Warlight

 

Warlight by Michael Ondaatje is a growing-up story told by Nicholas, who eventually discovers that his parents were important British spies during World War Two.  His story, revealed in flashbacks, is like a dream, with vivid imagery, disconnected, puzzling events and colorful characters (The Moth, The Darter, Marsh Felon) who appear and disappear suddenly and meaningfully.  The title references the reduced-light conditions imposed by blackouts during aerial bombings of London.  The difficulty of discerning objects under these conditions is echoed by repeated instances of things later turning out to be different than they seemed at first. 

Besides, hearing another version of the goat incident was a further layering in the world that I was entering.  I felt I was a caterpillar changing colour, precariously balanced, moving from one species of leaf to another.

Much of the war work in which my mother and others participated was carried out, it is now clear, with a similar invisibility, the real motives camouflaged, the way childhood is.

That familiar false modesty of the English, which included absurd secrecy or the cliché of an innocent boffin, was somewhat like those carefully painted formal dioramas that hid the truth and closed the door on their private selves.

 The writing is often beautiful, with lovely descriptions of the countryside or the Thames at night, alternating with fast-paced, nefarious adventures.