The English Patient
Man Booker Prize Winner

I marvel that this was ever read by more than a thousand people. It is too poetic for the mainstream, too fragmented for easy consumption, and too sensual for those who consider plot the most important part of a novel. This remains one of my three favourite novels because of its poeticism, fragmenta......more

Michael Ondaatje in 1999 - image from NY Times This may be one of those rare instances in which the film exceeds the book. It is a wonderful book, but is not without its flaws. The author, in his third person persona, keeps quite a distance from his characters, and the reader is held at arm’s length......more

Who really is the English Patient? Brought to a mountain villa, outside of Florence Italy, after being rescued in the harsh deserts of Libya, by Bedouins, no dog in this fight. Nevertheless burnt badly in a plane crash, a fiery inferno and a miracle the pilot still has a heartbeat, but for how long......more

Few books are felt as much as read, but The English Patient falls into this category. Like the film, it is hauntingly beautiful, but for slightly different reasons. The story of people haunted by love and war, their damaged souls converging at a villa in Italy, remains, but the focus and method in w......more

"I'll be looking at the moon, but I'll be seeing you." I thought this book was ok. I would say that I enjoyed it, but I can't say that it is one that will stay with me, nor one I will keep and choose to reread. There is a lot of flicking between past and present, and between different characters wit......more