'The English Patient' by Michael Ondaatje
'The English Patient' by Michael Ondaatje

The good

  • At times, the writing is beautiful, and gives the story a magical, ethereal, haunting, maybe even poetic feeling.

  • Interesting settings: Italy and Northern Africa during World War II.

  • Deep, unpredictable, unique characters.

The not so good

  • At times, the writing is confusing, and annoying. The various parts of the story are presented out of order, which is fine, as the story is a mystery that revolves around a character who lost his memory. But even within each of those parts, some items are written out of order: e.g., something happens, but you’re not told what, the story goes on for 10 pages with you somewhat in the dark, then you finally find out what happened, and now you have to remember what happened in those 10 pages and cast them in a new light. This doesn’t seem to serve any purpose at all: it doesn’t further the mystery, it doesn’t make you feel like the patient with the lost memory, it’s just annoying.

  • The plot is a bit meh. This is a book far more about emotions and feelings and passion than about plot or character development.

  • The big reveal of the character’s identity is a bit underwhelming.

Rating: 3 stars