Reflective post

The English Patient is one of the most haunting and lyrical novels I've ever read. But it's so moving and vibrant, and I know it will stay with you. It is a really excellent novel talking about the pain that war brings. It is during the world war two, when the European theater of the war has just ended with the Germans retreating up the Italian countryside. There are four people living together in a small villa in hills of Italy in the world war two: a nurse called Hana who once worked in the army; Kip, a man from India who works as a “sapper”, defusing bombs for the British forces; Caravaggio, a Canadian thief who puts his skills to use for the British intelligence work during the war and the English patient called Almásy.

For some reason, their lives tangle together. It appears that they are the people who run away from the war and live a peaceful life. However, when they start to share their stories, I was shocked by the facts they released. I have watched plenty of movies about war, but most of them show the pain that people are suffering during the war, like how seriously the soldiers are wounded, how brutally the citizens are treated and how horrible the debris of war are… … I have barely thought about the after-effects of wars before. In the novel, everyone is struggling with their memories of war even though they have tried to stay back. It is the first time I realize that the deepest pain is not the physical injured part, but the scars in their hearts.

I feel a little bit lost when I read the book, because there is no single narrator, the story is demonstrated from the point of view of each of the characters. Moreover, the past and the present are continually intertwined when they recall their experience in the war. Thought it takes some time to figure out what is going on, changeable tense and narrator really help me to get in those four people’s stories and mind.