This is a book i read in my literature class an really enjoy it! Here is my opinion and paper i present about it!
The English Patient is a meticulous
novel written by the great novelist Michael Odantaje. It’s a novel full of love
and confusion set at the end of World War II. It reveals the identity and true
self of 4 individuals in a magically and realistic way. It not only involves
love but also a little of mystery as you get to know these characters.
The II World War is coming to an end in
Italy, Hanna; a Canadian nurse decides to live in a desolated Villa called
Villa San Girolamo in company of her burned patient. Tired of the death and war,
she decides to stay there and nurse this man with no identity at all, just
known as the “English patient” for his accent. Hanna not only nurses him but,
reads and hears his experiences as well. Suddenly Caravaggio arrives to the
Villa. He was a thief and an old family friend of Hanna, with war ending and
having no family Caravaggio searches for her. As the plot develops Kip arrives,
an Indian Sapper that worked for the English and dismantled bombs. He trusted
no one but himself. With time he
establishes a love relationship with Hanna, something Caravaggio wanted. They
start to know the English patient’s history with what he remembers, but not his
identity. The book relates the past life of these individuals and each of them gets
to establish a connection with the unknown English patient.
Michael Odantaje’s style in The English
Patient is totally poetic. The use of metaphors and poetic language enriches
the novel in a magical sense, giving it a style for the reader to imagine and
feel rather than just knowing what’s happening.
It is presented in a nonlinear order while it feeds the reader with a
set of memories and presents events that keep it interesting. It has many
random flashbacks that may confuse you but at the same time gives logic to it. Character
development is as well part of the style, throughout the whole book you get to
know the life, personalities and identities of these individuals. The time in
which the novel takes place also complements the themes that can be:
nationality, identity, honor and war. Some other themes that the novel refers
to are death, life, passion, healing, loneliness, and connection. It also
includes some historical context like Herodotus, and war incidents. It is
totally a controversial novel and its audience in general is for people who
would like to read something poetic and passionate. It shows the reader how was
life after war but in the emotional side. Teenagers of 16 and adults definitely
will have a good time reading it.
It is a passive novel but it really goes
with the style. The novel doesn’t have an established plot and is more about
characters. Throughout the whole novel you are able to see how each character develops;
especially through experiences, flashbacks and past life rather than Daily
events. As the book advances you can perceive that each character is damaged in
a certain way and wants to get heal. I personally think the book centers
towards Hanna, I really loved her character because of the way she attaches to
the English Patient and takes care of him. This strange and mysterious
attachment with the patient at first is unexplainable. Later on, Hanna
describes her father’s death and you realize that he died being burned, making
her build a strong closeness for the English patient; that may have developed from
the fact that her father was burned too and she wasn’t there to take care of
him. I think seeing the burned patient caused her pain and care for him
thinking on her dead father. This novel
is more about getting to know these individuals through what they have
experienced. It shows you that there are moments in your life that you are left
with nothing and your only possessions are your experiences and memories
I’ll also like to state that Odantaje
centers the book toward the character rather than creating a plot; this makes
the book a little boring at the beginning, because you are waiting for a
problem or a situation to happen than just getting to know the characters. But
yet his descriptions bring alive the novel and you get to perceive what I had before
mentioned. He also presents you to love stories of different times that are a
little sad but touchy. Is a book that tells you how to love and what to expect
from love. What really kept me reading the book was to discover the English patient’s
real identity. Even though I had to pass by his whole story that somehow I felt
it really fast and of much detailed compared to the rest of the book; still it was
worth to get to know him. Through the story narration of you also discover
along with the characters that the patient turns out to be way different than
how the characters and I imagine him. In this book I learned that when we lose
everything our only possession left is our past, names, experiences and
memories.
Reading this book was at first a little
confusing and difficult to get through, because of the random flashbacks that
appeared. It’s a book that takes time to read to really understand the poetic
elements it has. I enjoyed the story a lot and learned about it, what I disliked
the most was that sometimes there where unnecessary details mention. However
the story is deeply touching on the aspects of love and personalities. The
poetic work of this author and book is splendid and really carries you to the
world of the characters. I highly recommend this book to persons that would
like to read about passionate love, pain, relations, and isolation. Still you
have to be patient to read the book to get to understand the story. It’s a
novel you should read not only for its controversial style but for its poetic
work. It’s a book that confuses, intrigues, moves, and makes you think about
love. So if you want to read something different The English Patient is
definitely what you should read.
