DIVISADERO: Michael Ondaatje: Alfred A. Knopf: 2007: 273 pages.Michael Ondaatje’s first novel in six years is unusually structured yet beautifully poetic. It is the story of an unconventional family growing up on a rural farm in 1970s Northern California. Anna, Claire and Coop are siblings of sorts until an incident of violence leaves them scattered and reeling into their adult lives. This is also the story of Lucien Segura, a World War I era French poet and novelist.
It is difficult at first to see how these two stories connect. But Ondaatje’s subtle and graceful imagery coaxes the reader to discover the parallels between Anna’s and Lucien’s experiences.
Although this novel might require a second reading to fully grasp what is teaming just beneath the surface, Ondaatje’s rare gift for language and observation will make it worth every minute.
AJ
1 comment:
I agree that a second reading would be really helpful with this book. I felt a little disjointed at parts, because the novel was so disjointed, but afterward I couldn't stop thinking about it - trying to unpuzzle it. It was really beautiful…even when I wasn’t quite sure where he was going with that particular storyline. My favorite quote came near the end when Ondaatje quoted Nietzsche “We have art so that we shall not be destroyed by the truth.” That was one of the themes of the novel for me; that we all create our own self-narrative in order to survive an often catastrophic world. Also, I guess, that the stories we create are really the same narrative retold across time.
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