The Man-Eater of Punanai: A Journey of Discovery to the Jungles of Old Ceylon

by Christopher Ondaatje

Autobiographical account of a Sri Lanka born Canadian, woven around his journey through Sri Lanka.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, History, Nature, India, Biography

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Sir Philip Christopher Ondaatje, OC, CBE, FRSL born 22 February 1933) is a Sri Lankan-born Canadian–English businessman, philanthropist, adventurer, writer and bob-sledding Olympian for Canada. Ondaatje is the older brother of the author Michael Ondaatje and lives in both Chester, Nova Scotia, and the United Kingdom.




Olympic Victory: The story behind the Canadian Bob-Sled Club's incredible victory at the 1964 Winter Olympic Games (1967)
The Prime Ministers of Canada, 1867–1967 (1968)
Leopard in the Afternoon — An Africa Tenting Safari (1989)
The Man-eater of Punanai — a Journey of Discovery to the Jungles of Old Ceylon (1992)
Sindh Revisited: A Journey in the Footsteps of Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton (1996)
Journey to the Source of the Nile (1999)
Hemingway in Africa: The Last Safari (2004)
Woolf in Ceylon: An Imperial Journey in the Shadow of Leonard Woolf, 1904–1911 (2005)
The Power of Paper: A History, a Financial Adventure and a Warning (2007)
The Glenthorne Cat and other amazing leopard stories (2008)
The Last Colonial: Curious Adventures & Stories from a Vanishing World (2011)
Ondaatje, Christopher, ed. (2013). Love Duet and Other Curious Stories about Music. Minehead, Somerset: Rare Books and Berry.

Reviews

[Liam Ostermann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written but ultimately unsatisfying, I had somehow expected more after reading 'The Last Colonial', and I expect many who will enjoy this book - just not me.

Christopher Ondaatje, and his brother Michael (and many, many others), are examples of how simplistic, inadequate and poor-to-useless the one dimensional 'shelves' I use are. Christopher Ondaajte describes himself as:

"...a Sri Lankan-born Canadian–English businessman..."

And Michael Ondaatje describes himself as:

"...born in Colombo, Sri Lanka of Tamil and Burgher descent (Dutch and Sinhalese). His family moved to England where he attended Dulwich College. He emigrated to Montreal, Quebec, studied at Bishop's College School and Bishop's University in Lennoxville, Quebec, the University of Toronto receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Master of Arts from Queen's University at Kingston.

He is the sort of author who defies my simple labels!

[Thevuni Kotigala · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating. So fascinating.
I’m ever so excited and fascinated by the book; especially on the story of the man-eating leopard of Punanai. The stories felt more real and relatable, when I looked up the places and incidents he has mentioned in the book. I enjoyed the book more than I hoped. Truly loved it.

[Valerie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Less of a leopard hunt, and more of a travelogue with historical bacjground, I found this book very enlightening for me regarding Sri Lanka's 20th century past. As a bonus, revelations regarding Christopher (and Michael) Ondaatje's family life is sprinkled throughout. Mostly written as short journal entries, with many of Ondaatje's photos, it meanders a little between eras, but it is easy to dip into. I was in university at the time of the book's writing, and I recall the events of the Tamil fighting very well. It was great to get some grounding in the roots of the terfible mayhem and murders of the time, wrapped inside such a personal story.

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short memoir of the author's journey of self discovery back in the country of his childhood after an absence of decades. Ostensibly its about his obsession with investigating the man-eater of the title, but its also about the closure he sought by revisiting his family history and coming to terms with his father's financial and personal ruin and its impact on the rest of the family. The book paints a brief portrait of Sri Lanka in the midst of its civil war, a land of beauty both natural and man made, that could still be spiritually moving in spite of the violent atmosphere.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Christopher Ondaatje is as fascinated by his back story as any us and even more as a man sent out from his homeland at a tender age to make the family's fortune. Task accomplished and a success in both England and Canada, and the bank-roller of the family at large, Christopher Ondaatje indulges his mid-life crisis by investigating who he is and where he is from. It is a fascinating tale of British colonialism and the people of Ceylon.

[Mhbright · Rating 3 out of 5]

More informative about Sri Lanka than his brother's Running in the Family.