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Talks about how the following three authors address issues of identity and politics in their writings: the Canadian Michael Ondaatje, the Australian David Malouf, and the South African Nadine Gordimer. This book examines the alliance between postmodernism and postcolonial theory. ... Read more

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This volume argues that the work of these writers has been shaped by Ontario painting, which was, until the mid-1960s, the province's pre-eminent art form. The three introductory chapters situate the five writers in the context of contemporary Ontario culture, blurring the boundaries between disciplines. This is a direct contrast to the dominant critical approach, which has been to place Ontario (and other Canadian) art in a national, mythic, and disciplinary context. The volume includes chapters providing relevant background about Northrop Frye and Ontario historians, as well as Ontario visual artists. This study will also interest scholars of cultural history and interdisciplinary studies. ... Read more

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Reading selected texts by Michael Ondaatje, including the novels "In the Skin of a Lion" and "The English Patient" and the poem "Birch Bark," Annick Hillger demonstrates how his writing both answers and challenges attempts to delineate the idea of a Canadian national self. She sets Ondaatje's work within the context of theoretical and philosophical ideas, developing the notion of a "literature of silence" concerned with finding a ground for self beyond the realm of language. "Not Needing all the Words" looks at Ondaatje's work in relation to the post-Cartesian idea of the modern subject as split and alienated. Highlighting the distinction between aesthesis and logic, Hillger traces the ways in which Ondaatje responds to the continuing process of silencing art in the modern age of reason. ... Read more

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Participating in the reframing of literary studies, Cosmopolitan Fictions identifies, as cosmopolitan fiction, a genre of global literature that investigates the ethics and politics of complex and multiple belonging.

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Why are contemporary writers of fiction in Canada so obsessed with photography? Timothy Findley's The Wars, Michael Ondaatje's Coming Through Slaughter, Margaret Laurence's The Diviners, and Alice Munro's Lives of Girls and Women all present the photograph as a virtual analogue to the act of creating narrative. Lorraine York examines four Canadian writers of fiction whose works span the literary schools of modernism, magic realism, and postmodernism. For Canadian postmodernists, photography becomes a means of examining, in an acutely self-conscious way, their need to break out of the traditional confines of narrative form. ... Read more

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This is nonfiction commentary. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Chapters: Novels by Michael Ondaatje, the English Patient, Anil's Ghost, in the Skin of a Lion, Divisadero, Coming Through Slaughter. Source: Wikipedia. Free updates online. Not illustrated. Excerpt:Anil s Ghost Anil s Ghost is the critically acclaimed fourth novel by Michael Ondaatje . It was first published in 2000 by McClelland and Stewart .Anil s Ghost follows the life of Anil Tissera, a native Sri Lankan who left to study in the United States on a scholarship, during which time she has become a forensic anthropologist . She returns to Sri Lanka in the midst of its merciless civil war as part of a Human Rights Investigation by the United Nations . Anil, along with archaeologist Sarath Diyasena, discovers the skeleton of a recently burned victim in a government area. With the help of the mysterious Sarath, Anil sets out to identify the skeleton, nicknamed Sailor, and bring about justice for the nameless victims of the war.Title explanation The title of the novel, Anil s Ghost, may be a reference to various elements within the narrative.Anil s ghost might refer to Anil s struggle to unify her past in Sri Lanka and America with her present life.Anil s ghost also might refer to Sailor, the skeleton that Anil and Sarath work to identify. Sailor, symbolizes, in a single entity, all of the victims of war. It is the destruction of innocent lives that haunts Anil and drives her to identify the vim as well as the culprit who killed him.Another meaning could be the "ghosts" of Sri Lankan atrocities that affects everyone she comes into contact with during her time there. Every character in the book has deep psychological scars from the violence.Finally, Sarath may also be Anil s ghost. At the end of the novel, Sarath s self sacrifice lives on as a memory in Anil and the other characters. As such, he ... ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

The Final Draft
If you loved THE ENGLISH PATIENT, then you'll probably appreciate reading the screenplay.It matches the film so this is either the final draft or it's more of a transcript of the final cut of the film.

If you're really interested in seeing how it originally read, you can look for the "Revised Draft: 28th August, 1995" version at screenplay websites and read it there.It's obviously an earlier draft with some interesting scenes and sequences that didn't make it into the film.

For example, the order of some scenes have changed.A pompous rival named Fenelon-Barnes who insists on riding camels to explore (and keeps a young sex slave girl tied up in his tent) is cut.There is also an interesting scene where an enraged Kip draws down on the Patient with a rifle after hearing about the Hiroshima blast.

The published version is the film you see.Both are worth reading if you're interested in how Anthony Minghella adapted the novel.Or if you just loved that movie.

the screenplay
If you love movies and writing than the screenplay is an interesting companion to the movie and book.Read along to the movie or figure out what a character really said, you can take this along with you anytime and enjoy the movie all over again.Filled with photos from the film and comments by Minghella, Zaentz, and Ondaatje, this is an excellent addition to your English Patient collection.

carefully crafted masterpiece
Anthony Minghella has re-created one of the most remarkable screenplays of our time by giving a new dimension to the original work.It is more concise, but has kept the essence of the novel. It portrays a journey ofseveral people; Hana, Kip, Caravaggio and Almasy who met each other perhapsby chance.But Minghella's work is not anoutcome of a mere chance, but acarefully crafted masterpiece like the novel it is based on.

If you haveenjoyed the book and the film, then you must somehow other read thescreenplay to better understand and appreciate both the book and the film. I have read it over five times and will read it again and perhaps again!

In the words of Almasy: "A Good Read."
Although it is different from the original novel, this screenplay does round out the film quite well. The intense feelings of the characters are conveyed very well through the script. However, I have a feeling that thisbook only appeared as a result of the massive publicity given the movie. Irecommend watching the film prior to reading this, or perhaps reading itwhile watching the film. Whatever you do, enjoy it!

A Love Only a Movie Can Give
Unlike most, I find this book intriging; something only a movie can provide. I've read the book The English Patient and have to say I like this much better. When I first saw the movive I instantly fell in love with it.It's about a man who is burned in a plain shot down by Germans in WW2. Heis marked "English Patient" by the hospital caravans. Through hislong journey he has flash backs of his life with Katherine; of his intimateand intense affair with the only woman he has ever loved. The one problemis, she is married. He carries with him always his book, The Histories, byHerodotus, the father of history. Through reading The Histories, andhearing the people around him speaking, bringing back memeories of a lifehe wants no one to know about, he finally reveals the sad and tragic end tohis love that will make you wet the pages with your tears. I recomend thisfor all hopeless romantics. But, before you read the screenplay watch themovie. It will bring tears to your eyes even more seeing the actors playingthe scenes out in your mind. Love, passion and tragic death. Greatcombinations! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Dangerously Sharp
Ondaatje, Michael.There's a Trick With a Knife I'm Learning to do: (poems 1963-78). W. W. Norton & Company: London, 1979.

Michael Ondaatje's collection of poems from 1963 to 1978 is entitled There's a Trick I'm Learning to do, and the reason for this has become apparent to me as I have read it.The trick that Ondaatje has learned is the art of poetic efficiency (commonly referred to as the "less is more" technique.)He carves his poems with this metaphorical blade.Although the collection is not a masterpiece, I feel that there are enough successful poems to warrant a review.
Ondaatje opens the collection with an interesting poem entitled "Light."The poem has the persona sitting on a porch observing a storm.With every "spark of lightning," he sees a portrait of someone from his past.The poem turns into a slide show of family portraits.This interesting insight into the poet's mind acts as an effective opening poem.It allows the reader to prepare for a ride through the world of Michael Ondaatje's eyes.
The highlight of the collection is "The Time Around Scars."This poem deals with the idea that we all have scars, and with them the memories of what made them.Ondaatje reveals a personal incident, yet causes the readers to reflect upon their own scars; not only physical, but emotional.Ondaatje describes a scar as "it sleeps, smooth and white,\the size of a leech" (15).His wonderful images continue as he refers to his wife's scars which are "like spread raindrops\ on knees and ankles" (15).Like the opening poem of the collection suggested, this poem is a picture show; revealing a bit more about life than merely the images, but always noticing the images.
Since Ondaatje is such a proficient imagist, other examples of his images should be noted.In "Diverse Causes," he paints a picture with "my daughter burns the lake\ by reflecting her red shoes in it" (9).Another interesting image is found in the poem "Signature."Ondaatje states that "everyone has scars which crawl\ into the mystery of swimming trunks" (10).Possibly the most unique image is found in the poem "Elizabeth," as he describes an apple with, "it shrunk like a face\ growing eyes and teeth ribs" (20).In "Burning Hills," he describes a wasp which is "crawling on the floor\ tumbling over, its motor fanatic" (44).This image promotes an auditory effect as well as the visual experience.A final interesting image is found in "Pig Glass."In this poem, he describes a breaking glass as the "booomm when glass\ tears free of its smoothness" (59).
Although some of his poems are at times difficult to thoroughly comprehend, Ondaatje must be praised as an imagist.He carves his poems in such a way that gaps appear, allowing readers to interpret the poems without constraint.The images carry the poems, and the mystery pushes them.If the "Trick With a Knife" that Ondaatje is learning is the act of efficiency, then his blade should be considered dangerously sharp. ... Read more