Amy's review
Handwriting: Poems by Michael Ondaatje
Perhaps I have to be in the right mood for a book of poetry to speak to Me. Or maybe his other book of poems, The Cinnamon Peeler, was just much better than this one. I think I only "felt" or liked 3 passages in the entire book:
and
and
The women of Boralesgamuwa uproot lotus in mid-river skin reddened by floating pollen Songs to celebrate the washing of arms and bangles The laughter when husbands are away An uncaught prawn hiding by their feet The three folds on their stomachs considered a sign of beauty They try out all their ankle bracelets during these afternoons
and
For the first forty days a child is given dreams of previous lives. Journeys, winding paths, a hundred small lessons and then the past is erased
and
I want to die on your chest but not yet, she wrote, sometime in the 13th century of our love
The Cinnamon Peeler was much better than either Handwriting or Billy the Kid. I think I only liked a couple of poems from Handwriting, too.Oddly enough I just finished reading his novel, Divisadero and hated it. I can see why some people might like it, but it wasn't for me. There's nothing worse than getting wrapped up in character's lives only to have everything left hanging.
You know, I think I got this book from you!Maybe I'll take Divisadero off my wishlist then. I only added it because it was by Ondaatje. The subject matter didn't seem that interesting anyway.
