Coming Through Slaughter - Michael Ondaatje [47]
14. The novel is divided into three main parts. Explore how the style of each section reflects the content. Does each section have something different to convey? Could the novel be compared to a musical composition?
15. “That is the first time I ever heard hymns and blues cooked up together— The picture kept changing with the music. It sounded like a battle between the Good Lord and the Devil—. If Bolden stops on the hymn, the Good Lord wins. If he stops on the blues, the Devil wins.” (this page) What does this tell us about Bolden and his music?
16. Think of Bolden’s final performance in the parade. Who is the woman who dances before him? What happens to him during his final performance, and why, when it’s over, does he say to himself, “What I wanted.” (this page)
17. “What he did too little of was sleep and what he did too much of was drink and many interpreted his later crack-up as a morality tale of a talent that debauched itself.” (this page) Was Bolden’s descent into madness as simple as that? Does the novel help us understand what happened to him?
18. What is the “slaughter” referred to in the book’s title?
19. Bolden’s return to New Orleans: “on the third day old friends came in, shy, then too loud as they entertained him with the sort of stories he loved to hear, stories he could predict now. He sat back with just his face laughing at the jokes.” (this page) What has changed in Bolden? Is his decision to return and play in the parade life-affirming?
20. “While I have used real names and characters and historical situations—There have been some date changes, some characters brought together, and some facts—expanded or polished to suit the truth of fiction.” (from the credits and acknowledgements, this page What does the author mean by the truth of fiction? Can you think of other novels, by Ondaatje or others, that have borrowed from historical record to tell a story?
BOOKS BY MICHAEL ONDAATJE
COMING THROUGH SLAUGHTER
This novel brings to life the fabulous, colorful panorama of New Orleans in the first flush of the jazz era; it is the story of Buddy Bolden, the first of the great trumpet players, some say the originator of jazz, who was a genius, a guiding spirit, and the king of that time and place.
Fiction/Literature/978-0-679-76785-5
THE ENGLISH PATIENT
Winner of the Booker Prize
During the final moments of World War II, four damaged people come together in a deserted Italian villa. As their stories unfold, a complex tapestry of image and emotion is woven, leaving them inextricably connected by the brutal circumstances of the war.
Fiction/Literature/978-0-679-74520-4
RUNNING IN THE FAMILY
In the late 1970s, Michael Ondaatje returned to his native country of Sri Lanka. Recording his journey through the druglike heat and intoxicating fragrances of the island, Ondaatje simultaneously retraces the baroque mythology of his Dutch-Ceylonese family.
Memoir/Literature/978-0-679-74669-0
ALSO AVAILABLE:
Anil’s Ghost, 978-0-375-72437-4
The Cinnamon Peeler, 978-0-679-77913-1
The Collected Works of Billy the Kid, 978-0-679-76786-2
Divisadero, 978-0-307-27932-3
Handwriting, 978-0-375-70541-0
In the Skin of a Lion, 978-0-679-77266-8
Lost Classics, 978-0-385-72086-1
Vintage Ondaatje, 978-1-4000-7744-1
VINTAGE INTERNATIONAL
Available at your local bookstore, or visit
www.randomhouse.com
Table of Contents
Cover
About the Author
Other Books by This Author
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Credits
Acknowledgements
About this Guide