Warlight

by Michael Ondaatje
290 pgs

I'll begin by saying this: I had no idea what to expect hen I picked up Michael Ondaatje's latest book Warlight. I knew Ondaatje had written The English Patient, which won the Booker Prize and was made into the movie that won the Academy Award for Best Picture, but I haven't read the book, nor have I seen the movie. Now, having read Warlight, I doubt I'll bother reading the book, and based on Elaine's opinion of the movie on "Seinfeld," I'm not likely to ever see the movie either.

The book begins in London shortly after World War II. People are just starting the process of rebuilding their city, their homes, and their lives. But Nathaniel and Rachel's lives have just been turned upside down with the news that their parents are leaving them for a year while they travel to Singapore for their father's new job opportunity. They've been informed that they'll be left in the care of two men whom neither of them have met before.

These two men, the Moth and the Darter, as the kids refer to them, move into the family's home and soon it becomes a gathering place for an assortment of interesting and (the children believe) possibly criminally-minded individuals. Nathaniel eventually becomes enamored with both of this caretakers and starts taking an active role in some of their suspect activities. But Rachel never gets over her feelings of resentment for having been "abandoned" by her parents.

After a short time, the children discover the trunk their mother had packed in front of them as she prepared to leave for Singapore. It's been hidden away in the house and the kids realize she hadn't been honest with them about her plans.

The rest of the book slowly reveals that their mother did not, in fact, travel to Singapore, but that she was engaged in dangerous intelligence work for the government, a continuation of work she had apparently been involved with throughout the war as well.

I can see why Ondaatje is considered a talented writer. But for me, I think he'll be a one-and-done author on my reading list. I could never get over the book's slow pace and drawn-out style. I also got the impression Ondaatje's biggest fan is himself. I felt like he expected me to sit back while he regaled me with his prose, and to simply feel grateful for the opportunity he had given me to give him my time and money.

★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆