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Comments (25)

What did you think about this title?
1 to 25 of 25 items
Jul 01, 2023CareyMacaulay rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
I loved this story! This story of three broken souls living in a war-torn, similarly broken, Italian villa after WWII and one emotionally detached sapper who arrives at the villa partway through. Canadian nurse Hana, her father's friend…
Sep 03, 2020GerryTD rated this title 1 out of 5 stars
This book is probably great if your looking for something artistic. I did like the references to Ruyard Kipling’s Kim. I personally did not enjoy this book I found that the story was dull, overly dream like and fragmented.
Jun 10, 2020
Referred by Deb Z 6/20
May 05, 2020AaronAardvark1940 rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
After reading Ondaatje’s “Warlight,” we decided to try “The English Patient” in our reading project, especially since the film had received good reviews. We found the novel rather difficult, in that it moves back and forth in time (and…
Aug 26, 2019rlbeekman rated this title 2.5 out of 5 stars
This book is not the worst English language novel of the last 50 years, but it is probably the most overrated. It is a travesty of literary taste and critical judgement not only that Barry Unsworth's magnificent Sacred Hunger had to share…
Apr 19, 2019nalahblueberry5 rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
This book is a matter of taste. I really liked it's moodiness and vague characters.
Feb 16, 2019kmobuckeye rated this title 2 out of 5 stars
This book was so slow.
Nov 09, 2018SurreyLibraries_Reads rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
When I was reading this Canadian classic, it seemed everyone I encountered wanted to talk about the book. They all had glowing things to say, and I have to agree, I loved this story. The story centers around three men and a woman living in…
Jul 09, 2018
Golden Man Booker!
Jun 19, 2018RogerDeBlanck rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
The English Patient is a powerfully evocative and mesmerizing portrait of the personal toll of war. The haunting storylines take place during the latter days of the Second World War in a small Italian town where three war-wearied…
Mar 25, 2016KSerá rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
I am so glad I finally read the book even though I didn't like the movie, which trivializes everything except the sick "romance" between Almasay and Katherine.
Feb 27, 2016
I am a big fan of Mr. Ondaatje's writing. If you haven't read " n the Skin of a Lion" (my personal favorite) you owe to yourself to have of pleasure of reading such a touching and romantic novel
Feb 25, 2016
Note to Library Staff: Under the image of the book's cover there is a description that the story takes place "in a deserted Indian villa." It takes place in an Italian villa.
Oct 29, 2014lbarkema rated this title 1.5 out of 5 stars
Ugh. Not my cup of tea. Boring, confusing, pretentious... It gets a 1.5 instead of 1 because there were glimpses here and there where I understood what was going on and it wasn't terrible, but overall this book felt like it was 1,000 pages…
Jan 17, 2014molmil8 rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
This is the book that made me fall in love with CanLit. So romantic and beautiful, in so many ways. Read it 3 times. Saw the movie many years later, it does do the book justice (the soundtrack CD is great), worth renting assuming you…
Jun 07, 2013joanniek rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
This is a favourite of mine. I love all of his books, but I like this one for it's imagery and characters.
Oct 18, 2012
One of my very favourite books - the language is amazing.
Jul 12, 2012smilegirl24 rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Wonderfully poetic and thoughtful, The English Patient is a story of love and friendship in an Italian villa during WWII. Michael Ondaatje examines loyalty, lust, and cultural differences while drawing the reader into a beautifully complex…
hermlou
Dec 28, 2011hermlou rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Ondaatje sets the stage: It is at the end of WWII, and a badly burned airman is lying in an Italian villa which has been converted to a hospital. A Canadian nurse cares for him, and an old friend of her father arrives, also a sapper. The…
cafegrrl
Jun 09, 2011cafegrrl rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
One of my favourite books! The images created by Ondaatje's words are powerful and poetic... at times I could almost hear and smell the scenes I was reading about. I tend to read e-books or library books, and am purging the number of…
Jan 21, 2011kwsmith rated this title 2 out of 5 stars
Ondaatje's strikingly poetic style can create beautiful images but ultimately distanced me from this novel's already thin story. In particular, I was often perplexed by Ondaatje's bizarre metaphors: "He knew he was now a king...it was…
May 16, 2010mbazal rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
One of the best books I've ever read. The plot is unpredictable and the writing style is beautiful.
May 10, 2010unreg_71383400 rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
One of Ondaatje's most beautiful and accessible works.
Aug 11, 2009
one of my favorite books. and, remarkably, one of the few that i think has been really successfully adopted for the screen http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116209/
May 23, 2008WordBird rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
A story that endures. Atmospheric. Got a bad rap as flavour of the month when the movie came out. New things to learn from it every time you read it.