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23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Divisadero, 23 Sep 2007
I loved reading (and re reading) the English Patient and Anil's Ghost. I'd probably rate the English Patient as one of my favourite books. I was therefore a bit disheatened to hear some negative reviews of Divisadero on BBC Newsnight Review. Some of the comments described the writing style as "juvenile" and the storyline as a mess. The consensus of opinion was negative. On the contrary this novel was tremendous! I had a friend in school who once he listened to an album he really liked would not listen to it again for some time as he didn't want to diminish that first experience. I've just finished reading this book and I'm sorely tempted to re-read it now if it wasn't for my friend's peculiar advice. Ondaatje fans will not be disappointed in the slightest. This book was seven years in the making and this is reflected in the complex interweaving of numerous characters and their relationships....all held together by the 'blue table'. I think there is a lot to discover within this book, within every character, sublot and sentence. This is what attracted me to Ondaatje. I'd happily spend hours over one of his chapters. Divisadero has not disappointed in the slightest. It's evocative, deep, thought provoking and intimate. To hell with it I might just read it again now!
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
I was disappointed--Michael Ondaatje has done so much better, 26 Jan 2008
There's much to enjoy in this new Ondaatje novel--all his usual gifts are on display--but I was disappointed. First, it seems too many serious writers these days are obsessed with writing itself as a metaphor for life and all its existential complexity. Ondaatje tries to include the 'world' in his tortured literary effort--e.g., clunky references to the two Gulf Wars--but in the end the novel and its concerns feel terribly self-involved and self-referential, like he's finally given into a private world just as his characters Lucien Segura, Rafael, and Anna have done. Art as an escape from truth. Nietzsche deserves a better interpretation! Second, I found it needlessly confusing. I know we're not supposed to admit this -- we're supposed to pretend that it all makes sense--but does it? Early on Anna recounts a shared memory in the barn with her sister Claire. She says that 'even now' they remember it differently. When is even now? She runs away from home and never goes back as far as we know, so when do she and Anna get together and compare memories? Also, how can her telling of Lucien's life story contain resonances with Coop's life after she left, a life of which she knows nothing? Are we to believe in magic here, or are we to believe that the family at some point reunites? Don't get me wrong, the book is a pleasurable serious read. I read it in one sitting (one long plane ride). But it became increasingly disappointing as it went on. He refuses to tell a straight story--I get it--but the (perhaps) unintended effect of his narrative stubbornness is that as the book went on I wanted basically one thing: to know what happened to Coop, whom he abandons at mid-book. You can't just create a character and a story line as compelling as this one and then throw it away as if it started to smell bad to you. It smacks of an author who might disdain his own readers. Also, if you missed Tino Georgiou's masterful novel--The Fates, go and read it.It is the first novel of the century that could rightly be called a masterpiece
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18 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Innovative Philosophical Novel about the Nature of Identity and Perception, 18 Sep 2007
Divisadero will appeal most to those who are deeply interested in identity and perception. This is one of those rare novels that successful explores a philosophical issue, much as Dostoyevsky does with Crime and Punishment.
If, however, you are looking to a traditional novel about one person or a family, you'll find the dream-like shards of this book disturbing and difficult . . . rather than rewarding. You might want to read another novel instead.
Let me take you into Mr. Ondaatje's theme. Who are you? Most people would answer in terms of their name, their associations, their work, where they live, and their experiences. Michael Ondaatje demonstrates a different point of view; you are who you want to be. You can choose to die to who you were born and become someone else. The ease of doing that is increased if you go where no one knows you. But, your perceptions will be permanently framed by your life experiences in a way you cannot escape. Witness the excellent advice to first novelists: Write what you know. If you do that, you can change who you are (become a novelist) but you'll see the world through the lens of your experience even when you shift your focus to new ground.
The primary character in this book, Anna, lives this experience. She grows up in a twin-like existence with an adopted sister, Claire, and a near-brother, the neighbor boy Coop, who works as a hand for her family. The distance between them is broken when Anna and Coop begin to want more from one another. That idyll is broken by an event so terrible it will stay with you in nightmares. Nothing can remain the same.
But what will happen? The story develops from there to follow the disconnected lives of Anna, Claire, and Coop. Anna becomes a writer and Divisadero continues in investigating her research and writing about a poet and novelist. From there, Mr. Ondaatje peels the onion once more to take you into the life of the poet and novelist and his identity and perceptions.
As the stories play out, you'll be fascinated by many sub themes such as the way that we are often twinned with another. How do such twins develop separate identities? In addition, Mr. Ondaatje describes a universe that seems to be operated by unseen hands or laws that cause memes and experiences to recur.
After finishing the book, I was struck by how much meaning Mr. Ondaatje was able to draw out of a tragic event. I suggest you mull over the same point and spend some time thinking about what has happened to you . . . in terms of its meaning, rather than just its lessons.
Great work, Mr. Ondaatje!
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