Read It Again

Join us for an in-depth discussion of The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje. The novel won the 1992 Booker Prize, and the 1996 film was nominated for 12 Academy Awards, winning 9 including Best Picture and Best Director.

Near the end of World War II, in a Tuscan Villa that served as a hospital, Hana tends to her last patient, an anonymous man suffering from burns. Joining them are Carvaggio, a thief, and Kip, a Sikh who has spent the war dismantling bombs. Our discussion will examine the narrative structure, the imagery, the characters, and the larger background of WWII.

If you've read The English Patient before and would like to read it again, please join us. Even if you haven’t, you are still welcome. If you’ve only seen the film and would like to read the book, this group will take a deeper look into the masterful writing of Michael Ondaatje, the historical era in which the story unfolds and what are the applications for the current state of our world.

We’ll divide the book into four approximately equal sections for discussion at each of our four meetings. Participants will be asked to read the first section before our first meeting, and come prepared each day to contribute to the discussion as well as helping to research and provide background of topics and issues that arise.