Running in the Family

Michael Ondaatje's writing so far reminds me of Hosseini's The Kite Runner, by explaining certain cultural words that regular people don't know such as "the kitul tree still leaned against the kitchen--tall, with tiny yellow berries which the polecat used to love" (59). I love how the family always have stories to tell about generations before them and always have something to say when they are all together. Ondaatje uses a lot of allieration that I can't help but notice such as "British and Burgher blood" (41) and "Monsoon Meet in May" (50).
There's a lot of historical references, specifically one chapter dedicated to what was going on in the 1920s in Columbo called "Honeymoon." There also color references that bring out the color red such as "red cement" (17) in the beginning of the memoir; there was the walls that were "rose-red" (24) and Dutch daughter's "red dress" (27) that haunted their house in Jaffna. Red is a bold color and could contribute into describing the family and their storytelling. He also writes giving short sentences to start off a new idea and then he delves into it like, "During the week in Dorset my father behaved impeccably" (32). The story of how much of a pain his father really was all his life goes into greater detail when Michael further explains the engagements he had and so on. But to get his point across, he starts small, than goes into longer sentences just right after the first sentence: "The in-laws planned the wedding, Phyllis was invited to spend the summer with the Roseleaps, and the Ondaatjes (including my father) went back to Ceylon to wait out the four months before the marriage" (32-33). Overrall, it is a different read with more cultural perspectives so far.