Casualties of war

     I came to Michael Ondaatje's The English Patient with no prior knowledge; I hadn't read any of his books, nor had I seen the film version of this one, so by way of preconception I had only his reputation for fine writing.   

     What I found is that that renown is justified and due. Here is a wordsmith, here is a richly-furnished mind whose work is similarly well plenished, and in a narrative put together like a window of stained glass, every small scene or short passage is intensely coloured and deep with meaning. The lead that provides the episodic link is the crumbling Villa San Girolamo and the four people who inhabit it in the last days of the war. There is Hana, a nurse, who stayed behind when the hospital she was part of moved on, her sole charge now the English patient. This anonymous man was burned beyond recognition when his plane crashed in the desert. Who is he and what is the love affair of which he wrote in the palimpsest-like volume of Herodotus' Histories he keeps with him? Then enter Caravaggio, a thief, a spy, a family friend of Hana's. To complete the quartet, there is Kip a young Indian sapper or engineer, a bomb disposal expert, and in many ways the most complex and intriguing of the four.

    The story spans the characters' wartime experiences and pre-war histories as well their communion in the Villa, but it is the English patient's past in desert exploration and his affair in Cairo which is at the heart of the book, along with the questions of identity and the turns of fate to which that gives rise.

    Ondaatje's prose speaks of a muscular effort and a poet's sensitivity, so choose any passage and you'll find that tension producing writing of beauty and intelligence. Here is the English patient on economy of language:

"The words of her husband in praise of her meant nothing. But I am a man whose life in many ways, even as an explorer, has been governed by words. By rumours and legends. Charted things. Shards written down. The tact of words. In the desert to repeat something would be to fling water into the earth. Here nuance took you a hundred miles."

In the spirit of that line, I'll close here as I've said quite enough!

Comments

[Jennifer]

I have seen the movie, but I should read the book. The books are always better.

[Fran]

In my opinion films rarely do a book justice but the film of this was one of the best adaptions I have seen. The music is the most evocative and haunting film score I have heard. I often listen to my CD of it....and determine to play the Goldberg variations.

[Lindsay]

A good book is (almost) always much superior to the film, but a bad book can make at least a bearable film - eg, most of Agatha Christie, or something like The Hunt for Red October. But in the case of The English Patient, both book and film are magnificent. Read more of Ondaatje, too - In The Skin Of A Lion is very fine indeed, for example.

[claire]

It's wonderful to see you enjoyed it! I am in love with this book. Didn't care for Ondaatje's Divisadero, but this one is indeed lovely.

[Rebecca]

I read this a few years ago after already having watched (and loved) the film version. I found the book to be as poetic and magnificent as the big screen adaptation. Usually the film version of a book is something of a disappointment, but in this case I do urge you to see it if you haven't already. I must get around to reading more of Ondaatje's work.

[Mark David]

Quite a captivating review, I must say. Claire has recently mentioned this book to me (and your review as well) and after hearing your thoughts about it I am only made even more eager to read it. Thanks :)

[Deborah Lawrenson]

The English Patient is one of my favourite books of all time, from the loveliness of individual phrases, to the broad sweep of impossible romanticism (could he really have expected to dig that plane out and the engine not to be clogged with sand?!).

Gorgeous film too, though it doesn't quite capture Ondaatje's constant theme of the reality of borders, nationality, and allegiances, beautifully handled in the novel.

[Deirdre]

This is my absolute favourite book. I am so glad you enjoyed it. And the film IS gorgeous. I have always felt that the movie captured the essence of the book (although it was, I'm sure, a difficult book to film). If you can get hold of the soundtrack, I think you will enjoy that too. I love the quote with which you ended your review!

(I haven't commented for a while but I still read both blogs daily. Great work, Karen!)