Anil's Ghost

By: Michael Ondaatje

Narrated by: Alan Cumming

With his first novel since the internationally acclaimed The English Patient, Booker Prize—winning author Michael Ondaatje gives us a work displaying all the richness of imagery and language and the piercing emotional truth that we have come to know as the hallmarks of his writing.

Anil’s Ghost transports us to Sri Lanka, a country steeped in centuries of tradition, now forced into the late twentieth century by the ravages of civil war. Into this maelstrom steps Anil Tissera, a young woman born in Sri Lanka, educated in England and America, who returns to her homeland as a forensic anthropologist sent by an international human rights group to discover the source of the organized campaigns of murder engulfing the island. What follows is a story about love, about family, about identity, about the unknown enemy, about the quest to unlock the hidden past—a story propelled by a riveting mystery. Unfolding against the deeply evocative background of Sri Lanka’s landscape and ancient civilization, Anil’s Ghost is a literary spellbinder—Michael Ondaatje’s most powerful novel yet.

©2000 Michael Ondaatje (P)2000 Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

2000 Winner of Publishers Weekly Listen Up Award: Fiction

"Ondaatje's writing is stunningly lyrical, at once dreamy and detailed."–AudioFile

"Gorgeously exotic…. As he did in The English Patient, Mr. Ondaatje is able to commingle anguish and seductiveness in fierce, unexpected ways.”–The New York Times

Hypnotic, chilling

This was my third attempt to listen to Anil's Ghost. Cumming's voice has a lulling quality and so, with earlier attempts, I would often fall asleep or drift away and lose large chunks of the story. Not this time. I hung on every word and when I found myself disoriented by a sudden shift in time or perspective, I was patient and well rewarded. It's a tragic story of man's inhumanity to man and the few people that try to rise above it, seeking justice for the dead or trying to save as many lives as possible. It's also a journey into a country I've never visited-Sri Lanka-and its people and culture, its recent horrifying history. It's a meditative novel and slips in and among various characters, weaving a tapestry of lives and deaths.

Excellent

He paints vivid pictures, the best you can hope for from a writer or musician

Ethereal novel elegantly read.

This is not an easy story to follow but it is well worth listening to.

unlikely poetry

The subject matter of this book, forensic anthropology, seems an unlikley one for poetic imagery. Yet Andaatje's gift as a writer seems to be the ability to infuse a book with life's harsh realities side by side with glints of light and vitality. It takes the reader to places far away and hard to imagine. But once introduced to the place and the people all make perfect sense.

Adored this book.

Hard to follow – yes, but, stunningly beautiful. I am a big fan of Michael Ondaatje.

nope, not a good book- an excellent book!

"Any reviewer who would refer to this novel as good is lying, and kidding the reader." Well that's just stupid, sorry, my opinion, but there it is. I love this audio, and am pretty confident that I?m not the only person on the planet who feels this way. It?s true his writing has more in common with poetry, instead of this week's blockbuster hit. That doesn't play well with some people, but others like it just fine. If you read The English Patient and liked that one, you will like this one too.

Something missing

Really interesting story (in theory) but told too vaguely for me. There was too much left to inference, too many assumptions made by the author of what the reader (or listener) will already know or understand. Maybe I'm not the key audience for the book, but it seems to me that many people in the Western world have little knowledge of recent Sri Lankan conflicts. I think providing more context for the story would have better honored the actual situation. Lovely narration by Alan Cumming though, as usual.

An Excellent Novel

In itself, the book's narrative sheds little light on the historical or cultural causes of the Sri Lankan conflict. But then that's not what novels do. Ondaatje's typical lyricism is here with all its loose ends and criss-crossing stories. I very much enjoyed this excellent novel that I will probably read again some time.

Extraordinarily painful and beautiful

A beautifully written and artfully composed book. The integrity and humanity of the main characters balances the dark political violence the novel describes.

Alan Cummings read is exceptional in every way. Steady, dignified, and riveting. It's hard to imagine anyone could have read it more perfectly.

Everyone should read this book

Thank you for an amazing sensuous performance.
When I began reading this book, I didn't expect much from it, but in fact, i am so happy i decided to listen to it here. There is so much to dig in, such a deapth and strength in it. And listening to it was almost like watching a film and it definitely helped to embrace the novel.
I definitely recommend it!