Customer Reviews

The Cinnamon Peeler

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Michael Ondaatje knows how to mix humor, beauty, sadness, and acute observation together to make lovely works of art. This collection contains a great variety of poetry, from simple and touching observations about his children, to deeply imagined distant moments of wonder. My favorite is "Pure Memory/Chris Dewdney" which actually made me cry twice for two different reasons when I first read it. I will say no more here. "Elimination Dance" is also a fun one to read out loud. "The Cinnamon Peeler" itself is a fantastic love poem. There is so much good stuff in this.

Michael Ondaatje knows how to write poetry. Primarily, he is a poet. Secondly a novelist. This collection contains a great variety of poems about day to day life, love, marriage, deep observations about children, humour, history and many more.

My favourite poem is ""To a Sad Daughter" which has a universal appeal. Once, I read this poem to my wife just replacing the poet's daughter's infatuation: ice hockey players with our daughter's hobby. My wife remarked: "Great poem. So you write good poetry too!"

I also like other poems including "The Cinnamon Peeler", "A House Divided", "Women Like You", "Billboards" and "Postcard From Piccadilly Street".

Michael Ondaatje shares his great intimate moments with us including love, his recollection of places and relationships with us. If you want to understand Ondaatje's prose, one must begging with his poetry. For anyone `The Cinnamon Peeler' is an entry into a dark and deep labyrinth painted with human experience. When you come out of it, you'll be a different person.

This book is a one I read over and over again when I'm both sad and happy!

I don't have much to say, but I must state my immense admiration for micheal ondaatje and his thought...his way of thinking reminds me of my own, like when he says in one of his poems with no name, "how we moved from thin ceramic to such destruction". I feel such romance and love from almost every single poem, even rat jelly! He doesn't restrict himself to using a certain amount of lines in his stanzas, and there's no rhyming. That makes his poetry more "true" and honest, like all poems should be. His works read rather like a novel and he could probably write a novel for each poem he's written, but they'd all be thrown in together eventually into one book, since they're all in a way connected. I love reading his poetry over and over again, the effect never wears out. I can't remember the name of my favourite poem from this book, but it's simply about him and his wife kicking each other in bed for the covers and the space, and how he says that she got pregnant, he's sure, just so she could get the space...it's such a simple subject that no one else would think of writing about...no other poets that I've read have succeded in being able to pour out their thoughts in a way that I would actually be interested to read them. I applaud you, Micheal Ondaatje...all my love.

I must admit that it is quite a shame that Ondaatje's novels seem to dwarf his poetry in popularity. The works in this collection are spread over a wild spectrum of themes, from the romantic hunger of "Rock Bottom" to the spare musings on solitude and the mysticism of isolation found in "Tin Roof." Yet they never veer too far from what Ondaatje does best: aim directly at the beauty of experience. He has no qualms whatsoever in mixing wonderful lyrical language (the fantastic play of images in "The Cinnamon Peeler" or "Women Like You") with the blunt narrative that surrounds us in our lives (the fart of the river mud in "Walking to Bellrock" or the "unexpected three a.m. erections" in "Country Night"). The poet's concern with the strange discoveries of parenthood is contained in all its fragility in "To a Sad Daughter" and "Bearhug." These are poems to be savored and read again, turning each word over in your mouth. Their value is immense. Michael Ondaatje is one of those rare writers whose fiction and verse need not suffer under the weight of the other. This work is of the highest caliber.

Michael Ondaatje opens up his wonderfully personal vision of his life, love and relationships with this collection of poems. I am a high school art teacher, and I often use this book for my students to draw inspiration from: they find it accessible and friendly. There are many fabulously simple and humorous poems, like "Application for a Driving License" and "Elimination Dance" that are a great springboard for students to come up with their own friendly imagery. In addition, Ondaatje touches on more serious and heartfelt experiences. My personal favorite is "The Time Around Scars" which takes a simple idea and brings it home in a touchingly personal way. I find that this book is one I reach for over and over again, and it has become a classic in our small Indiana classroom.

The wonderful collection of poems that comprise The Cinnamon Peeler were written by Michael Ondaatje during a twenty-year period. They are works of deep intimacy and dazzling beauty.

Not being a poet myself, I enjoy reading Ondaatje's gorgeous poetry to my novelist wife.

More than love poems, these works contain wonderful twists and turns that are both painful and funny. Ondaatje has obviously turned to both Rousseau and Wallace Stevens for inspiration, but he also contributes his own sense of the novel and his awareness of social strata.

This is a charming book, with a muted sense of humor. With The Cinnamon Peeler, Ondaatje takes us deep inside his own mind and heart. It is trip worth making.

I had the opportunity to hear Michael Ondaatje read his poem 'The Concessions' from this book at the Blyth Festival season launch and this poem is very beautiful. Not only is it a connection that is like no other with the area that it was written for. Ondaatje has really gotten into the sprit of the area as he pin points local figures 'the mystic from Millbank' we all knew who these people were that he was pin pointing which was very lovely. I was very pleased to have had the opportunity to have hear that poem that I went out and bought this book right away because of that poem. I recommed that you buy this book there are many other lovely poems but that one 'The Concessions' will forever stand out in my mind.

I loved this collection of poems, gave away my first copy and just bought another. Highly recommended. Favorite is Rat Jelly

Why bother to write poems that are so dark and sometimes mean? I discarded the book before finishing.