With unsettling beauty and intelligence, this Golden Man Booker Prize–winning novel traces the intersection of four damaged lives in an abandoned Italian villa at the end of World War II. The nurse Hana, exhausted by death, obsessively tends to her last surviving patient. Caravaggio, the thief, tries to reimagine who he is, now that his hands are hopelessly maimed. The Indian sapper Kip searches … sapper Kip searches for hidden bombs in a landscape where nothing is safe but himself. And at the center of his labyrinth lies the English patient, nameless and hideously burned, a man who is both a riddle and a provocation to his companions—and whose memories of suffering, rescue, and betrayal illuminate this book like flashes of heat lightning.
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Boring.
Lyrically written with characters that fascinate
This is one of my favorites.
I enjoyed this the 2nd time through.
Exceptional! I know it has been around a long time and a movie made, but reading the book was a most rewarding experience.
I am unable to finish this book as it drags and has too much horror, sadness, evil and humanities cruelness to man.
One of the most romantic and heartbreaking stories I have ever read. Ondaatje is a gifted writer and draws the reader into this fascinating story with a wonderful cast of characters
This book is very hard to follow and is no where near as good as the movie.
Beautifully written
Saw the movie years ago, usually books are full of details that don’t make it into the movie due to time restraints and the “artistic vision” of the movie big shots like producers, directors and screenwriters. This is the same with The English Patient. I don’t remember the movie delving very deep into Hana’s pre-nursing heart breaks which fill out her character. I also don’t remember the Holocaust being the trigger that came between Hana and Kip. However the writer’s obvious love of the desert and it’s dangers; along with poetic winds, nomadic peoples, caves, history build a story that must be read…
I thought this book was very interesting and had a wonderful plot. However, it is a very arduous read. I am used to reading books that are fast paced. I do happen to like challenging myself every once in awhile. That is why I absolutely enjoyed reading The English Patient