Another pick courtesy of NPR. Hope it's better than Shanghai Girls....
"The joyful will stoop with sorrow, and when you have gone to the earth I will let my hair grow long for your sake, I will wander through the wilderness in the skin of a lion.
The Epic of Gilgamesh"
9 comments:
I'm glad this book wasn't very long, becuase I'm not sure I could have put up with it much longer. I didn't enjoy the way the characters were introduced; it seemed very cumbersome and I constantly felt like I was struggling to place who was who in the first half of the book. If I bother to reread it, I'm sure it will better the second time through. I think you really need to have the insight from the last half of the book to appreciate the first bit. Maybe it would have been better if I had already read (or seen) The English Patient?
Unflattering structure aside, I think the characters were great. I really liked Alice, Clara, Hana, Patrick, Patrick's dad, Caravaggio, the baker, etc.. I also really enjoyed how their lives were connected - very "it's a small world." I didn't think I was very emotionally involved with the characters until Alice died, and I cried. I felt a deep sadness for Patrick.
I did not, however, see the relevence of the lady that Caravaggio met at the lake right after his escape from prision. I think that passafe would have been fine with him just looking in on her and then using the phone. No need for them to talk all night.
Things that are still unclear to me:
Why was Caravaggio attacked in prision?
Why did Patrick burn down the hotel?
How were Alice and Patrick mixed up in the bombing that killed her? Clearly Patrick knew about it beforehand, pg 239 "They found me at the tannery, screaming to me about what had happened... She was carrying the clock bomb, not even knowing what it was... Temelcoff and I jumped up and down, the mod around us, now and then seeing each other's frantic faces." This leads me to believe that Patrick, with his extensive knowlegde of explosives and years of experience in low-paying, non-unionized manual labor jobs, constructed the bomb, but why? Did he think getting involved in the unionizing would bring him closer to Alice? Were they both involved in violent pro-union protests?
Now for some favorite quotes:
pg 138
"He was always comfortable in someone else's landscape, enjoyed being taught the customs of a place."
pg 164 - Alice to Patrick
"You and I will never enter certain rooms together, Patrick. A woman needs a woman to laugh with, over certain things."
pg 169 - in the blind garden with Elizabeth
"The bird sounds here are lovely but sometimes I come here drunk or with a hangover and the noise is awful. Then I want to pour medicinal fluids into my handkerchief, climb into the branches, and chloroform them."
I loved Elizabeth!
pg 172 - song from the boat
"Beware of frozen ponds, peroxide blondes, stock and bonds.."
I looked at the order of the books and English Patient is written after this book, and as far as I can tell (although it has been almost 8 years since I read English Patient) they don't have much to do with each other.
I agree, though, this writing style is cumbersome (the perfect word for it, Angie). In some ways I really enjoy the writing because it is almost like reading poetry in prose. BUT, on the same hand, for a novel, it is confusing and interrupts the flow of the story, in my opinion.
I also enjoy the characters and the mystery surrounding all of them. Because of way I read the book (off and on, hear and there) I didn't mark any favorite quotes. However, so far (I haven't quite finished reading it but am quite close) I especially enjoyed the whole segment between the nun and Nicholas near the beginning. Also, the description of the dyers at the tannery.
I'll post more in response to some of your other comments, Angie, once I have finished for once and all.
Cumbersome indeed. I agree that the flow was just not quite right. In the beginning there were so many casual references to future actions that I would find myself saying "ok, see if Temelcoff comes back as a baker" "ok, now see it Patrick ends up dating a woman named Clara."
I thought since The English Patient was so popular that this book might be made more enjoyable if you had a vested interested in any of the characters. (I think Caravaggio and Hana are the two that carry over, but have not read it so don't quote me on that) Kind of like how the first two Plum books are better after you've read the whole series.
This book reminds me of "The Robber Bride" in that you are left with several lingering questions. The foremost (up there with how Zenia died) is whether Patrick was the one who built the bomb that killed Alice? As Angie points out, he had the skill set to create it and seems to feel some guilt. Is the guilt because he built the bomb or just because he failed to find Alice in time? I don't think he built the bomb. I don't see him getting involved, not without Alice's knowledge and Alice just didn't seem to be aware of it or how could she have grabbed the wrong bag? I'm not secure in this guess, but that is my gut instinct.
My next big question is why did Harris let Patrick go after he OBVIOUSLY intended to blow up the waterworks? Why wasn't he sent back to jail? Instead, it appears that Harris patches him and sends him on his way. Are we supposed to see Harris as the good-guy capitalist who may kill hundreds of faceless men in his tunnel but doesn't turn in one hurt man who tries to blow up his pet project? I don't understand. Ideas?
Your first two questions aren't as important to me as a reader, no offense. People get attacked in prison. Based on the racial slurs, I'm guessing it was a racially based prison hate crime.
As for Patrick setting fire to the hotel, this makes sense to me this way: He is clearly upset with Alice's death and wants to make a statement in her honor. What better way than to target a grand hotel in Muskoka, the bastion of the wealthy? Especially with everyone there for a festival. It targets the wealthy at the height of their luxury and carelessness. In my head, this fits. Up to this point he has seen himself more as a watcher than a participant in the lives of Alice and Clara and the others. With this act he moves from watcher to participant, all for Alice's sake.
The scene in the garden with the blind woman is another one of my favorite scenes from the book. You picked two of my favorite quotes, BTW. The chloroformed birds and laughing together as women quotes.
Overall, I like Hana's character the best. She seems like the rock that keeps Alice grounded and later Patrick.
So, finally, I thought this book was definitely worth reading- even with all of its questions and wandering. There is something about Ondaatje's writing that just keeps me involved and thinking after I have finished the book. So, good choice.
Well, hold up a bit. I am half way through this book and am finding it (so far) easy to put down. I am so lost..... eventually I think it will clear up????
Joy - yes, the second half is much better than the first.
Another question, why the title? In the Skin of a Lion??
Who's the lion? Patrick?
OK, so I wrote this nice commentary on the book, and the internet went down and my fookin' commentary is gone!!!!
So, here are my thoughts quick from what I can remember.
I liked your 2 quotes Angie, they were favorites of mine too, as well as another one from page 146 "Meander if you want to get to town". I thought that aptly described the whole book to a T. I thought the middle section could go, he was searching for the plot I believe.
Also wondering about Harris and why he let Patrick go. Ummmm, Harris with the revolver in the filtration plant?
Other parts I liked were:
the men skating on the creek holding flaming cattails
the rich trying to hit the monkeys on the ceiling with champagne corks (sounds like fun for the humans, not so much for the monkeys).
the rich woman getting seductively undressed only to be chloroformed
the dyers (not that I liked it but it was very informative - NEVER knew that stuff!)
Overall, ok choice but I don't think I'll re-read it even after knowing the ending.
I don't think I'll ever reread it either! I also liked the rich lady getting undressed and chloroformed!
Post a Comment