Book 18 - Michael Ondaatje "The English Patient "

Michael Ondaatje "The English Patient" (Vintage)





Just about every major character in this book is self-sacrificing to the point of abstract goodness without traction. Saintliness makes numerous appearances in character sketches and many actions are drenched in its overtones. This robs the book of any real driving tension--unless you are truly concerned with the English Patient's mysterious identity, which the author almost too obviously wants you to realize should not be the point.

It makes sense that the period immediately following WWII would be saturated in an unabsorbable diminishing of tensions and that people who had come to feel like they were aligned against forces and armies rather than individuals become a bit anchorless and developmentally stuck. If it was Ondaatje's goal to conjure up this environment in his dream-filled, morphine-soaked Italian villa that is conveniently free of any intrusions from the outside world, then he was successful. But, I don't know; I have a problem with the fact that all four of the major characters are essentially fearless. I can get over them not having any real vices and them having excuses for everything questionable that they do; but the stoicism/heroism and determination that they all display is spread around too generously and makes the characters less believable.

That said, the prose was consistently fine throughout and the well-researched passages about defusing explosive devices were both memorable and arresting. Also, even if I would have liked a bit more texture to the characters, Ondaatje understands the way people interact with one another, he understands where, how and why they construct boundaries, what they choose to remember and why they fail to communicate. He builds the novel around the small, unspoken and selfish needs of his characters (attention, distraction, accuracy, belonging) and his sensitivity and insight in this area absolutely sustains the novel. I enjoyed "In the Skin of a Lion" considerably more. And, for the record, the movie did not impact my reading of this book; because I scarcely remembered it.