Enui

A collection of reviews on 'Running in the family'
http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~waddington/web309/ariel7.html
http://home.comcast.net/~jay.paul/ondaatje.htm

Question
Is it right to assume it's literally unacceptable to exclude social backgrounds for a rather personal and 'fictional' perspective of that era of interest. Or who made the rules that writers should play social advocates? If the genre 'autobiography' requires historian accuracy and precision, Ondaatje's work is surely exaggerated for sentimental reasons. Why is that to blame anyway? He already stated that 'And if those listed above disapprove of the fictional air I apologize and can only say that in Sri Lanka a well-told lie is worth a thousand facts.' He didn't credit himself as an 'autobiographer' in the first place. So why all the disgruntled pointing finger at something intended for memory's sake. I simply don't get the point.