The English Patient (Everyman's Library (Cloth))
Haunting and harrowing, as beautiful as it is disturbing,The English Patienttells the story of the entanglement of four damaged lives in an Italian monastery as World War II ends. The exhausted nurse, Hana; the maimed thief, Caravaggio; the wary sapper, Kip: each is haunted by the riddle of the English patient, the nameless, burn victim who lies in an upstairs room and whose memories of passion, betrayal, and rescue illuminate this book like flashes of heat lightning. In lyrical prose informed by a poetic consciousness,Michael Ondaatjeweaves these characters together, pulls them tight, then unravels the threads with unsettling acumen.A book that binds readers of great literature,The English Patientgarnered theBooker Prizefor author Ondaatje. The poet and novelist has also writtenIn the Skin of a Lion,Coming Through SlaughterandThe Collected Works of Billy the Kid; two collections of poems,The Cinnamon PeelerandThere's a Trick with a Knife I'm Learning to Do; and a memoir,Running in the Family.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.