He grasps your attention with colourful images of an era gone by immigrants never making it in history. Living in Toronto inspired Ondaatje to write In The Skin Of A Lion, a novel based on mixed elements of fiction and non-fiction, during a time period in the early 1900’s in Ontario. Some of his great works include Anil’s Ghost, and The English Patient which was made into a motion picture. Michael Ondaatje is an award winning author and poet. It is very rare to read a novel that resonates with the reader long after they are done reading it such as the one that Ondaatje has seamlessly provided with “In the Skin of a Lion”. Ondaatje should be celebrated as one of the most astonishing writers of his time. This is a component that makes “In the Skin of a Lion” unforgettable. The most beautiful element of the novel is that by the closing lines, the reader feels as if they have sincerely lived parts of Patrick’s life the reader feels as though they have come to terms with all that has happened over the course of his existence. Ondaatje leaves the reader in suspense much of time, wondering what may await Patrick next. Although it requires the full attention of the reader, it is not difficult to follow if the reader is completely engaged and trusting of where Ondaatje will take them. Throughout the story, many people weave in and out of Patrick’s life. Ondaatje fuels sexual, upsetting, endearing, hilarious, and desperate moments with incredible understanding of his characters and flawless transitioning from story to story, year to year, and relationship to relationship. The collection is effortlessly sewn together by the literary mastery of Ondaatje. This is a sign of astonishing writing and character development which Ondaatje so cleverly crafts in this handful of stories.

Whether he is watching Finnish workers skate after dark on a rock-solid lake in his hometown, working as a young man on the Bloor Street Viaduct, or sharing erotic, passionate love with both Clara and Alice, we feel connected to Patrick and his life. These characters all affect and mirror how Patrick changes and evolves at different stages of his life. Patrick’s life is affected by numerous encounters with supporting characters including Clara, Alice, Nicholas, Carvaggio, and Hana. The stories focus primarily on Patrick Lewis, who we see grow from a child living in the forests of rural Ontario to adulthood, ravaging around the streets of Toronto as a “searcher”. “In the Skin of a Lion”, written by the Sri-Lankan Canadian novelist Michael Ondaatje is a fabulous collection of stories that centre around Toronto, Ontario during the 1920s and 1930s.

In the skin of a lion review