Michael Ondaatje Boeken

Aan het eind van de Tweede Wereldoorlog verzorgt een Canadese verpleegster een waarschijnlijk Engelse piloot, die in de woestijn is neergeschoten en niet meer weet wie hij is.

Bloemlezing van veertien verhalen van binnen- en buitenlandse auteurs over woestijnen.

Here are Michael Ondaatje's conversations with film and sound editor Walter Murch

The life of Billy the Kid is marked by violence, with a notorious reputation for having killed a man for every year of his short life. His story culminates in a tragic betrayal when he is shot dead by a former friend, highlighting themes of friendship, betrayal, and the consequences of a life steeped in crime. This gripping narrative explores the complexities of his character and the turbulent era in which he lived.

Certain special places move us at a profound level with a kind of inner beauty that puts us in direct touch with the spirit. It might be a temple, a church, a commemorative monument, a wayside shrine or a landscape feature that is saturated in the ambience of ancient sacred traditions. Such places are worth taking the trouble to visit. They add meaning to our lives, awakening a sense of awe, beauty or tranquillity. Accompanying the superb photographs are evocative descriptions of each place, many of them from esteemed writers who share with us their personal responses in their inimitable style

Based on the life of cornet player Buddy Bolden, one of the legendary jazz pioneers of New Orleans, this novel is a recreation of a remarkable musical life and a tragic conclusion. Michael Ondaatje builds a picture of a man who by day worked in a barber shop and at night unleashed his talent.

In the late 1970s Ondaatje returned to his native island of Sri Lanka. As he records his journey through the drug-like heat and intoxicating fragrances of that "pendant off the ear of India, " Ondaatje simultaneously retraces the baroque mythology of his Dutch-Ceylonese family. An inspired travel narrative and family memoir by an exceptional writer.

In the Skin of a Lion is a love story and an irresistible mystery set in the turbulent, muscular new world of Toronto in the 20s and 30s. Michael Ondaatje entwines adventure, romance and history, real and invented, enmeshing us in the lives of the immigrants who built the city and those who dreamed it into being: the politically powerful, the anarchists, bridge builders and tunnellers, a vanished millionaire and his mistress, a rescued nun and a thief who leads a charmed life. This is a haunting tale of passion, privilege and biting physical labour, of men and women moved by compassion and driven by the power of dreams—sometimes even to murder.

In the early 1950s, an eleven-year-old boy in Colombo boards a ship bound for England. At mealtimes he is seated at the 'cat's table' - as far from the Captain's Table as can be - with a ragtag group of 'insignificant' adults and two other boys, Cassius and Ramadhin. As the ship makes its way across the Indian Ocean, through the Suez Canal, into the Mediterranean, the boys tumble from one adventure to another, bursting all over the place like freed mercury. But there are other diversions as well: one man talks with them about jazz and women, another opens the door to the world of literature. The narrator's elusive, beautiful cousin Emily becomes his confidante, allowing him to see himself - with a distant eye - for the first time, and to feel the first stirring of desire. Another Cat's Table denizen, the shadowy Miss Lasqueti, is perhaps more than what she seems. And very late every night, the boys spy on a shackled prisoner, his crime and his fate a galvanizing mystery that will haunt them forever. As the narrative moves between the decks and holds of the ship and the boy's adult years, it tells a spellbinding story - by turns poignant and electrifyin - about the magical, often forbidden, discoveries of childhood and a lifelong journey that begins unexpectedly with a spectacular sea voyage.

The new novel by the internationally acclaimed Booker winner will come to readers of The English Patient as a surprise, although once more the unmistakable richness of language and emotional power is there in full force. The result is a profoundly disturbing and timeless work of art and a revelatory journey.