Anils Ghost: Soundscapes

1
Anils Ghost Soundscapes
2

• Questions1. Is Anil an interesting
  character?2. What imagery is associated with
  Anil?
• 3. Is the narrator male or female?

• While Anil is a strong character, she never
  graduates to compelling. The author constructs
  her with bits of popular culture and vogue. She
  is a fan of Prince and a quoter of song lyrics.
  She is a movie lover, particularly of Westerns.
  She is recovering from an affair with a married
  writer (who isnt?). Why should we miss her at
  books end?
• Lorna Crozier, Quill Quire, 2000

3

• How are Ondaatjes soundscapes relevant to the
  novels themes and structures?
• postmodern ethos
• characterisationespecially Anil
• settingEast vs West
• transcultural interfacecommunication
  miscommunication
• spatial narrative archaeology of sound

4
Babel

• LanguagesSpeaking in Sinhala 9, 145Speaking in
  Tamil 23Speaking in English 187
• Opera
• Anils ill-fated first marriage is described in
  operatic terms They had been singing their
  fucking arias of romance with limits for too
  long (151).

5
The Sounds of Sri Lanka

• The dawn comes up like thunder . . . .
  Though it was never abrupt thunder to her. It
  was first of all the noise of chickens ad carts
  and modest morning rain or a man squeakily
  cleaning the windows with newspaper in another
  part of the house (9).
• In Colombo there was always a racket. Birds,
  lorries, fighting dogs, a kindergartens lesson
  of rote, street salesmenall their sounds entered
  through open windows (140).

6
The Sounds of Sri Lanka

• In the forest Monastery The forest was so
  still that Anil heard no sounds until she thought
  of listening for them. Then she located the
  noisemakers in the landscape, as if using a sieve
  in water, catching the calls of orioles and
  parrots. . . . For four hundred years the
  unheard throat calls of birds. The hum of some
  medieval bee motoring itself into the air
  (190).
• That night, long past midnight, Anil could
  still hear the drumming through the rain. It
  paced and choreographed everything. She kept
  waiting for its silence. . . . . The drum
  continued its intricate antiphonal pulse, like
  steps that led them down a stairway to the sea.
  The drumming could stop only when there was a
  name provided for the head. But that night it
  didnt stop (205).

7
The Sounds of America

• This was an old tradition among the people shed
  worked with in Oklahoma. Toxicologists and
  histologists always insisted on rock and roll
  (146).
• While in Sri Lanka, Anil recalls or listens to
• James Taylor, Sleep come from me (133)
• Van Morrisons Slim Slow Slider (144)
• Kam, Keep the Peace Made in America (150)
• Sam Cooke
• Tom Waits Heigh Ho! (The Dwarfs Marching Song)
  (169)
• Steve Earle Fearless Heart (169)
• Bob Marley Coming in from the Cold (182)

8
The Sounds of America

• Tom WaitsShe went to her room and returned with
  her Walkman and a tape. A little vengeance. She
  put the earphones on his head, switched the
  Walkman on. Tom Waits singing Dig, Dig, Dig,
  from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs channelled
  itself into his inner brain, and he rose of the
  floor terrified. He was hearing, he must have
  thought, voices of the dead. He reeled, as if
  unable to escape the sounds within him, and
  finally ripped off the wires attached to his
  head (169)

9

• Heigh Ho! (The Dwarfs' Marching Song) Sung by
  Tom Waits 
• Well, we dig dig dig
• Well, we dig in our mine the whole day through
• Dig dig dig, that is what we like to do
• And it ain't no trick to get rich quick
• If you dig dig dig, with a shovel and a pick
• Dig dig dig, the whole day through
• Got to dig dig dig, it's what we like to do in
  our mine, in our mine
• Where a million diamonds shine
• We got to dig dig dig, from the morning till the
  night
• Dig dig dig up everything in sight
• We got to dig dig dig, in our mine, in our mine
• Dig up diamonds by the score
• A thousand rubies, sometimes more
• But we don't know what we are diggin' for, yeah
• Heigh-ho, heigh-ho
• It's off to work we go
• We keep on singing all day long

10
The Sounds of America

• Steve Earle
• No one but Steve Earle for her in the worst
  times. There was a thump in her blood, a sexual
  hip in her movement, where she heard any of his
  songs of furious loss. So she moved half-dancing
  into the courtyard, past the skeleton of Sailor.
  It was a clear night and she could leave him
  there (169).

11

• Steve Earle, Fearless Heart
• Don't you worry bout what you've been told
• Cause honey I ain't even close to cold
• It's kinda soon to fall in love again
• But sometimes the best that you can do is just
  jump back in
• I got me a fearless heart
• Strong enough to get you through the scary part
• It's been broken many times before
• A fearless heart just comes back for more
• Folks'll tell you that I'm just no good
• But I wouldn't hurt you honey if I could
• I can't promise this'll work out right
• But it would kill me darlin' if we didn't even
  try
• I admit I fall in love a lot
• But I nearly always give it my best shot
• I know you must think I'm the reckless kind

12

• Bob Marley The Wailers, "Coming in from the
  Cold
• In this life, in this life, in this life,
• In this, oh sweet lifeWe're (we're coming in
  from the cold)
• We're coming in (coming in), coming in (coming
  in),
• coming in (coming in), coming in (coming in),
• Coming in from the cold.
• It's you - it's you - it's you
• I'm talkin' to
• Well, you (it's you) - you (it's you) - you
• I'm talking to now.
• Why do you look so sad and forsaken?
• When one door is closed, don't you know other is
  open?
• Would you let the system make you kill your
  brotherman?
• No, no, no, no, no, no! No, Dread, no!
• Would you make the system make you kill your
  brotherman?
• (No, Dread, no!)
• Would you make the system get on top of your head
  again?

13

• Bob Marley The Wailers, "Coming in from the
  Cold (cont . . .)
• It's life (it's life), it's life (it's life),
• it's life (it's life)it's - wa - well! - coming
  in from the cold!
• We're coming in (coming in), coming in (coming
  in)
• -ooh (coming in), hey! (coming in),
• Coming in from the cold!
• It's you - you - you I'm talking
• Well, yes, you, bilyabong! (it's you)
• ew! - you I'm talking to now.
• We-e-ell, why do you look so - look so - look so
  sad
• look so sad and forsaken?
• Don't you know When one door is closed - when
  one door is closed,many more is open?
• We-e-e-ell, would you let the system get on top
  of your head again?
• No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,
• Dread, no!Would you let the system make you kill
  your brotherman?
• No, Dread, no!
• We-e-e-ell, would you make the system get on top
  of your head again?