The Cat's Table by Michael Ondaatje
In the early 1950s, an 11-year-old boy in Colombo boards a ship bound
for England. At mealtimes he is seated at the “cat’s table”—as far from
the Captain’s Table as can be—with a ragtag group of “insignificant”
adults and two other boys, Cassius and Ramadhin. As the ship makes its
way across the Indian Ocean, through the Suez Canal, into the
Mediterranean, the boys tumble from one adventure to another, bursting
all over the place like freed mercury. But there are other diversions as
well: One man talks with them about jazz and women, another opens the
door to the world of literature. The narrator’s elusive, beautiful
cousin Emily becomes his confidante, allowing him to see himself “with a
distant eye” for the first time, and to feel the first stirring of
desire. Another cat’s table denizen, the shadowy Miss Lasqueti, is
perhaps more than what she seems. And very late every night, the boys
spy on a shackled prisoner, his crime and his fate a galvanizing mystery
that will haunt them forever.
As the narrative moves between
the decks and holds of the ship and the boy’s adult years, it tells a
spellbinding story—by turns poignant and electrifying—about the magical,
often forbidden discoveries of childhood and a lifelong journey that
begins unexpectedly with a spectacular sea voyage. -Amazon
NY Times book review
NPR Interview
Michael Ondaatje's Facebook Page
