What Do I Read Next?
- In the Skin of a Lion (1987) serves as a prequel to Ondaatje's The English Patient. Set in Canada between the World Wars, the novel features Caravaggio and Hana, key figures in The English Patient, but primarily focuses on Hana's father, Patrick. Like The English Patient, it delves into themes of personal grief and anguish.
- Similar to The English Patient, Ondaatje's Coming through Slaughter eschews a linear narrative. Instead, it assembles the life of jazz legend Buddy Bolden through a series of images and anecdotes. This novel was first published in 1976.
- Ondaatje's Anil's Ghost (2000) is set in Sri Lanka, his homeland. The story follows a forensic specialist dispatched by the United Nations to investigate the brutal civil war that devastated the island nation for much of the late twentieth century.
- Ondaatje's memoir Running in the Family (1982) recounts two trips he made to Sri Lanka. Through the stories he uncovered during these visits, the memoir also narrates his family's history and his own childhood.
- Since the late 1960s, Ondaatje has published numerous poetry collections. The Cinnamon Peeler: Selected Poems (1989) is a compilation of previously released poems.
- The God of Small Things (1997), the Booker Prize-winning novel by Indian author Arundhati Roy, explores themes of personal grief and loss, as well as the overwhelming influence of government, politics, and society on individuals. Set in mid-twentieth-century Southern India during political turmoil, the story is told through the perspective of two children, highlighting the societal taboos of caste and sexuality.
- Nobel Laureate V. S. Naipaul's novel The Mimic Men (1967) features a character of Indian descent living in the British Caribbean. Through the chaotic and nomadic life of the protagonist, the novel examines issues of identity in a Third World shaped by British colonialism.
- For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940), one of Ernest Hemingway's most renowned novels, is set during the Spanish Civil War. It tells a story of wartime camaraderie, ultimately depicting war as futile and destructive, rather than honorable and just.
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