The English Patient

The English Patient, by Michael Ondaatje, was a book that I was readily drawn to because of its premise--love and mystery at the close of WWII. Random chance brings four people together at an Italian villa--a Canadian nurse, a Canadian thief, an Indian Sikh who specializes in bomb removal, and a horribly burned man whom they call the English patient. In unraveling the mystery of the English patient, each of the characters is forced to let down a few of their own walls and they are able to rediscover some truths about themselves.

I would love to give the book a rave review. I really would. But the truth is, I had a hard time getting through it. I know the book is highly acclaimed, and was made into a very successful movie, but I just really struggled getting into it. The progression of the plot is very non-linear, which made it difficult to stay focused and involved when I was only able to read for fifteen/twenty minutes a day. On more than one occasion I found myself needing to turn back a few pages to remember where I was at, and even that wasn't always successful because of the disjointed nature of the plot line. Additionally, even when I did have downtime and would have been able to read for a longer period of time, I found myself consciously finding something else to do because trying to stay involved and piece together the parts of the book made it feel somewhat like a chore.

However, I think part of the reason I did not enjoy this book was due to my own faults, not that of the author. Once I stopped trying to force the book and characters into a plot that made sense to me, the pieces of the book came together naturally and I was actually able to enjoy it. But I think that I spent so much time fighting against the natural progression of the book that I actually lost a lot of the depth of the characters and plot.

While this book didn't leave the most lasting impression on me, I don't think that I would discourage others from reading it. My only encouragement would be to make sure you have a few solid chunks of time to commit to it; the nature of the book doesn't lend itself well to a book that you can regularly pick up and put down without getting a little lost.