The English Patient

The English Patient- Book Review

The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje is a book laced with themes of love, security and the effects of war on character. Ondaatje was born in Sri Lanka. He then moved to England and also to Canada in his lifetime. He wrote poetry, fiction and autobiography. Throughout The English Patient, we see many connections and references to Ondaatje’s life and profession as a poet and writer. Caravaggio was a thief in Canada before World War II, and the English Patient was thought to be from England originally. Hana, the nurse, is also Canadian. Those are three close connections to the author. Also the book is written in a very poetic tone. The book flows very nicely, yet can be hard to understand at times.

            Michael Ondaatje was trying to achieve a depiction of the effects of war on character and on love. From the beginning of the book, we see Hana, the nurse, begin to become unable to be attached to anyone. She has witnessed so much death to people she cared about because of the war that she no longer shows emotion towards her patients, except for the English patient, that is. We see Kip, who has learned only to serve as a source of protection. That’s why Hana appreciates Kip as a source of protection. Caravaggio is very cautious because he is afraid of being caught, like he was for stealing. I think the author really wanted to portray how war affected people in general, because it was very scarring. I think he also wanted to write a book in which he could incorporate some of his history and his background.

            The book is about a nurse who lives in Villa San Girolamo with a man that they believe is English. He has been burned to the point where they cannot recognize him. His only possession is Herodotus, histories which describe his desert explorations prior to the fire. Then, while Hana is going about her daily life, two men come to the villa. These men are Caravaggio and Kip. Caravaggio was Hana’s father’s friend, and was a spy for the Germans. Kip is a sapper, who is trained to defuse bombs. Soon the book evolves into an intricate love story about the English Patient’s past and how he fell in love with Geoffrey Clifton’s wife, Katharine, while mapping out the desert. The English Patient tells his story, meanwhile Kip and Hana fall in love. Kip has issues being part of society and he separates himself through his defusing of bombs, but his relationship with Hana brings him back into reality. Then something tragic happens. Kip hears about the United States dropping a bomb on Japan, and gets really depressed and feels betrayed. He then leaves Hana and separates himself once again. These are the six main characters referred to in the book. Lord Suffolk and Madox are also briefly mentioned characters in The English Patient.

            The lessons of love and seeing the effects of war on the characters were really moving for me. I also liked the way the book strayed from in the Villa to outside the Villa in a whole different setting. Basically the author wrote the book in a format where you get an equal amount of description of life in the villa and The English Patients life. I think this is really well written because there couldn’t be an interesting plot without the whole exterior plot. I also thought the characters were really well developed and I found them really interesting to read about. I loved reading parts about the villa and the four main characters that were living there.

            The book was very well suited to its subject matter. I think that through the development of the characters and the setting of this run down, rigged Villa, we really get the effects of the war. The reader sees Kip’s emotionless defusing of bombs as he eliminates his fears. Hana turns to Kip looking for protection. Caravaggio becomes addicted to morphine. It also touches on the difficulties of nationality and how people were very unable to accept different nationalities. Kip found it very upsetting. The book is overall very engaging as defiantly serves a purpose of realization. It’s a must read!