Anils Ghost (Vintage International)
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Anils Ghost (Vintage International)
by Authors:
Michael Ondaatje
Released: 24 April, 2001
ISBN: 0375724370
Paperback
Sales Rank: 58,424
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List price:
$13.00
Our price:
$10.40
(You save: $2.6)
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| Book > Anils Ghost (Vintage International) > Customer Reviews: |
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Average Customer Rating: 
Anils Ghost (Vintage International) >
Customer Review #1:
 A Book With No Focus
Michael Ondaatjes "The English Patient" is one of my favorite books so I really expected to like "Anils Ghost." Instead, I was very disappointed.I like episodic books but "Anils Ghost" is fragmented and the story has no focus whatsoever. Ondaatje leads us to believe the story centers around a skeleton dubbed "Sailor" and the Sri Lankan governments cover-up of recent murders. This would have been interesting but Ondaatje lets Sailors story trail off and almost be forgotten while nothing compelling takes its place.
The characters arent at all likable (Sarath may be the easiest to care about) and none of them have any depth at all. In fact, theyre little more than cardboard cutouts or shadows that flit through the narrative. Several of the minor characters (Leaf, in particular) are downright horrid.
Although Anil is the protagonist of this book, Ondaatje fails to keep the focus on the story on her and the end of the book is murky and totally unsatisfying.
While "The English Patient" was a rich and beautiful book with fully-developed characters, "Anils Ghost" reads more like an outline or a first draft than an actual book. Its thin, sketchy and leaves the reader frustrated. I wouldnt recommend this one to anyone.
Anils Ghost (Vintage International) >
Customer Review #2:
 Maybe Im just not literary enough
Damn, this was a really hard read. The writing is absolutely beautiful, but 80% of the time I had no idea what this obviously gifted, much venerated and acclaimed author was talking about. Even now that Ive finished it, I dont know what I just read. It just seems like it ought not to be necessary to write a book in such an ambiguous way in order to be labeled a terrific writer. And I swear Im not smokin anything.
I guess Id have to advise others to take a pass.
Anils Ghost (Vintage International) >
Customer Review #3:
 "Truth" - is it really out there?
I love this novel. I read it two years ago in a university English class that looked at postmodern concepts and specifically how history is written - how it is written and thought to be the truth when it is really nothing more than interpretation. There is no ultimate truth to history only a few facts burried among the many fictions. And that is what this novel is about - the uncovering of fact among fiction and the reality that what you discover is not a "universal truth" but rather a personal "truth", one developed from your own interpretation.
I think Ondaatje is a magnificent writer and this is the novel that made me fall in love with him. Anil is a woman who, like many women, is unsure of where she stands in life. She was born in Sri Lanka but educated in Britian and assimilated herself into Western culture. Now, returning to her home country, her focus on the corpse is not so much about wanting to know the truth behind its origin, but rather about her wanting to know more about her origin; wanting to know about the place that originally created her; the place that lives in her even when she tries to deny it.
My advice: read this book. Take your time with it and think of it as an exploration into human identity and how fact, fiction, history and place all contribute to that identity. Also, check out his other work, especially his poems. Theyre fabulous!
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Anils Ghost (Vintage International) >
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