A number of elements in this story make it seem unconventional. The best way to examine them might be from two separate categories: stylistic and thematic. The stylistically experimental elements involve methods of grammar, punctuation, medium, etc; while the thematic elements are those elements embedded into the story that in one way or another disorient the reader.
Stylistically, Ondaatje utilizes incomplete sentences, unattributed dialogue, onomatopoeia and an eclectic yet calculated mixture of poetry and prose which disorients the reader. The first sentences, “Sound up. Loud and vibrating in the room.” are devoid of subject (with the exception of the room), but still evoke imagery in a the larger context of the nighttime search for Billy the Kid by Pat Garret.
As a side-note, I went to Billy the Kid’s hometown of Lincoln, New Mexico on my way out here this Summer. I saw the bullet holes in the wall where he shot a shotgun full of dimes at Sheriff Farley.
Thematically the story shifts to different narrative perspectives, leaving the reader feeling as much in the dark as Garret and Billy the Kid. This story is Cowboy Poetry for the literati.
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