Response Journal #3: Constitution of Weight

This has been the most prominent idea pressing at the back of my mind since about 150 pages in: What is the constitution of this book? It is so obviously character-driven, but at times I have felt that everything is so impregnated with abstract thought that it is hard to distinguish objects from characters from ideals. I thoroughly believe the house they live in is an independent character on its own; it has a personality, it has needs, and it provides setting. In fact, the villa is described, in detail, more than any other character. All other characters are silhouettes of themselves and must be generated in the mind's eye. Not to refute this, because I view it as an opportunity to personalize the characters; make them look exactly the way you want, or like people you know to further immerse yourself in the novel.
To be truthful, this book seems more like a platform to base virtues and ideas, as some other novels are as well, I'm sure. This is the first I have read of its kind, and it was hard not to call the book 'weightless' at first, until I realized that this is a book of artistic expression, and plot has hardly any relevance here. I seldom came across any metaphors, because the points Ondaatje makes are direct. He uses his characters as vehicles of portrayal to allow them to interpolate and extrapolate his thoughts with each other, in their own setting, place and time. Conveniently for Ondaatje, characters can ramble and ramble on about certain ideals and principles and beliefs simply because they are characters. Puppets. The author can use a particularly chatty character (Such as Almasy) to reveal everything he wants about himself without taking particular credit for it. Of course, this merely takes the sting out of a blowhard-author trying to outweigh his reader with ideas no-one can understand. Ergo, Ondaatje has no reason to hide, because his writing is very accessible, yet still he uses artistic license.