The English Patient

Rating:
Summary: Despite flowing and intriguing language, storyline was flat.
Review: It started out as if it was going to be pretty interesting, with the fantastic description of the setting. That's okay for an intro, but the main thing is, THE ENTIRE BOOK SHOULD NOT BE AN INTRO. We wanted to see Odaantje step off the setting for a few moments and start concentrating on other things... like plot, maybe. Don't get us wrong, Odaantje had a brilliant writing style. But it just didn't work for a novel. Maybe he should stick to poetry.

Rating:
Summary: The story got lost in the words
Review: Ondaatje's style is very wordy, and the plot gets somewhat lost in the description. The plot is somewhat entertaining and did keep us somewhat intrigued. The only good part about the wordiness was that it conveyed many definite beautiful images of far off lands. Sometimes, the plot wasn't expressed clearly enough, and we didn't realize that certain things had taken place until we saw the movie.

Rating:
Summary: Lovely prose, ingenious characters, yet kinda dull.
Review: This book could have been so much better. Ondaajte is a master of the written word, but things seemed to get confused and the ending was very bland. Amazing writing, bad planning.

Rating:
Summary: Not the greatest book
Review: I don't have the heart to give bad ratings to books that really deserve worse. I actually enjoyed the book more while reading it than after I was done with it. It's like eating some kind of food that tastes good but leaves you with the worst after taste. I think that Ondaatje is a good writer but the English Patient is not a very good book. It was relatively hard to read, and only slightly rewarding for all the drag. The ending is horrible, I thought. The comments made by people who gave this book a bad rating are much more objective than the people that praised it. Unless you are a literary freak that does not have anything else to do but read strange and complex books, don't bother with it.

Rating:
Summary: Prose that transforms a subway car
Review: The English Patient swept me away from crowded commutes and transported me into a mystical world of memories, raw and confused emotions, and heartwrenching stories. Ondaatje's unique writing style seems to set before us a mystical puzzle (of what? read on!), each piece intense and beautiful, and each fit mysterious and provocative. I have read the book three times and no experience was the same, as there is a different path to follow with each read. Ondaatje's puzzle elicits some of life's deepest questions, and like the desert to your body, makes your mind and spirit thirsty.

Rating:
Summary: A perspective from New Zealand
Review: I picked up this book on a Saturday morning and I finished reading it on Sunday morning. It was too good to put down! My father was a sapper with the New Zealand Engineers in the Middle East and in Italy during the Second World War. This book described in full detail the stories that my father had tried to tell me as a child. When I had finished, my first thought was to phone my father and tell him that now I understood. But he is dead. It lead us through the horror of war in such a documentary, matter of fact style, that it all seemed so real, so cruel but in the circumstances, so necessary. I had seen the movie first and found the book to be so much better. So tragic. So simple. Just like life. Some readers will regret that there is no instant, sugar-coated ending to this book. If a reader wants that then he/she should watch sit-coms. The most beautiful thing about this book is that it deifies the human spirit, the majesty that exists in each of us, despite the surroundings and the circumstances, if only we will let it come through.

Rating:
Summary: after 3 years there wouldn't be much of katherine left
Review: greatly tested my patience. though i must say katherine and almasy's love story is simply beautifully tragic.

Rating:
Summary: Mind-blowing!
Review: One of the best books I've ever read. Michael Ondaatje is a fantastic storyteller. The narration is beautiful: from the beginning till the end. People, get your hands on this book before it sell out! Two thumbs up! : )

Rating:
Summary: ON POETS AND IDIOTS
Review: It is interesting to note that so many of those reviewers who gave this book a thumbs-down seem to be themselves lacking in expressive facility. Perhaps the book bored you because you couldn't get your mind around Ondaatje's admirably creative use of language. BY THE WAY, MICHAEL ONDAATJE IS FROM SRI LANKA, NOT INDIA!

Rating:
Summary: AMAZING--A FRESHMAN IN HIGHSCHOOL LOVED THIS NOVEL
Review: This is a novel that I can easily see why 90% of the people that bought it, placed it back on the bookshelf at page 80. This is a novel that you have to be in the mood for and really look forward to getting something out of it. If I wouldn't have preped. myself, who knows what I would have done. Really, I loved this book, great characters and a great story of love but I believe symbolism played an active roll in this novel and it is one of the hardest techniques to catch. I would read this book anytime, just as long as YOU go into it will a very OPEN MIND. It really stands out because the last author to write this kind of a novel and have it sell was Steinbeck; only one problem, the people want popular novels by the popular authors like Sheldon, King, Clancy, Steel, and who could forget Grisham, and then comes this book, that stands out above the rest and most defiantly gave all of its readers a reality check on literature. Sorry for the novel, and I honestly believe you will like the book. I read it and finished it Friday 13, 1998, yes, while in the 9th grade, and I am the only person at my school who has checked it out and returned it with a good comment. It is great!