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Anil's Ghost
- Narrated by: Alan Cumming
- Length: 7 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Genre Fiction
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Publisher's Summary
With his first novel since the internationally acclaimed The English Patient, 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.
The place is modern-day Sri Lanka, the island nation formerly known as Ceylon, off the southern tip of India. It is a country steeped in centuries of cultural achievement and tradition, and forced into the late 20th century by the ravages of civil war and the consequences of a country divided against itself. Into this maelstrom steps a young woman, Anil Tissera, born in Sri Lanka, educated in England and America, a forensic anthropologist sent by an international human-rights group to work with local officials to discover the source of the organized campaigns of murder engulfing the island.
Bodies are discovered. Skeletons. And particularly one, nicknamed "Sailor". What follows is a story about love, family, and identity, about the unknown enemy and the quest to unlock the hidden past - all propelled by a riveting mystery.
Critic Reviews
- 2000 Winner of Publishers Weekly Listen Up Award: Fiction
"The beauty in this novel is the lyricism Ondaatje interjects into even mundane situations." (Book)
"Ondaatje's writing is stunningly lyrical, at once dreamy and detailed." (AudioFile)
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What listeners say about Anil's Ghost
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
- jayne
- 04-30-08
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.
18 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Julie
- 12-02-04
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.
17 people found this helpful
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
- Marie Ann Bailey
- 05-29-17
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.
6 people found this helpful
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Performance
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Story
- David P
- 07-25-15
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.
6 people found this helpful
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Performance
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Story
- Susanna Walsh
- 09-25-18
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.
4 people found this helpful
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Performance
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Story
- Rajeev A.
- 04-13-15
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.
4 people found this helpful
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Performance
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Story
- Denver reader
- 04-10-16
Ethereal novel elegantly read.
This is not an easy story to follow but it is well worth listening to.
2 people found this helpful
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Performance
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Story
- Anonymous User
- 12-11-20
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!
1 person found this helpful
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Performance
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Story
- Irene
- 02-08-18
Excellent
He paints vivid pictures, the best you can hope for from a writer or musician
1 person found this helpful
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Overall
- Jim
- 01-10-03
Pathetic
I read about 50 books last year, and this was by far the worst. I'm not going to explain all the reasons why, but I will say I never believed it. There was so much backstory, and the narrative was simplistic and boring. The book is thoroughly unconvincing, really almost laughable in its serious tone and bad dialogue. Any reviewer who would refer to this novel as good is lying, and kidding the reader.
8 people found this helpful