The English Patient

The English Patient / Michael Ondaatje / Vintage Books

This has got to be the most beautiful book I have ever read. The author is practically reading it to me himself. I was captivated from the first page to the last. The language - simply poetic. The setting of the story - simply maginificent. The characters - a work of art. I didn't catch the movie during it's hayday, and I bought the book only years after the movie was produced. As a result, my opinion of it is purely based on the author's voice. I can't imagine anything stronger than Almasy's love for Katherine. Ondaatje flawlessly transported me from the burning deserts of the Sahara, to the war-ravaged Italian countryside. Each character speaks of it's own place in the book, as well as their true calling in the war's aftermath. Be it the bomb expert Kip, or the passionate nurse Hanna who has lost everything, or the thief who calls himself Caravaggio, and even the barely living English patient himself. Each time I close this book, it is like waking from a beautiful yet illusive dream. This is definitely worth a read.