The English Patient

by Michael Ondaatje

Last night I managed to get to my book group for the first time in months. There were 8 of us there to discuss the book, although one person hadn't read any of it.

Synopsis:

The story is set in Italy in 1944. The war is over and has left it's devastation on both the land and the people that have been left in it's wake.

The book centres around an isolated Tuscan villa that has served as a military hospital. Two people remain; a young Canadian nurse named Hana and her last patient a man who is burned beyond recognition (The English Patient). Hana is scarred by what she has experienced durning the war and by the death of her father. Her patient drifts in and out of dreams of the past and his time spent in the desert.

Later the two of them are joined by Caravaggio, a thief made legitimate by the war who had been tortured and maimed by his war time captors. A young Sikh Sapper named Kip also joins them. He had been employed by the British Forces dismantling bombs.

The plot flits between the past and and present as each individual story unfolds.

So what did the group think of it?

Most of the group members loved the book, but found it difficult to detach themselves from the film version which has quite a different emphasis. Luckily I didn't have that problem because I have never seen the film. We liked the imagery and the way the book slowly unfolded, unraveling the past and the events that have shaped the characters.

Everyone liked the characters although one member of the group wasn't convinced with the way Kip reacted and developed towards the end of the book. I personally thought that it was quite a plausible way to react, following the course of his life and experiences throughout the war. The novel has a clever way with words, which draw you in, revealing metaphors and the ultimately the identity of the English patient. Within the pages love, loss, betrayal and sense of nation are all featured.

Most group members felt the book would benefit a second reading, as they thought a lot of nuances had been missed the first time around.

Aftershock!

This is to do with the journey home and not the book. I had a terrible time trying to get on any road that led back to my home. After about 10 minutes driving I found that the road was blocked off with cones. I thought no worries I can take the next road which led to the same roundabout that I was trying to get to. Annoyingly that was blocked of with cones too!!!

I had to drive all the way back to where I started from and drive out of town in the other direction. When I reached that all illusive roundabout I saw a sea of traffic cones. All the exits were blocked apart from the road I was on and luckily the road that I needed to be on to get home.

I find it totally irresponsible that no diversion/warning signs had been put in place to warn people in advance. All the other ways I could have got home are miles out of my way!