The Cat's Table

Michael Ondaatje's intonation--his voice lulls and rocks--is perfect for his newest novel. Eleven-year-old Michael leaves his home in Ceylon and travels alone by boat to begin a new life in London. Michael roams around the ship with two young friends he meets at the "cat's table," where he dines far away from the captain with less wealthy passengers. Ondaatje's slow pace allows listeners to savor his fine words and rich images as he describes Michael's adventures and the ship's eccentric characters. The story is told from the point of view of the adult Michael, who looks back on his youthful trip with poignancy and full awareness of the impact of his journey. S.W. (c) AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine

Starred review from January 30, 2012
It only adds to the autobiographical nature of Ondaatje’s novel—concerning a young boy who journeys by ship from Sri Lanka to England in the 1950s—that the author narrates this audio edition of his latest work. The mellifluous tones of Ondaatje’s accent (part British and part subcontinental) are themselves testament to the memoiristic underpinnings of his novel. He reads without a professional’s preciseness, and yet, knowing his work as well as he does, captures the subtle music of its understated prose. Listeners will relish Ondaatje’s occasional variations from traditional British pronunciation, each one serving as a symbol of the book itself, which spans two continents and two eras. Listening to Ondaatje read becomes a pleasure in its own right; being neither here nor there, the author is himself much like the tale he tells, and the boy at its heart. A Knopf hardcover.