Coming Through Slaughter

Critics

• Book Of A Lifetime: Coming Through Slaughter, By Michael Ondaatje

  My book of a lifetime? Easy. 'Coming Through Slaughter' by Michael Ondaatje. I discovered it just as the cement was setting around the idea of making the dream, writing, an actual career (to the horror of my coal-miner father, who, when hearing of my ... (read full critics)

  independent published on Fri, 21 Oct 2011

3 Reviews

• 

  "Dead crowd around him"

  "He was the best and the loudest and most loved jazzman of his time, but never professional in the brain. Unconcerned with the crack of the lip he threw out and held immense notes, could reach a force on the first note that attacked the ear. He was obsessed with the magic of air, those smells that t ... (continue)

  "He was the best and the loudest and most loved jazzman of his time, but never professional in the brain. Unconcerned with the crack of the lip he threw out and held immense notes, could reach a force on the first note that attacked the ear. He was obsessed with the magic of air, those smells that turned neuter as they revolved in his lung then spat out in the chosen key. The way the side of his mouth would drag a net of air in and dress it in notes and make it last and last, yearning to love it up therein the sky like air transformed into cloud. He could see the air, could tell where it was freshest in a room by the colour."

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  Xebeche said on Jan 15, 2011 | Add your feedback

• 

  Buddy Bolden and his whores

  I knew Geoff Dyer was truly inspired by Coming Through Slaughter, and I now understand why.
  This novel is a brilliant jam session in words, much better than the work of Toni Morrison in Jazz.
  Ondaatje moved from pictures and Bolden's life fragments to create a story that is not entirely th ... (continue)

  I knew Geoff Dyer was truly inspired by Coming Through Slaughter, and I now understand why.
  This novel is a brilliant jam session in words, much better than the work of Toni Morrison in Jazz.
  Ondaatje moved from pictures and Bolden's life fragments to create a story that is not entirely the truth. However, he was capable of giving a wonderful portrait of one of the firsts, perhaps the first, jazz musicians.

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  Gekko P. said on Dec 12, 2008 | Add your feedback

• 

  A lovely, lyrical book. This is a bit more overblown than it ought to be, at times, but it also contains some of the most wonderful scenes I can think of in any books I've ever read. (The woman in red, for instance. I think that whole scene is remarkable.)

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  Hold Your Spin said on Nov 26, 2006 | Add your feedback

Book Details

• Rating:
  (7)
  • 5 stars
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• English Books
• Paperback
• ISBN-10: 0676971768
• ISBN-13: 9780676971767
• Publisher: Vintage Canada
• Pub date: Oct 04, 1998
• Also available as: Hardcover, Others and eBook

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