The style is first person singular, the male protagonist writing for himself about his childhood and early adulthood and the people he was close to. The characters are written in depth and believable and complex. Like his novel The Cat’s Table he seems to understand how children seem to see the world compared to how they recall the same events and people when they are adults. 

 

Mr Ondaatje’s prose is very evocative of time and place. It also reflects on memories and how people are torn between duty and desire. Reading this novel was a joy.