Book Review - The English Patient

Book Review

The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje

Bloomsbury Publishing PLC; New edition edition (2 Aug 2004)

978-0747572596

I loved the film of The English Patient. In fact, I have watched it several times and I now have the DVD. I find it absorbing, exhilarating, emotional and beautifully told. I was recently encouraged to get the book to read but I’m afraid I didn’t quite make it to the end. It may be that watching the film clouded my judgement but I tried not to. For me it just wasn’t the same story at all.

There was Hana the nurse suffering emotional pain and becoming perhaps a little too close to her ward; her patient the English man with his book and his memories, Caravaggio a thief, addict and generally sinister interloper and Kip the bomb expert and the beautiful setting of the Italian countryside and large war damaged house. However, I got to halfway through the book and there hadn’t been any development of the love story, which brought the English Patient to that point in time.

With each page I turned, I kept expecting to find some familiar thread, but they got lost in the language, which at times seemed a little too clever and intellectual. I almost got the sense that the author was trying too hard. Following my last review, maybe I’m not a reader of ‘great literature’ though I would argue that is quite a subjective topic. Maybe I expected it to mirror the film too much and again, I don’t think that’s unreasonable.

I read somewhere that this book had to be ‘read slowly and out loud’ to experience the subtlety of the writing. Well to me that’s not reading – I would rather watch the film and that’s what I’ll do.

About the Author

Michael Ondaatje is a Sri Lankan born Canadian novelist. The English Patient was awarded the Booker Prize and the film won Academy awards. He also writes autobiographies, poetry and films.

Readability Rating: 5

Recommendation: I’m not sure as I believe that my experience would not necessarily reflect another’s. I’m all for trying things out for myself and I loved the story so why not?

Book Review - Remains of The Day

The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

Publisher: Faber and Faber; New edition (3 Mar 2005)

ISBN: 978-0571225385

I’m finding it hard to summarise The Remains of the Day. The trouble is as a reader and a writer; it didn’t fulfil either of those needs for me. The story centres on Stevens a butler of the ‘old’ sort. The last of his kind I suppose. The book is told through him and him alone as he takes a trip around the English countryside on the way to visit an ex-housekeeper whom I guess he wishes would return.

The book has little plot in itself, and the conflict (experienced by Stevens) is one which interferes with his duty, his prime and only – it appears- drive in life. Even when his father is dying, he continues with his duties and he continues to miss the emotional signals from Miss Kenton (the housekeeper) who eventually leaves to get married to someone else.

I know, I know this is a ‘literary’ book with very honourable awards, but that doesn’t always mean that it is a good read. One with a beginning, middle and end with living, colourful characters. Sometimes as a writer, I don’t read as a reader, and I fear that this is the case with this book. It’s not a long tale and not unpleasant, it just didn’t engage me totally. I know I shall be told that I missed the message but frankly, that’s not my problem. I shall try another book by Ishiguro, just to see what else he has been inspired to write so it hasn’t put me off. Well you can’t win them all the time and it shows the ‘fickle’ nature of writing. It’s hard to write for everyone and this book wasn’t written for me.

About the Author:

Kazuo Ishiguro is a Japanese-British author and has been nominated several times for the Booker Prize. He is listed by The Times as one of the best 50 Writers since 1945

Readability Rating: It’s hard to score, it wasn’t a 10 in terms of impact but it wasn’t hard to read.

Recommendation: Sure, check it out; it doesn’t take long to read

Book Review - The Rain Before it Falls

The Rain Before it Falls by Jonathon Coe

Publisher: Penguin; Reprint edition (5 Jun 2008)

ISBN: 978-0141033211

I picked up The Rain Before it Falls with a little trepidation having tried another title by the author – What a Carve up. I couldn’t get on with it and had put it in my ‘life is too short’ pile. However, I’m glad I did find a gap in my reading regime to enjoy this beautiful, sorrowful tale. It is a story about families, generations of families and the results their actions can have for years to come. It was one of the most touching reads I’ve encountered in quite a time, and I lost myself in it.

The main thrust of the story is about Imogen, a blind girl who we actually never get to meet. The tale is narrated in the main by an old woman Rosamund, a cousin of Imogen’s grandmother who feels she owes something to a girl who she has barely met. Rosamund upon her death left instructions for Imogen to be found and given a tape recording and a set of photographs. The characters span three generations of women in the same family and provide an insight into their lives and their impact on the future generations.

The book is set in Shropshire and begins with the death of Rosamund and instructions left for her niece Gill. Gill is unable to find Imogen despite intensive research and the help of her two daughters, so they decide to listen to the tape, which Rosamund recorded as she lay dying. Rosamund had decided that Imogen should know about her ‘roots’ and about the circumstances which led to the present day and the disconnection from her real family. Rosamund sets her account through twenty photographs, which she describes to the unsighted Imogen but also tells of the tale behind the images, the things that cannot be seen.

It has some sub plots; Rosamund’s sexuality for one and the concerns Gill has about her daughters and their increasing independence from her. The main plot however, is about secrets, about motherhood, about the domino effect of family actions that reverberate for years.

It is cleverly done, and for a male writer to achieve the emotional tone and placement of a female character was for me quite astounding. It was beautifully written, a book I could read without analysis of the structure and I simply loved it.

About the Author

Jonathon Coe is a British novelist and writer. His work is often concerned with issues of a political nature, produced in satire, so this piece was a defection from his usual genre.

Readability Rating: 10

Recommendation: Definitely not one to miss.