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frasersimons 's review for:
The English Patient
by Michael Ondaatje
4.5 rounded up
Good prose, for those that like the ephemeral and the flowery, anyway. There’s a mystery that is compelling because the question of who the patient is ties directly into larger themes at play: identity, how and if people can substantively change (especially considering influence of upbringing and specific state indoctrination) and, the big one, trauma.
What nourishes a person and facilitates core shifts in who they are? How much is a person essentially just reacting to what happens to them rather than acting with agency. There is so much that goes into the makeup of an identity that people don’t think about or interrogate, but drive their most memorable decisions.
The scenes are free form and weave its way like memories cascading. They aren’t bound by time or place. It can be jarring and honestly takes more cognitive load than some people want. You’re piecing together the actual structure along with the mystery. I found it thematic as hell. But it’s certainly challenging at times.
The more I think about this book, the more I like it. Apparently it’s fairly polarizing for people, as lots of popular things are. But the themes and prose and structure resonated with me. I’m all about trauma and memory stories, so this is kind of my bag. Plus the exploration of selfhood just elevated the whole thing. Especially now with nationalism being a Very large topic of conversation and primary driving force of media consumption and primary western cultural identity crisis.
Good prose, for those that like the ephemeral and the flowery, anyway. There’s a mystery that is compelling because the question of who the patient is ties directly into larger themes at play: identity, how and if people can substantively change (especially considering influence of upbringing and specific state indoctrination) and, the big one, trauma.
What nourishes a person and facilitates core shifts in who they are? How much is a person essentially just reacting to what happens to them rather than acting with agency. There is so much that goes into the makeup of an identity that people don’t think about or interrogate, but drive their most memorable decisions.
The scenes are free form and weave its way like memories cascading. They aren’t bound by time or place. It can be jarring and honestly takes more cognitive load than some people want. You’re piecing together the actual structure along with the mystery. I found it thematic as hell. But it’s certainly challenging at times.
The more I think about this book, the more I like it. Apparently it’s fairly polarizing for people, as lots of popular things are. But the themes and prose and structure resonated with me. I’m all about trauma and memory stories, so this is kind of my bag. Plus the exploration of selfhood just elevated the whole thing. Especially now with nationalism being a Very large topic of conversation and primary driving force of media consumption and primary western cultural identity crisis.