In the Skin of a Lion – Michael Ondaatje
I was inspired to read this by a passing comment on another novel – that the other novel was the best portrayal of the relationship between a man and his work since this book (I can’t remember the exact words).
The book isn’t a single story, but a series of seven shorter pieces. Each describes a significant fragment of the life of one of the characters, although two of them happen to other people. The structure isn’t obvious as you read it, but they do fit together in the end, even if only loosely. But each of the stories works on its own; for me the structure was secondary.
For what feels like a pretty literary book, I found this really engaging and easy to read. The writing style in particular is interesting. Parts of it make good use of fragments to paint details of a scene rather than trying to describe it in full sentences. That might sound hard to read, but it’s not. I can see I’m going to have to watch myself now if I don’t want to copy this quite distinctive style!
I also enjoyed the subject matter. Several of the sections are about men at work (it was that aspect of the book that prompted me to read it). The first section is about a boy growing up remembering his father mainly through working with him – an experience that is sadly a lot less common today. Another section describes the same character helping build a tunnel, and then later working in a tannery; this reminded me a lot of Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle (a book I recommend frequently).
It’s also interesting as a description of what was then still a very young country (it’s set in and around Toronto during the early 20th century). Again, like The Jungle. It was a time when large immigrant communities seem to have kept very much to themselves (or depending on your perspective, seem to have been largely shut out of anywhere else). Given all the current fuss about “integration” it’s interesting to think about how much the US and Canada seem to have changed within a couple of generations of the times described in this book. Are things really so different now, or do we just need to be more patient?
The book isn’t a single story, but a series of seven shorter pieces. Each describes a significant fragment of the life of one of the characters, although two of them happen to other people. The structure isn’t obvious as you read it, but they do fit together in the end, even if only loosely. But each of the stories works on its own; for me the structure was secondary.
For what feels like a pretty literary book, I found this really engaging and easy to read. The writing style in particular is interesting. Parts of it make good use of fragments to paint details of a scene rather than trying to describe it in full sentences. That might sound hard to read, but it’s not. I can see I’m going to have to watch myself now if I don’t want to copy this quite distinctive style!
I also enjoyed the subject matter. Several of the sections are about men at work (it was that aspect of the book that prompted me to read it). The first section is about a boy growing up remembering his father mainly through working with him – an experience that is sadly a lot less common today. Another section describes the same character helping build a tunnel, and then later working in a tannery; this reminded me a lot of Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle (a book I recommend frequently).
It’s also interesting as a description of what was then still a very young country (it’s set in and around Toronto during the early 20th century). Again, like The Jungle. It was a time when large immigrant communities seem to have kept very much to themselves (or depending on your perspective, seem to have been largely shut out of anywhere else). Given all the current fuss about “integration” it’s interesting to think about how much the US and Canada seem to have changed within a couple of generations of the times described in this book. Are things really so different now, or do we just need to be more patient?
Labels: Reading
posted by tomdg at 5:23 AM
4 Comments:
Hi, Tom-
Thanks for stopping by my blog, and thanks for your thoughts. God is "cleverer and bigger and brighter, and not just a little, but infinitely so."--Very true. Thank you!
Hello again-
You made me remember once when my dad was scolding me in high school. Unfortunately I responded with, "At least I'm not as bad as THEY are." It didn't go well for me, either. :) Thanks for your thoughts!
Amy
I just read M.O.'s "The English Patient." A little hard to follow, but beautiful language, kind of like a dream. Sounds like this work is a little more accessible?
I haven't read The English Patient, so I can't comment for sure, but ... yes, this is probably more accessible. Mind you, I found it easy and enjoyable to read, but less easy to follow, since it's not apparent until late on how the various bits link together. But each works pretty well on its own.
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