Opening this novel is like entering a dreamlike state where you have to pay attention to every detail. The writing is poetic and beautiful, though it took me longer to finish this because I sometimes needed a break from the emotionally devastating descriptions and traumatic details. 

The format is unusual and it can be quite a dense read. But once  I got down to the core of Ondaatje's message, I found this novel to be incredibly powerful and timely. It is scary how relevant the subject matter of nationalism is to our world today.