But Ondaatje just uses too many $50 words. You can tell he can't help himself. I envision him sitting in some Manhattan apartment with a pipe leaning back in his chair as he pontificates.

I cared More...

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Sep 05, 2009

Erin and Jim rated it:

This is such a beautifully written book. I attempted to read The English Patient, another Ondaatje novel, and I failed to really get into it. However, I found the storyline to be more accessible in Anil's Ghost, and I am also partial to the plot because it is so rich in history. The book takes place in Sri Lanka (Ondaatje's place of birth), a country that has been wracked by civil war and political turmoil since the early eighties. Ondaatje's descriptions of the Sri Lankan landscape are quite More...

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Jul 22, 2010

Thai rated it:

I had to read this for extension English class and I'm glad I did. The novel has sooo much to offer. The setting and the history, to the way the author portrays the 'protagonist' and her journey to resolve a government conspiracy.

Having studied it, there are minute details including the metaphors, symbolism, description and style that are mind-blowing and make you realise that there is so much to the history of the civil war conveyed by this book.

The language is powerfu More...

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Sep 23, 2011

Ashwini rated it:

Anil's Ghost traces the story of a young anthropologist who strives to reunite her modern western independence and sense of liberation and ties it up with the internal civil strife which sri lanka had fallen into. Through the journey into sri lanka, the novel seeks to throw up the psychologically scarred lives and the sense of desperation felt by everyone who feel that the civil war has sent every one into a loss of direction. The book is also a good insight into the sri lankan landscape and the More...

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Dec 28, 2008

Patrick rated it:

You know those long involved conversation about something that never really gets said - only everyone knows what they're talking about, they just aren't saying the subject by name. Subtle hints, innuendos, references and verbal images. More can be accomplished, more can be brought out into the open, more can be sensationalized, discussed, exposed - through the back story, history, events after they have unfolded - allowing the secrets out, the emotions to finally be felt - Michael Ondaatje's Ani More...

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Sep 14, 2010

Joseph rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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Feb 16, 2010

Yazmina-michele rated it:

I just finished reading this; forensic anthropology in Sri Lanka...mass murders by government bodies. Anil' ghost is not evident until way down the story track...I luvd the character of the woman who addopts a male name and lives a life of dedication to her chosen profession of Forensic Anthropologist away from her land of birth. Intertwined in the narrative, are moments of pure tenderness, repressed sexuality, dedication to protecting human dignity beyond the grave and sheer moments of absolute More...

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Mar 30, 2010

Spiros rated it:

A harrowing tale, set in war-torn Sri Lanka: the central characters are Anil, an ex-pat pathologist detailed to Sri Lanka to investigate political murders; Sarath, an archaeologist assigned to shepherd her in her investigations; and Sarath's brother Gamini, an emergency room surgeon who has been sucked into the vortex of the insanity, and who hasn't slept in years. Sarath functions adroitly in the present, but is most comfortable in the distant past. Anil and Gamini are both very much focused on More...

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