One of my favorite parts of Running in the Family was the “War Between Men and Women” passage (42-43). This passage is not only comical, but lends itself to the greater theme of the memoir: finding identity through family history. Essentially, this passage details an experience Ondaatje’s grandmother had when she was middle-aged. She had had a mastectomy a few years back and was then riding the bus. Once she realized she was attracting the attention of fellow passengers, she looked at the man beside her and realized he was grabbing at the place where her former breast had been. In its place was padding, which is another reason why she could not realize what was happening right away. This scene connects with other parts of the book in that structurally, it is a vignette taken from a family member’s life, and the whole memoir consists of similar vignettes that deceptively seem irrelevant to one another. Ondaatje uses these familial vignettes in order to search for his own personal identity and sense of self. With that in mind, this passage is important because on a larger level, it shows how one can construct their understanding of self through the experiences of others – the stories of relatives are not fragments of their pasts, but part of the fabric that shapes Ondaatje.

I think my favorite passage in Running in the Family is the chapter called DIALOGUES it gave many new and interesting perspectives on many different subjects. I liked its arrangements and how differently it felt from the rest of the book. In this chapter the two dialogues that I like the most are the first one, about the car crash and the 5th one that explained one of the children’s experiences with their father’s alcoholism. The thing I like about the first one is a very young perspective on the very serious matter of drinking and driving. These people experienced firsthand nearly dying due to drinking and driving and the short story is still filled with short and sharp humor. “We were in the back seat and once we calmed down, we looked in the front seat and saw that Daddy was asleep. He had passed out. But to us he was asleep and that seemed much worse. Much too casual.” Phrasing this part of the story this way gives light in the most extreme way to the fact that all of them nearly died because their father passed out while driving. It connects well to other parts of the book because especially towards the end of the book focuses are heavy on manic episodes of the characters. These manic episodes are due to depression or insanity or alcoholism and they are surrounded by light hearted satire and beautiful imagery. Another good example of these kinds of juxtaposed moods in the book comes in section 5 of this chapter the first paragraph reads, “To us he was an utterly charming man, always gracious. When you spoke to him you knew you were speaking to the real Mervyn. He was always so open and loved those he visited. But none of us knew what he was like when he was drunk. So when your mother spoke of the reasons for the break-up it was a complete surprise. Oh I did see him drunk once and he was a bloody nuisance, but only once.” This passage shares the exact same light at the end of a very serious idea. The humor included could range from coping mechanism for the children to explanation of effective parenting and ways for children to understand complex issues like divorce and disease.

My favorite part of this work was the poem, "The Cinnamon Peeler's Wife", because of its folkloric, tongue in cheek tone and strong sexual language (not to sound too much like a degenerate!). The story revolves around a young couple, one beautiful woman and a cinnamon peeler. The parents are not thrilled about the idea of their daughter seeing a cinnamon peeler. The narrator of this poem likens his love/lust for this woman to the yellow stains and distinctive scent of cinnamon. So strong is their passion that "the blind would stumble certain of whom they approached", but the narrator knows he cannot make a move due to the stain and smell. It's a simple story, but an extremely salient and timeless one. Young people in the throes of young love, surreptitiously trying to avoid their parents' careful gaze--this sounds like almost any summer film that comes out in the U.S. The story ends with the two swimming together, free of the stain of cinnamon, free from the judgment of others, and the line "I am the cinnamon peeler's wife...smell me". The manner in which the smell of cinnamon is likened to sex and the eroticism of the second, third and fourth stanzas make this poem all the more enjoyable.
I am not sure the connection between this poem and the rest of the work, since much of this novel is amorphous and loosely connected. It seems to be a hearkening to the misunderstood raw sexuality of the humid jungles of Sri Lanka that the author refers to. There are several quotations from explorers and authors like D.H. Lawrence who deplore Sri Lanka as "evil" and "vile", but there is much to be felt there, according to Ondaatje, much to be learned. Thus this poem can be seen as part of the author's rendering of Sri Lanka's spirit. Just as an aside, the humidity and sexiness of Sri Lanka makes me think of New Orleans, which has much of the same characteristics.
I do not know what is important and what is not in this book. To my way of thinking, this entire book is filled with snapshots of Sri Lanka and its inhabitants, the author's family, etc. Every piece tells part of a long story. Thus, any passage and no passage can be considered 'important'. This poem was so beautifully written and visceral that it stuck in my memory.

I'm calling my blog 'Back to the Future'from the 1985 science fiction adventure film. In '86 Pres.Reagan, at his inauguration, quoted from it ". . . Where we're going, we don't need roads." Ondaatje's return to the land of his birth, Ceylon/Sri Lanka & his search for identity is captured in those words.
When, in his youth, Mervyn (M.O.'s) father,left for England and, so his parents believed, university life (The Courtship pg.31), his self-serving personality was established. Being a son born into wealth and its formality, he had the idle-rich persona & easily succumed to Island pastimes-drinking, carousing, gambling & all the accoutrements. In spite of the intoxicated behaviour there was humour-eg the extremely funny What We Think of Married Life photo.(pg.163) Being the only photo of mom & dad together, it perhaps wasn't exactly what M.O. hoped to discover. However, the consistant thread of heavy alcohol use did run in the family & evidence of that is throughout the story. As the son searched for his roots, the reality of his father emerged as less a myth & Michael became the owner of the information. Being a writer, his creative ability would discover a path to follow.
I read somewhere that we live in a story-shaped world and that these stories or myths are what shape our perceptions. Was M.O.'s journey a true search for self or more a hope for relief of curiosity? Time embraces change & when even the name of your birth country is different, what can you trust?
I specifically loved the feel of the place. Ondaatje's language of the environment created a humid reality and the thought of a Canadian February night spewing out "all those sweet loud younger brothers of the night" (pg 136) is sweet!

I enjoyed the section about the thalagoya's tongue. The narrator states, "There is a myth that if a child is given a thalagoya tongue to eat he will become brilliantly articulate" (73). First, this encouraged me to rethink our common concepts of science. The tongue is not linked to the development of superior linguistic ability based on some sort of physiological explanation involving the particular nutrients in the tongue; rather, it is linked simply because linguistics and the object being eaten both involve the word "tongue." This places a great emphasis on explaining the world through language rather than through empiricism. Throughout the story, there are many connections between the individual and the world that are explained simply through words. For example, many of the songs used involved the names of foods, which linked people's concept of daily life to their concept of art by using words. People express their understanding of the world through linguistic relation rather than scientific analysis. The product ends up being art, such as song and writing, which in my opinion, is much more rich and vibrant than science.
I also enjoyed this section because it involved a high stakes risk. This risky behavior in some ways paralleled the common alcoholic behavior in Ondaatje's family and in some ways contrasted it. Ondaatje's uncle ate a thalagoya tongue and nearly died. Similar to alcohol, this is a potentially toxic item that members of his family can't help but consume. The major difference seems to be that, if one survives, the thalagoya tongue is an intellectual enhancer while alcohol is a intellectual reducer. Additionally, alcohol seems to enhance life in the sort term while the the thalagoya tongue enhances life in the long term. Delay of gratification may be worthwhile for the Ondaatjes.

My favorite passage in Running in the Family was on p. 83 when Ondaatje is discussing the Sinhalese alphabet.This passage stuck out to me because I like the idea of letters mimicking bones, and even more that Ondaatje saw the bones as mimicking letters. It is a poignant connection between the organic and the expressional. It insinuates a more basic level to those letters because the shape so resembles the very structure of the body. Those small bones come together to make a larger system as a body, and those letters make up a larger system of meaning through words.

While it is not long, this is an important passage in the book because in just a few sentences Ondaatje is able to capture the essence of not only his father’s Ceylon, but also of the levels of truth through which he is trying to sift. These letters, organic, beautiful and indirect in their curves are a perfect embodiment of the feeling that Ondaatje projects about the hot and sensuous country. Everything to a certain extent is directed by the organic. The monsoons wash the roads away. The jungle takes over the gardens. The heat moves whole communities up mountains. There is a sense of beauty that is bound by necessity. The beautiful and the sensual are somehow more practical. The curling alphabet does not cut the leaves. This is the feeling that seems to drive the generation of Mervyn Ondaatje.

Later in the passage Ondaatje describes the comically mundane sentences he was forced to write repeatedly as punishments. Through these sentences describing his petty crimes we see the disconnect between appearance and reality. Between what is remembered and what really happened. These letters embody Ondaatje’s search for truth about the past in that without the knowledge of their meaning, the letters tell a completely different story - one of artistry and beauty rather than punishment. When seen or thought of in a different context, as Ondaatje sees them in the Biology text, they can mean something completely different. Because they are independently inaccessible to Ondaatje, the stories remembered by his family are dramatized or romantic, and ultimately cannot help but leave out the seemingly mundane truths that Ondaatje seeks.

This passage connects to the theme of truth that Ondaatje is exploring in this novel, while also presenting an image that further portrays the feeling of Ceylon which is inherently important to understanding the story of his family.

My favorite passage was the entire chapter on Michael's aunts - particularly Lalla. The stories told and language used made for a very amusing and interesting chapter, but the passage that stood out to me was the scene describing her death. Although this wasn't a critical passage for my understanding of the book, it was beautifully written in my opinion. It is difficult to portray death in literature as anything but sad (especially the death of such a beloved character as Lalla), or at best a necessary part of life, but Ondaatje's portrayal of Lalla's death was was more fitting than sad; her death was as anomalous as her life.
This passage ties into the recurring theme of overindulgence and alcoholism present in Ondaatje's family history. Lalla was not the first victim of alcohol's destructive effects, and this is brought up numerous times throughout the book.
-Seth

I really love The Passions of Lalla. To me she is the most interesting character, galavanting, extravagant, and fully self-absorbed. Ondaatje begins the chapter on p. 113 with "My Grandmother died in the blue arms of a jacaranda tree." Using the commonplace term grandmother is perfect, because I still cannot think of Lalla as anything that could age. The passage I like the most would have to be Lalla's death. "It was her last perfect journey" (128). The passage that describes her journey through the countryside, caught in the flood, is so appropriate an ending. She loved to drink and play cards and so, "208 cards moved ahead of her like a disturbed nest" (127). She lost the fake breast of course too. I guess one would wonder how this story made its way back to Ondaatje. It is probably mostly an interpretation of the events, of how her body was found. But for a character as epic of Lalla, her family members and friends could not allow a tragedy. She had to have her big death. I'm talking about the post-modernism, the lack of one truth, and the disregard even. Lalla comes to represent the exotic Sri Lanka, especially in contrast to Ondaatje himself (growing up in England then moving to Canada). She loves flowers, but does not care how long they last, she lives in the moment and will not be bothered with anything that ties her down (such as the hands of children). She has lovers but does not conform to marriage, later in life. She doesn't generally have money, but is able to indulge nonetheless. Her character builds the romance that is this place for Ondaatje, and it reads well.

My favorite passage in the book is in Final Day’s Father Tongue. “’You must get this book right,’ my brother tells me, “You can only write it once.’ But the book again is incomplete. In the end all your children move among the scattered acts and memories with no more clues” (201). This passage connects to the theme of memories. I enjoyed this passage because it goes to show that memories are always going to be subjective and no two memories will ever be the same. The stories Ondaajte gathered are never going to be completely accurate. This is an important passage in the book because it demonstrates the impracticality of determining reality from subjective memory. As Ondaajte later goes on to say, the book is more of a portrait or gesture than a history. Even though he so badly wants to find the truth of his upbringing he comes to realize it is impossible. The greater significance of this is that what is found in this book is more important than something found in a history book or other documentation.

“Tense, not wanting to move as the heat gradually left me, as the sweat evaporated and I became conscious again of brittle air outside the windows searing and howling through the streets and over the frozen cars hunched like sheep all the way down towards Lake Ontario. It was a new winter and I was already dreaming of Asia.” (p. 21-23)
It might sound cliché that I chose this passage as it appears in the first chapter of the novel but I just love how it sets up Ondaatje’s desire to return to his native country. Ondaatje uses climactic conditions to juxtapose the feelings associated with Canada and Sri Lanka. In our previous readings by Canadian authors (speaking specifically of The Diviners) the desire to reconnect with homelands seems prevalent as it is within most American writers in the 18th-20th centuries.
I feel this is an important passage in the book as it sets up Ondaatje’s desire to return to Sri Lanka and gain a greater understanding of where he came from. The beauty in reading this novel after the Diviners is that we can understand the inability to ever fully comprehend what has happened before us and even our inability to piece together memories in relation to actual events. The idea of weather in relation to this is so poignant as everyone can recall hot summers when things happen and you’re not sure whether it was magic or actuality, and accounts of the events become more and more skewed as years pass. For Ondaatje this concept of climate becomes everything in trying to piece together his history and the history of his homeland and all of the fleshly emotions one can associate with their origin.
As far as plot is concerned this passage clearly pronounces Ondaatje’s affinity to Sri Lanka and why it is so necessary for him to go home. I really enjoyed reading this novel after the Diviners as it gives a much different perspective on reconnecting with one’s roots. Running in the Family so exquisitely shows the latent relationship each of us feels with our nation of origin through the motif of natural elements.

After having read such stories as Three Day Road and Next Episode, between war and a verging schizophrenic, a memoir seemed only as a roadblock in the syllabus. However after lunging into the work, Ondaatje's life only emanated with intrigue. From the roaring twenties, alcoholism, Lalla the crazed grandmother, and feeding ping-pong balls to insidious garden serpents, each leaf revealed a colorful and elaborate past. Inscribed even in stone at the beach-side church, the author's lineage is far more intricate than what one would expect.

Hence choosing a "favorite part" would be all to difficult, as it is hard no to laugh every five pages or so at the absurd and obscure events which encompass the memoir. Instead, a "highlight" of the story was reading about the intoxicated father Mervyn, whose drinking bouts were steady and uncontrollable. "He knew, even when sober, that he would have to drink again, and so buried bottles all around the estate...he would go into the fowl run, dig under the chicken straw, and pull out half a bottle" (pg. 58). Comical as there was such a method to his madness, as seemed constant throughout the entire family.

Take the eccentric Lalla, and her fake breast while seated on a passenger car: "gradually she began to notice the shocked faces...she looked down and saw that his hand...was squeezing her left breast. She smiled to herself" (pg. 42). Everyone around her was so infuriated at the man, while she could only laugh knowing he was only grasping a sponge!

In all the family history was almost like something out of a magazine, a past that one could easily make a film about. From the witty stories and the unscrupulous characters, this memoir was entirely entertaining and charismatic.

My favorite section of "Running In The Family" was the "Fine Romance" section. I felt Ondaatje took an interesting approach by dividing the novel up into various sections and within them there were different literary techniques used. The reason why I liked the "Fine Romance" section the most was because I felt it was very indicative of the relationships within the family. He was hoping to discover more about his father and he was able to do so by taking in each story. The theme of identity is shown in this section because he wants to know his family history so he can learn more about himself by being exposed to the relationship that made him.
I also really liked the "Blind Faith" section found on page 179. I think that this short passage is really interesting because he is questioning various roles of a father. I think the mentioning of Shakespeare. The narrator identifies with Edgar, "Who if I look deeper into the metaphor, torments his father over an imaginary cliff." This makes me think that the narrator is starting to realize the battle that the fights with his father's role in his life as an internal conflict. This passage connects with the entire plot because it proves the desire he has to figure out his father and all he has left is memory. At this point I think he starts to question if he will ever become satisfied with his father and if he will ever stop tormenting their relationship.

I found the passage during which Lalla is swept away by the flood very well written and intriguing. The way she lived her life was incredibly eccentric as she did things how she wanted and not according to the norms of society. Her death from the raging flood of water was depicted in a very different manner than most would have been. Michael Ondaatje writes it in a calm, romantic manner, describing her journey as being “free as a fish (107).” This passage is important because it represents Lalla’s character throughout her life. She died the way she lived; carefree and floating, observing everything around her. The images in this passage are presented as in the rest of the book as well. Both images good and bad are portrayed in an unbiased, simply observational manner. While distinguishing desirable and undesirable, the narrator’s emotions are somewhat vacant in their descriptions.

A passage that I really enjoys in Running in the Family was the part when Ondaatje was talking about Gillian recalling Yasmine's account of how he was bathed at the all girls school. I really liked it because you can sense the embellishment of the story and it makes me remember time when my family has told stories over with the same kind of embellishment and exagerration. I thought is was a really funny story. Gillian talks of how violently Ondaatje was bathed by the big and vicsious woman Maratina. It would definitely be an incident that someone would remember if it had happened to them but he Ondaatje doesnt remember it at all. Its funny how memory plays a role in someones life. It is a common theme in this book and the other books that we have read. Memory was used in this book in the retelling of storied Ondaatje has heard about his family. Memory was also used through Xavier and his Niska in Three Day Road and it was used in The Diviners.

My favorite part of the book was when the ondaatje realizes that facts are not what is most important but the story. "In Sri Lanka a well-told lie is worth a thousand facts" (176) It is about the story not about weather the fact and names are right on. Searching for somewhat lost family history an exact facts are harder to find then the actual stories. This passage is important because the whole journey was about finding the truth to the narrators family heritage.

It has taken me a long time to decide what my favorite passage of this book is. I enjoyed the journey it took me on and the questions it raised about story telling. If I had to choose one passage I guess I would choose the one titled" Lunch Conversation." I liked this one because you could see the art of story telling- the narration, the voice, the perspective, the fact and the fiction. Ondaatje plays with time and place, with memory and experience. As a reader you are not sure what is fact and what is "truth" because there are so many varying perspectives. Everything is intertwined within the story and with the journey that Michael is on to learn the truth about his family's history. Ondaatje plays with the iea of "truth" as something that may be manipulated through language, time, space, and memory. In this way reading the novel is fun to read but at times it may be frustrating.

As easy as it may sound, after having read this book, my favorite part is still that first section, entitled "Asia." When I first read that section, it didn't seem to fit. Ondaatje begins in the freezing cold of Toronto and immediately puts us into the jungles of Ceylon. I thought the transition felt forced and awkward. However, once I finished the book, that first section became purposeful and eloquent. It is a simple foreshadowing to the tensions of the novel. Tensions Ondaatje feels between his family history and his own life, between his idea of his father and who his father really was, and between the world in which he lives and the world he takes us to, in Ceylon. But these tensions and differences are necessary for Ondaatje to answer his questions of identity, both of his own and his father's. For example, when he quotes Jane Austen's persuasion and remarks, "In my mid-thirties I realised I had slipped past a childhood I had ignored and not understood," (22) it is evident that the events of his childhood, of his past, were not be understood at the time, but in fact reflected upon later on in his life. If he had not gone back to answer the questions he had of his past, his childhood and family history might have seemed inconsequential in regards to how it has affected his present, but now that he has journey through the stories of his family, he can see just how significant his past is on his future. He could not have gotten this perspective when he was younger. He was "forced into prudence in [his] youth-[he] learned romance as [he] grew older."

"We had spent three days in Upcot in beautiful tea country with my half-sister Susan. On the way back to Colombo we drove through the Kadugannawa Pass and stopped at Kegalle. The old wooden bridge that only my father drove over without fear ("God loves a drunk"he would say to anyone who sat by him white with terror) had been replaced by a concrete one." (p. 59). I think this passage is important because it shows the change that has occurred in this region from the time Ondaatje's lived there to when Ondaatje goes and visits the land. I think that change is a very important theme that occurs throughout the book, first we have the memories that Ondaatje remembers of the place where he was born, to the now changed land that he goes and visits. He uses the memory of these changes to help shape understanding who he is and where he came from.

"There are stories of elopements, unrequited love, family feuds, and exhausting vendettas, which everyone was drawn into, had to be involved with. But nothing is said of the closeness between two people: how they grew in the shade of each other's presence... Where is the intimate and truthful in all this?... I want to sit down with someone and talk with utter directness, want to talk to all the lost history like that deserving lover" (53-54).

I like this passage in "Running in the Family" for a variety of reasons. First off, even if you take this passage out of the context of the novel, it is extremely true and well said. We tell others about our relationships with lovers, family and friends, but no matter how much detail we may go into, no one will ever truly understand that particular bond. I specifically love the line “No one speaks of that exchange of gift and character and the way a person took on and recognized himself in the smile of a lover”. In an intimate relationship between a lover, there is no way of explaining certain aspects of your connection such as how you can recognize yourself in your lover’s smile.
In terms of “Running in the Family”, this passage is important because it Ondaatje is on a search to know his father and it is hard for him to get the absolute truth about his life. He listens to numerous stories about his father and the relationships he had, but can not get to “the intimate and [truth] in it all”.

My favorite passage in the book was The Babylon Stakes. “Many of my relatives owned a horse or two, which languished in comfort for much of the year and got trotted out of the August race meet. My grandmother’s horse, Dickman Delight, refused to step out of the stable if it was at all muddy.
This was my favorite passage because as it says in the book, gambling was the only occupation that could get someone away from a drink and romance. This is interesting because it is so different than anything we would deal with in our culture. In our culture today, drinking, romance, and gambling play a significant part in our lives but only on certain occasions. This is only a small portion of the book and it could be significant to the book because we learn early that many members of his family are alcoholics and the story about the Babylon Stakes is interesting because Ondaatje even mentions that the Stakes are the only way to lead a person away from drinking.
This story I would relate to the memory theme only because the entire book is full of memories that Ondaatje has. Although these memories tell a very distinct story, it is hard for us to fully except them because as we have learned memories are changed over time. In a book such as Running in the Family where the entire book is based off of memories, we need to realize that the stories have been a little altered all the time and that no memory is going to be exactly the same.