{"id":2503,"date":"2026-08-30T15:01:17","date_gmt":"2026-08-30T22:01:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/?p=2503"},"modified":"2026-08-30T15:01:20","modified_gmt":"2026-08-30T22:01:20","slug":"bookshelf-divisadero-michael-ondaatje-2007","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/?p=2503","title":{"rendered":"Bookshelf \u2013 Divisadero, Michael Ondaatje (2007)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If you\u2019re looking for perfection in a novel that inhabits a labyrinth of love, loss, and separation, then \u201cDivisadero\u201d is not for you. To reap the many rewards of Ondaatje\u2019s poetic prose \u2013 formed into a triptych of stories joined only by the most gossamer of narrative threads \u2013 a reader requires two tools rarely needed in this age of dialogue-driven fast-reads: patience and forgiveness.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The core characters \u2013 so chosen by their dominance of \u201cDivisadero\u2019s\u201d first half \u2013 are Anna, Claire, and Coop, a ranching family formed by chance: the death of Anna\u2019s mother in childbirth; her father\u2019s absconding of Claire from the hospital nursery following her mother\u2019s identical fate; and the rescue of Coop as a toddler after a hired hand killed his parents on a neighboring farm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The children, living in idyllic rural isolation amid the rolling hills of Northern California, mature with the intimacy of inseparable siblings. As they grow, the cultural revolution of the Seventies shapes them less than the freedoms their taciturn father grants \u2013 and the limitations he imposes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One day, an act of young love interrupted by an eruption of brutality fragments the family. The shards scatter across time and geography. As adults, living far from each other, Anna an academic, Claire a public defender, and Coop a professional cardplayer, never fully escape the familial rupture. They bend under baggage laden with grief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is \u201cDivisadero\u201d too heavy for those of lighter hearts? I think not. The characters are rich and deep. The language is memorable. The emotions real. Ondaatje does not shy from violence. What negatives there are \u2013 and there are few \u2013 result from Ondaatje\u2019s self-indulgence, displayed as occasional wandering side passages, especially those that allow a dead French poet whose work Anna is studying to wax at length about his own decision to settle for less in life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In short, \u201cDivisadero\u201d delivers more than it exacts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ll end with an ending. Here is the conclusion of the New York Times review of \u201cDivisadero,\u201d which says in one paragraph that which I\u2019ve devoted considerably more to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s no good wishing a novel were different than it is; but the brokenness of Ondaatje\u2019s tale can be frustrating. Still: \u2018Divisadero.\u2019 What did we expect? It\u2019s possible to believe that Ondaatje\u2019s method of mosaic more accurately reflects the untidy turns life tends to take; his characters make unfortunate decisions but then, so do we. There is something endearingly human about this book, for all its art: who can\u2019t forgive a hopeless romantic?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019re looking for perfection in a novel that inhabits a labyrinth of love, loss, and separation, then \u201cDivisadero\u201d is not for you. To reap the many rewards of Ondaatje\u2019s poetic prose \u2013 formed into a triptych of stories joined … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[784],"tags":[770,1007,1008],"class_list":["post-2503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","tag-book-review","tag-divisadero","tag-northern-california"],"yoast_head":"\nBookshelf \u2013 Divisadero, Michael Ondaatje (2007) - Tim Porter's Second Draft<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"If you\u2019re looking for perfection in a novel that inhabits a labyrinth of love, loss, and separation, then \u201cDivisadero\u201d is not for you. To reap the many rewards of Ondaatje\u2019s poetic prose \u2013 formed into a triptych of stories joined only by the most gossamer of narrative threads \u2013 a reader requires two tools rarely needed in this age of dialogue-driven fast-reads: patience and forgiveness.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/?p=2503\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bookshelf \u2013 Divisadero, Michael Ondaatje (2007) - Tim Porter's Second Draft\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If you\u2019re looking for perfection in a novel that inhabits a labyrinth of love, loss, and separation, then \u201cDivisadero\u201d is not for you. 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