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Will Byrnes's Reviews > The English Patient
The English Patient
by
Michael Ondaatje in 1999 - image from NY Times
This may be one of those rare instances in which the film exceeds the book. It is a wonderful book, but is not without its flaws. The author, in his third person persona, keeps quite a distance from his characters, and the reader is held at arm’s length. Kip, for example is clearly a very positive character, yet we (I) do not feel the affection for him that one might expect. Caravaggio is a thief and remains a thief, so there is little love there to hang onto. The women are also beyond our urge to feel, Katherine because of her willfulness and Hana for her obsession. Ondaatje writes beautifully. He is a poet, it seems, in the guise of a novelist. He reminds me of Thomas Hardy in that. He has produced thirteen collections of poetry and only seven novels. Make of that what you will. The book also has more background than the film can include and that is a welcome thing. Highly recommended, but while you should be prepared to love the poetry of the writing, be prepared also to maintain a distance from the characters.
=============================EXTRA STUFF
Michael Ondaatje on
July 8, 2018 - crème de la crème of 50 years of Man Booker prizes -
The Guardian - MO reading an essay he wrote while staying in Conrad’s boat in London
June 4, 2007 � The New Yorker - by Louis Menand � a fascinating analysis of MO’s work -
-----2018 - Warlight, long-listed for the Man Booker Prize
-----2007 - Divisidero - read but not reviewed
-----2001 - Anil’s Ghost
-----1997 - In the Skin of a Lion - a very brief look
by
Michael Ondaatje in 1999 - image from NY Times
This may be one of those rare instances in which the film exceeds the book. It is a wonderful book, but is not without its flaws. The author, in his third person persona, keeps quite a distance from his characters, and the reader is held at arm’s length. Kip, for example is clearly a very positive character, yet we (I) do not feel the affection for him that one might expect. Caravaggio is a thief and remains a thief, so there is little love there to hang onto. The women are also beyond our urge to feel, Katherine because of her willfulness and Hana for her obsession. Ondaatje writes beautifully. He is a poet, it seems, in the guise of a novelist. He reminds me of Thomas Hardy in that. He has produced thirteen collections of poetry and only seven novels. Make of that what you will. The book also has more background than the film can include and that is a welcome thing. Highly recommended, but while you should be prepared to love the poetry of the writing, be prepared also to maintain a distance from the characters.
=============================EXTRA STUFF
Michael Ondaatje on
July 8, 2018 - crème de la crème of 50 years of Man Booker prizes -
The Guardian - MO reading an essay he wrote while staying in Conrad’s boat in London
June 4, 2007 � The New Yorker - by Louis Menand � a fascinating analysis of MO’s work -
He is not telling stories; he is using the elements of storytelling to gesture in the direction of a constellation of moods, themes, and images. He is creating the literary equivalent of a Cornell box or a rock garden or a floral arrangement.Other Michael Ondaatje books I have read
-----2018 - Warlight, long-listed for the Man Booker Prize
-----2007 - Divisidero - read but not reviewed
-----2001 - Anil’s Ghost
-----1997 - In the Skin of a Lion - a very brief look
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Reading Progress
Started Reading
August 1, 2005
–
Finished Reading
November 2, 2008
– Shelved
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message 1:
by
Ian
(new)
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rated it 4 stars
May 09, 2011 03:47AM
The film has Kristin Scott Thomas going for it.
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Yes it does. The cinematography sings as well, and a wonderful score does not hurt. Having Ralph Fiennes in a film never hurts.
susmithj+01 wrote: "fghj"The Urban Dictionary def is somewhat troubling. Did you have something else in mind?
One of my favourite films but I just could not connect with the book at all. I agree with a lot of your points here on the reasons why :-)
Beautiful writing, but too much distance. The movie was amazing!
I read Warlight but want to read this book because I liked the movie a lot
The film was magnificent, more engaging than the book. but the book is still pretty wonderful.
The film was incredible but I enjoyed the book just as well.
He is a poet, it seems, in the guise of a novelist. Well, he's a poet first, actually, which is part of the reason why I think his novels don't always come together quite as well as one hopes. He keeps the aesthetic discipline that works well in his poetry but not always so well with his novels. I mean, I enjoy his novels but I know what you mean about enjoying the movie more. He has a deft touch with words but one can feel too far from his character emotionally; movies solve that problem, when they are well done. I found Divisidero very disappointing and think it is best entirely forgotten. Also, the film starred Ralph Fiennes at his finest moment. Meow.
The distance thing was a rel impediment to me in the novel. Fixed in the film. Cinematography dazzling in capturing the poetry of the book.
Great review Will.. I agree the distance from the characters in the book as compared to the movie
Will, I thought you might find this review of his latest book interesting, if you've not read it; it elaborates on some of the problems you've mentioned.
Thanks for that link. Definitely an interesting take on MO. There is certainly merit to Andrew Motion's grip about MO keeping as much as possible in the shadows. There might be more justification in Warlight than in most books, given the spooky environment in which the characters live. I am not sure I buy his argument that Perhaps all this has something to do with Ondaatje’s less well-known life as a poet (he has published nearly twice as many collections of poetry as he has novels). Paradoxical as it might sound, in this alternative existence he often renders hard facts and moments of explosive action more directly than he does in his fiction: think of his early verse novel The Collected Works of Billy the Kid. But why? Maybe because in fiction Ondaatje feels compelled by the form itself to deal with significant events (bomb disposal, prisoners in cages, civil-war murders) but is faintly embarrassed by the risk of overextrapolating them � and so making them seem banal � in the comparatively roomy spaces of prose. This means that he ends up blurring or disguising everything. Whatever the reason, there exists at the centre of his imagination, and therefore of his work as a whole, a tussle between the urge to reveal and the instinct to suppress and/or conceal.In any case, a reliance on secrets is a well-worn tool in the kit of most novel writers, so I don't see why Motion is getting his panties all in a bunch about it.
I do not really know if MO's poetic inclinations contribute to the distance one can feel from his characters or not, but it is an interesting notion.
Will wrote: "In any case, a reliance on secrets is a well-worn tool in the kit of most novel writers, so I don't see why Motion is getting his panties all in a bunch about it.":)))
Do you not believe that the distance Ondaatje keeps from his characters is consistent with the alienation and separateness each keeps from the others, hence forming a part of the thematic structure?
Certainly a possibility. But my sense was that it was not done as an artistic choice.
It is so true that readers are kept distance from characters at arm’s length. I couldn’t involved in the story and didn’t enjoy it
If you have not yet seen the film, I strongly recommend it. That problem was resolved there, and the film is magnificent!
I loved both the book and the film. Ondaatje delivered a fresh, visceral story, and Anthony Minghella, film director, made it magnificently visible and audible.
