book data
1815 ratings, 3.50 average rating, 183 reviews
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published
May 25th 2001
(first published 2000)
by Pan Macmillan
binding
Hardcover, 250 pages
literary awards
Scotiaback Giller Prize (2000)
isbn
033048060X
(isbn13: 9780330480604)
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 2298)
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avg 3.50
Read in July, 2008
recommends it for:
Expats, lovers, crusaders
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, ...more
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Read in August, 2002
recommends it for:
anyone
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 are here!...more
"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 are here!...more
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Read in July, 2008
recommends it for:
people interested in Sri Lanka's dark underbelly
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.
Read The E...more
Read The E...more
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Read in August, 2003
recommends it for:
anyone who gets distracted by the CNN readerboard
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.
Unless you are a popcorn movie style short term amnesiac.
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Read in October, 2008
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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Read in January, 2005
Anil is an expat Sri Lankan, expert in the forensics of old bones. She returns to Sri Lanka to examine archeological remains and discovers evidence of recent atrocities. This is a portrait of a Sri Lanka riven with murderous conflict, a fascist state in which dissent yields death. Thousand are murdered on an ongoing basis, and no evidence of wrongdoing will be allowed to reach daylight.
Anil fights her own memories of life in Sri Lanka, family, relationships. There are several memorable charac...more
Anil fights her own memories of life in Sri Lanka, family, relationships. There are several memorable charac...more
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Read in August, 2008
The subject matter is top notch. I found it to be very interesting & has piqued my interest in Sri Lanka.
The plot was fantastic, and well researched. I enjoyed the scientific side element of the story.
The characters were *almost*, very nearly, so incredibly close to being well developed, but fell just short of the mark. Just when they started to get interesting they dissapeared from the book entirely. I found this to be very frustrating.
While I do appreciate the Asiatic minima...more
The plot was fantastic, and well researched. I enjoyed the scientific side element of the story.
The characters were *almost*, very nearly, so incredibly close to being well developed, but fell just short of the mark. Just when they started to get interesting they dissapeared from the book entirely. I found this to be very frustrating.
While I do appreciate the Asiatic minima...more
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Read in May, 2008
Anil leaves her native Sri Lanka at the ago of 18 and returns several years later to a very different country, one ravaged by civil war. She is a forensic anthropologist on a UN human rights assigment, and she is sent to assist in determining the source of the murders that are plaguing the country. Her partner is Sarath, a Sri Lankan anthropologist, who becomes her friend and helps her put the situation in perspective. After some detective work, they locate several skeletons, one of which is ...more
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Read in December, 2007
I can understand why some readers were heartbroken over this book. Ondaatje's writing is never bland, and I can easily find myself so absorbed in his text that I have to remember not to hold my breath. But that is how Ondaatje writes, and readers will not be disappointed in his style that punches guts and moves to tears. That, to say the least, is how I felt after completing The English Patient.
Anil's Ghost is a completely different story, yet at the same time I noticed the parallel lines...more
Anil's Ghost is a completely different story, yet at the same time I noticed the parallel lines...more
Read in October, 2007
I really love this book; it’s one of my favourites, and it captivates me more every time I read it. I’m halfway through my fourth reading right now, and it definitely flows better now that I’m accustomed to his poetic style. This is the only Ondaatje book I’ve read, so I wasn’t expecting the strange sentence structure. At first I was rather confused at the half completed sentences, and what not. In the end, though, I suppose it’s really the writing itself that drew me in, because I ...more
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Read in January, 2008
Although I enjoyed the story, I found it hard to give the book more than 3 stars. Ondaatje's writing is often lyrical and beautiful, and I would love to see Sri Lanka, but it almost seemed as if this book got away from him. To me, there seemed to be something missing in each of the characters, and some of the sidebars seemed either unneeded or hastily concluded. In a way, all of the characters seemed detached from the world. You want to root for them but you don't feel enthusiatic. Some scenes r...more
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Read in May, 2008
I just listened to this unabridged CD for the 4th time. Each time gives me different insights into the story. The first time I was annoyed that although described as a mystery, it was not from this genre, but much more than that, including interesting character development and seemingly loosely related tangents. The basic story is the return of a forensic anthropologist to Sri Lanka during the 80's civil war to find evidence of human rights violations for the UN. This time I saw the implication ...more
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Read in April, 2008
I just finished this one -- on CD actually as I travel in my car. It unwinds slowly, like the uncovering of the mystery surrounding the death of "Sailor," the skeleton that Anil is analyzing forensically. I really like the intertwining of the characters as well as their characterizations -- the loyalties and secrets, the flaws and foibles. A doctor who is addicted to speed; an artist who is a drunk; and Anil who is (was?) in love with a married man and has a best friend who is dying...more
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Read in August, 2008
I really wanted to like this book, yet despite my earnest efforts, I failed to get any enjoyment out of this story whatsoever. After the first 60 pages, I questioned if I should even bother continuing the read. Not being one to quit (as a book has to be absolutely horrible for me to give up on it), I soldiered through, although the desire to close the book and read something else struck me at least 4 more times. The plot was just missing something, and the way Ondaatje danced between characte...more
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Read in December, 2007
A Sri Lankan expatriate / western-trained forensic anthropologist returns to her native country to uncover the truth of the horrors of local guerrilla warfare and government-sanctioned slaughtering.
Purely beautiful writing; brings to light the harsh realities of violent warfare in Sri Lanka while simultaneously highlighting the strength & warmth of the human spirit amidst chaos.
"They had brought him nine-month-old twins, each shot in the palms and one bullet each in their rig...more
Purely beautiful writing; brings to light the harsh realities of violent warfare in Sri Lanka while simultaneously highlighting the strength & warmth of the human spirit amidst chaos.
"They had brought him nine-month-old twins, each shot in the palms and one bullet each in their rig...more
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Read in January, 2004
I should probably re-read this. I remember connecting to the main character, because she is a 2nd gen or 1.5 gen who goes back to her "home" country. On the surface she thinks she understands and connects with, but really doesn't. I remember feeling that feeling of the homeland haunting you and you having a connection/disconnection with it that you don't understand. In the end she does begin a new connection to her "homeland" but it is different on a fundamental level to that...more
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Interesting and enjoyable book detailing the genocide in Sri Lanka. A native of teh country, it quickly becomes apparent that thsi is a topic near nad dear to his heart, but also an issue that is far from clear cut. The novel focuses on Anil, a UN forensic archaeologist who had left her home country at an early age and is coming home as an outsider intent on revealing the government's complicit/explicit role in what is in actually a three-part war with atrocities on all sides. The book examin...more
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Read in October, 2007
Michael Ondaatje has a poetic kind of lull to his writing; it draws you in slowly and puts a spell on you. It took me a little while to get into this book, but once I was in, I enjoyed it. His look at the warzone terror of Sri Lanka seems to be an attempt to step out of the mess of politics and power and violence, and into the inner human drama. At times I felt like I would have wanted to see some more delving into the reasons behind...more
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Read in August, 2007
I read this book years ago but stumbled across reviews of it on this site. I had forgotten it was set in Sri Lanka (in fact, I've forgetten pretty much everything other than that I enjoyed it). I recently re-read it, curious to see how much I would appreciate it having been to Sri Lanka in the past few years.
Apart from recognizing the towns and regions, and some of the history, I wasn't overwhelmed with my increased ability to enjoy the story. In fact, the book was underwhelming in genera...more
Apart from recognizing the towns and regions, and some of the history, I wasn't overwhelmed with my increased ability to enjoy the story. In fact, the book was underwhelming in genera...more
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Read in June, 2008
The fractionated point of view with which we searched through English Patient's great macrame of a plot is less sustaining in Anil's Ghost, but it still works. Mengella said of his task of writng a screenplay for EP that it took an unraveling and reweaving to make it work on the screen is helpful here: we must accept Ondaatje's complete mastery of content and form or else lose faith. This book is short enough and modest enough in its scope to pay off quickly, or relatively so, and leave a hung...more
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