Read him slowly, dear girl, you must read Kipling slowly. Watch carefully where the commas fall so you can discover the natural pauses. He is a writer who used pen and ink. He looked up from the page a lot, I believe, stared through his window and listened to birds, as most writers who are alone do. Some do not know the names of birds, though he did. Your eye is too quick and North American. Think about the speed of his pen. What an appalling, barnacled old first paragraph it is otherwise.
Michael OndaatjeIn the book the relationship with Katharine and Almasy is sort of only in the patient's mind.
Michael OndaatjeThe first sentence of every novel should be: Trust me, this will take time but there is order here, very faint, very human.
Michael Ondaatje