Sunday, February 05, 2012

The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje

I really don't know how to review this book.  I never could decide whether I liked it or not; I liked parts and disliked other parts.  So I'll quote the description of the book from Goodreads:
"With ravishing beauty and unsettling intelligence, Michael Ondaatje's Booker Prize-winning novel traces the intersection of four damaged lives in an Italian villa at the end of World War II. Hana, the exhausted nurse; the maimed thief, Caravaggio; the wary sapper, Kip: each is haunted by the riddle of the English patient, the nameless, burned man who lies in an upstairs room and whose memories of passion, betrayal,and rescue illuminates this book like flashes of heat lightening."
I even had trouble deciding on a rating and finally settled on 2 out of 5.

2 comments:

Kathy A. Johnson said...

I think it's interesting that you had a hard time reviewing this. I saw the movie years ago when it was really popular and did not like it at all! I would not be tempted to read the book because of that, and especially now that you did not particularly like it. We really are alike in many of our tastes!

Dotti said...

You must really be an avid reader having plowed thru this book. I'm with Kathy...saw the movie...it was sooooooo BORING...thank goodness we only paid a buck to rent it and didn't mortgage the house to see it on the silver screen!!! (grin)