The English Patient

I suspect that reading The English Patient and watching the movie are very similar in that you either like the slow pace, character sketches, and reflective mood -  or you hate it.  In some ways, I am disappointed that I saw the movie first - it colored my visual images of the characters and the villa, and gave away the ending.  But of all movies to see first, this one captures the mood, pace, and style of the writing beautifully - it was wonderful in both formats.

When I was reading it on the bus, someone asked me "Oh, The English Patient - its a love story isn't it?"  And I hesitated - "not really..." Perhaps because the focus of the movie was the romance.  This novel is so much more than a story about the English Patient and the nurse Hannah, or the Patient and his mistress Katherine, or Hannah and Kip.  It is a mystery story, and a story about war, and its aftermath, and the global consequences that can sometimes be felt even in a confined place and time.  It is also a story about the various ways a person can lose his or her identity, and what can be dome to reclaim it.

By far, the most fascinating character in my opinion was Kip, the Sikh sapper from India.  His complex relationship with his familial and cultural background, and his troubled experience in the Western world at a time of the blurring of national lines were very compelling to me.  Each of the characters was, in their own way, nationless and without family - and Kip's story highlighted these elements in all of the other characters.  And I really enjoyed the literary tension created by each explosion - literal or metaphorical, which were tied to Kip as well.  Overall it was a fantastic novel - highly recommended.