Great and disruptive events behind the march of history, like war or political upheaval, color one's existence and experiences. So too, though, do the personal experiences of love, loss, and friendship. In essence, life is constructed and given meaning by those events which seem near and far, both in time and space. In this reflective essay, Jonathan Amid examines four novels by acclaimed author and poet, Michael Ondaatje, to discover an extraordinary talent for capturing and conveying the facets of grand and individualized experiences that give meaning to the arc of a life.