Michael Ondaatje Quotes

Canadian - Author | September 12, 1943 -

I'm a Canadian citizen. But I always want to feel at home in Sri Lanka. I'm a member of both countries.

Michael Ondaatje

HomeFeelCitizenWantAlwaysLanka

I see the poem or the novel ending with an open door.

Michael Ondaatje

DoorEndingOpenSeeI SeePoem

Truth, at the wrong time, can be dangerous.

Michael Ondaatje

TruthTimeWrongDangerous

It doubles your perception, to write from the point of view of someone you're not.

Michael Ondaatje

PerceptionViewSomeoneYouWrite

I tend not to know what the plot is or the story is or even the theme. Those things come later, for me.

Michael Ondaatje

MeStoryKnowThemeThingsPlot

In the book the relationship with Katharine and Almasy is sort of only in the patient's mind.

Michael Ondaatje

RelationshipMindBookPatientOnly

That's Anil's path. She grows up in Sri Lanka, goes and gets educated abroad, and through fate or chance gets brought back by the Human Rights Commission to investigate war crimes.

Michael Ondaatje

PathWarChanceFateBackShe

It's an odd state to be in, blowing the whistle on your home country.

Michael Ondaatje

HomeCountryWhistleOddYourState

I don't see novels ending with any real sense of closure.

Michael Ondaatje

EndingRealSeeClosureSenseAny

It's a responsibility of the writer to get the reader out of the story somehow.

Michael Ondaatje

ResponsibilityStoryOutGetWriter

You want to suggest something new, but at the same time, resolve the drama of the action in the novel.

Michael Ondaatje

TimeActionYouDramaNewWant

Once I've discovered the story, I might restructure it, maybe move things around, set up a clue that something is going to happen later, but that happens much later in an editorial capacity.

Michael Ondaatje

StoryHappenUpSomethingGoingSet

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