Running in the Family 60-100

After reading pages 60 through 100, and discussing the first part of the book in class, my outlook on it isn't as bad as before. I realized there was some really good context that I hadn't picked up on because of the difficult reading in general. Now that I know to look harder though, this time around, reading was more enjoyable. I felt like I got to know the author more and how he chooses to teach us about himself through his stories. Especially through the series of poems he chose to put in the book. One that really captivated me was the poem  "Woman like you". This shows us a side of him he hadn't portrayed yet and how he  could view a woman. "Women like you make men pour their hearts out"(pg. 92). This line interested me the most because I know exactly what kind of woman he's talking about

We also learn more about his native island in this passage. The animal life, the different island kept traditions like all the poisons, the vicious heat and the roll it plays, and overall belief's the island native's have. "that was my father who had come to protect his family" (pg. 99). This statement shows that the natives believe that people come back as animals, which is interesting. Family history comes up in the passage of Ondaatje going to a church over 300 years old and discovering all the different Ondaatjes that had been married there or preached there. The author took a lot of pride in this fact. One of the last things we learn about the author is some of his childhood and past experiences on the island. He used to throw the eggs of the kabaragoya at the "Royal" students at cricket matches. And that his first memory is that of a National Museums publication. 

Overall Ondaatje went from talking about the older men in his family first, and is now coming closer to him. The structure of the book seems to be as if he's starting the readers off by telling us about people and stories that aren't as directly close to him, and as time goes on we get closer and closer to him. It was a decent 40 pages of reading and has restored my faith in hopefully finding enjoyment in reading the book.