The English Patient Review

 The Sri- Lankan Canadian author, Michael Ondaatje, wrote The English Patient in the year of 1992. The story is based around a brutally burned Hungarian man, his nurse, a Canadian thief, and an Indian sapper in the British Army as they live out the end of World War II. This novel is nothing short of spectacular, as it was recognized for its Canadian Governor General’s Award and the Booker Prize for fiction.  

Michael Ondaatje devoted most of his early life to studying and excelling through learning. He studied at Bishop’s College School and Bishop’s University in Lennoxville, Quebec, but then moved to Toronto to receive his BA from University of Toronto and his MA in addition from Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario. He began teaching English Literature at York University and Glendon College. His work varies from fiction, autobiographies, poetry and film. He has published thirteen books of poetry and has been given the Governor General’s Award, Booker Prize, and Academy Award for best picture for several of them.

Although Michael Ondaatje never fought in the war or didn’t have much background regarding the war he was very motivated to write a compelling novel based on that time period. Because he is known for his heart felt poetry, he most likely felt the war fell into that category.  The emotions are deeply revealed from each character and the way Ondaatje expresses them through words is truly beautiful. "All of us, even those with European homes and children in the distance, wished to remove the clothing of our countries. It was a place of faith. We disappeared into landscape.” He must’ve had a desire to write about strong feelings, passion and love’s ability to transcend time and place because those are the main themes of the novel. Although Kip leaves Italy to get married in India, he never loses touch with Hana, and always maintains their connection. The love within this novel is so strong that it transcends death; each character upholds their emotions beyond the grave. Perhaps Ondaatje wanted to prove that time and place are irrelevant to a relationship. 

The English Patient is written in a unique way. The past and present are constantly intertwined; the characters frequently flash back on prior occurrences but also focus on living in the moment. There is not one specific narrator, that way each character has the chance to convey their point of view. The novel opens with Hana, outside her Italian villa in 1945, shortly after the Germans had retreated up the countryside. Before the Germans retreated they left hidden bombs and mines everywhere around the villa, making it incredibly unsafe. The other patients and nurses decide to leave the villa, in search of a safer place, but Hana chooses to stay with her patient. Hana doesn’t know much of anything about the patient she is caring for, other than he has faced a tragedy that now only leaves him with a copy of the history of Herodotus. As Hana and her patient become closer, a man named Caravaggio suddenly shows up at the villa with his hands covered in bandages, in search for Hana. The two begin to reminisce together and grieve over the loss of Patrick. One day while Hana is playing the piano, an Indian Sikh named Kip arrives at the villa, with the hope to stay at the villa to clear all dangers of the hidden bombs. Kip and the English patient immediately grow to be friends. Shortly the Patient reveals his entire story, he was a part of a desert exploration team accompanied by Geoffrey and Katherine Clifton, and his job was to draw maps of the desert. The Patient became infatuated with Katherine and they had a very extreme affair but she abruptly cut it off in 1938, stating that Geoffrey would go crazy if he ever found out. However, Geoffrey had known the entire time, and when WWII broke out Geoffrey attempted to kill all three of them in the plane. Geoffrey dies, Katherine barely survives and from then on the Patient faces many challenges and ends up being captured as a spy but eventually is able to escape. I personally didn’t enjoy the ending because Kip and Hana’s connection was lost when he unexpectedly left, and the letter that Hana wrote to her stepmother about the death of her father was incredibly depressing. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, despite the fact that it took me many attempts to keep reading.