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Summary: At last a great American novel...
Review: This book and film hardly need praising, and yet they deserve it more than any other I've experienced in a decade. Ondaatje truly brings his poetry to the novel and Anthony Minghella translates it to the screen. It's a deeply philosophical novel and film that deals with issues of reality and self an lifts them into a larger sense of Self. It moves like no other I've read since Faulkner or E. M. Forester. Thanks to this India born Canadian for bringing us greatness.
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Summary: We die containing a richness of lovers and tribes
Review: The most popular so far of Michael Ondaatje's novels, The English Patient is a devastating postmodern epic that takes place during World War II, yet speaks to us of the state of our contemporary souls. Hana, a young Canadian nurse psychologically damaged by the ravages of war, cares for her mysterious burnt patient in an abandoned Tuscan villa. They are soon joined by Kip, a Sikh sapper working for the British army, and by David Caravaggio, a charismatic thief-turned-spy who knew Hana as a child, and who has since lost both thumbs to fascist torturers. The burnt patient, whom everybody believes to be English, but who may also be the elusive Hungarian explorer and Nazi collaborator Count Ladislaw de Almasy, remains in his bedroom and comes to befriend the other three characters. He is a born storyteller, and his loquacity takes on the erotic appeal of a siren's song against which neither the other characters nor the readers can close their ears. Through him we learn of the impossible love affair between Katharine Clifton, a married Englishwoman, and one of the members of a team of explorers and archaeologists in the Lybian desert of the Thirties. Meanwhile, Hana, Kip, and Caravaggio weave their way in and out of the villa's wrecked rooms as they remember or try to forget what happened to them during the war and attempt to rebuild their shattered selves through love, friendship and, in Caravaggio's case, the occasional shot of morphine. Through his characters, Ondaatje asks fundamental questions. What is the nature of our selves? What is the nature of our world? What are the effects of war, division, and fragmentation on our lives? Ondaatje allows his characters and setting to provide the reply. Because the villa was booby-trpped by the Germans, whole walls are missing, thus letting in trees, sunshine, and rain. The burnt patient's room, however, was left intact, yet someone painted an entire garden upon its walls. The burnt patient writes his life on the margins of a book by Herodotus. Katharine Clifton
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Summary: GREAT
Review: Ijust read the book and fall in love with it. I`m a German student and I watched the film in English (which was a bit difficult to understand) and read the German edition of the book and found it great. The book is even greater than the film and it gives a deeper understanding. I really love this book.
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Summary: Harmattan and the winds of the desert
Review: just read where the desert winds are described, slowly spell the words: harmattan, ghibli, africo.... and you will soon feel there. Magnificent
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Summary: No comparison between the book and the movie...
Review: After reading some of the other reviews, I felt I had to comment about the novel vs. the movie. The movie gained mass appeal by simplifying the story into a basic harlequin romance and a couple of steamy scenes. Yes, the cinematography was beautiful, but the screenplay may as well have been an "original" work, loosely based on the title of an existing novel. I do agree that the book is not for everyone. By trying to capture all the subtleties of the many characters, Ondaatje tests the reader's ability to stay focused. Personally, while I think the book was a worthy read, I have read many other works of literature that are more deserving of the praise that has been heaped on this novel.
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Summary: In memory, love lives forever.
Review: I believe this is the most marvelous book I have ever read. I am amazed at how Ondaaje used sentence fragments to completely tangle me in this book. He is a brilliant writer.Katharine's chapter is the most beautiful piece. It is the way you would want a lost love to describe you. I read the book before the movie- and although both are lovely, the book brings you to a point in you imagination that you cannot control. "Who lays the crumbs of food that tempt you? Towards a person you never considered." The words flow into your train of thought on a daily basis. You will end up giving this book to everyone you know and love. I completely recommend it for your life.
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Summary: Pure poetry in a time where romance is slowly dying...
Review: I must say first of all, this is a work which requires the reader's utmost concentration and participation. Definitely read this alone, even if it means being without your lover for awhile. I guarantee that you will want the company after reading only a few pages. This work is so stunning, I truly feel that Ondaatje has transformed the pages into a canvas with his words serving to color each page with vivid detail of the characters. From descriptions of clothing to temperatures, burning desire, heartbreak and joy, I recommend this work to anyone who has ever truly known the definition of love and experienced all the emotions possible from loving another. I would recommend reading the book before watching the movie. If you do see the film, see it with someone close to your soul.
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Summary: Eccentric Prose destroyed by intertwining mess of a plot
Review: I read 132 pages into the novel confused as hell. I then rented the movie and cleared up a lot of confusion as to where Ondaatje was trying to lead the reader. His beautifully eccentric poetic style of writing was deeply effected by the intertwining mess of a plot. After finishing the movie the novel became much more understanding and beautiful.
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Summary: A Tribute to The English Language
Review: I saw the movie before I read the book and was completely captivated by both. When you read the book (if you love beautiful words) you will see the images shown in the same breath-taking style as was shown on film. If you like common, ordinary, 6th grade use of vocabulary and romance novel-style love stories, this book is not for you. If The Bridges of Madison County is your idea of lost love, I would suggest that you stick with that style of writing and leave the poetic and beautiful writing of Michael Ondaajte to those who LOVE great writing.
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Summary: This book makes absolutely no sense at all.
Review: I just don't understand this book. I never fully understand why we should care about these people. I haven't seen the movie but it must be better than the book to win so many academy awards. The people in the book never DO anything. They're all crazy in one way or another. From a young nurse who won't leave her dying 'english patient' to the suicidal Indian bomb diffuser, they are all poorly contrived, uninteresting characters .
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