The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje

This book was nothing like what I expected. Though the basic plot follows what I had imagined it to be, I thought it to deal more with the locales rather than the people. I'm not sure why that is. I found it to be an engaging novel and easy to follow despite its non-linear format. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in realistic romance, World War II-era fiction, and a mysterious plot.

Four stuck in limbo
waiting for the war to end
new horrors to come.

I have given this a 2, but I really didn't like it very much at all. The book is highly rated, so the fault must be with me, but it felt like a collection of bits of research on bomb disposal, deserts, Herodotus, within an unconvincing story on love and loss.

Amazing. I went into thinking that because of the film, the might be over-hyped.

Dear reader, it wasn't. Admittedly, I haven't read much literary fiction so I don't have a barometer to measure The English Patient against, but I have to say that this is one of the finer novels I've read.

4.5 stars.