The Cat's TableFrom Michael Ondaatje: an electrifying new novel, by turns thrilling and deeply moving -- one of his most vividly rendered and compelling works of fiction to date. In the early 1950s, an eleven-year-old boy boards a huge liner bound for England. At mealtimes, he is placed at the lowly "Cat's Table" with an eccentric and unforgettable group of grownups and two other boys. As the ship makes its way across the Indian Ocean, through the Suez Canal, into the Mediterranean, the boys find themselves immersed in the worlds and stories of the adults around them. At night they spy on a shackled prisoner -- his crime and fate a galvanizing mystery that will haunt them forever. Looking back from deep within adulthood, and gradually moving back and forth from the decks and holds of the ship to the years that follow the narrator unfolds a spellbinding and layered tale about the magical, often forbidden discoveries of childhood and the burdens of earned understanding, about a life-long journey that began unexpectedly with a sea voyage. |
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A. P. Herbert Aden adults afternoon arms asked Asuntha ayurvedic Baron Bechet began beside Boralesgamuwa breaker's yard cabin Captain Cassius Cat's Table climbed Colombo Daniels darkness deck door Emily Emily's England face felt Flavia Prins Fonseka friends garden gesture Giggs girl Gunesekera hand happened harbour harbour pilot Hastie head hear heard heart Hector de Silva hour Hyderabad Mind Invernio Jankla Troupe journey kennels knew later laughed leaned leapt lifeboat light listened living looked loved Massi Mazappa MICHAEL ONDAATJE Miss Lasqueti Moratuwa morning moved never Niemeyer night Oronsay Pacipia painted passengers Perera perhaps prisoner R. K. Narayan railing Ramadhin Red Sea remember rope seemed ship shoulder Sidney Bechet silent Sir Hector sleep slipped someone spoke stayed storm suddenly Sunil talk thing thought told took trireme uncle waited walked watching Weimaraner whispered