ranaaqrawi

[ranaaqrawi]

The English Patient- Research #3

As I was looking for information about Michael Ondaatje, I found this article about Michael Ondaatje’s speech after winning the Golden Booker Prize. The Guardian shares important parts of his speech that night.

In this article I truly got to see how a book like The English Patient became a reality. At first, I thought that this book was based strictly on history and the events of WWII. But after reading this article I learned a lot about Michael Ondaatje’s childhood and early life. In his speech he mentioned some events that occurred in Canada around 1985-1992 about Sikhs not being able to wear Turbans while being policemen. This a very interesting event as it was represented in the book by the character of Kip and his involvement in the Boob squad which is essentially similar to policemen. This type of reoccurrence of events in real life and books reminds me of psychoanalytic literary criticism, which states that authors express their unconscious desires in books. This a simple similarity, but it could also mean that Ondaatje was trying to express his opinion on that argument through the character of Kip wearing a Turban while still being on duty. 

Another similarity that occurs in the book and Ondaatje’s life is the name kip. As Ondaatje mentioned in his speech, when he was growing up in England kids gave him the nickname of Kip as a reference to Kipper Grease (which is essentially smelly oil). This seems to be a way to alienate different sets of people based on their way of life. This is exactly similar to Kip as he got that nickname as an easier way for the English to call him rather than saying his full name Kirpal Singh. When people, especially immigrants, enter a new life they tend to do everything they could to fit in and along that dismiss parts of themselves. Later on they discover how foolish it was of them to submit to rules and values they didn’t agree with just like Kip did in the book. This is a highly sensitive issue that ties in with nationalism and personal identity at the same time.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/jul/09/michael-ondaatje-interview-the-english-patient-golden-booker

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[ranaaqrawi]

The English Patient- Research #2

To learn more about Michael Ondaatje, I decided to watch some of his interviews about his writing career and also the ones about promoting his books. I stumbled upon different segments of the interview that the Louisiana Channel had with Ondaatje. In those segments they discussed his writing style and how his early life influenced his writing.

In the “We Can’t Rely on One Voice” segment, I learned that Michael Ondaatje is an immigrant himself. He was born in Sri Lanka, moved to the United Kingdom at age 11, then moved to Canada when he was in college and still resides there today. His personal life reminds me a lot of the character of Almasy (English Patient) in the book. Their resemblance takes place in the many nations they lived in or belonged to. In the book, Almasy traveled around the world to learn more about the desert and the wind. Similarly, Ondaatje traveled to many nations to chase academic and career opportunities. 

I also learned that Ondaatje started out his career as a poet rather than a novelist. He apparently started out writing poems to people around him then published them without any personal gain since he considered poetry as a hobby. Eventually, he discovered he had a poetic gift and he decided to publish a book that was a poetry and prose mix. Ondaatje claimed that poetry is like sharing a small aspect of something to someone/yourself and that was what led him to start writing novels because he wanted to share a bigger thing with his readers. Personally, it doesn’t surprise me that he started out as a poet. The English Patient was a mixture of descriptive prose and almost lyrical poetry. Poems are very specific with language and that is an element apparent in Ondaatje’s writing. His paragraphs almost resemble music with its flow and rhythm. That writing style added some type of sophistication to the book and also to its characters. It made them seem more passionate with each other. Although the book was written in the 1990s the diction of the book was very similar to that of the 1930s since all the poetic elements added the old English vibe to the book. 

By watching those segments, I learned about the reason Ondaatje uses different voices in the novel. Apparently, by adding different voices to a novel it will make the reader feel more familiar to the storyline. Different voices in the novel is like having a real life conversation that involves different people from different backgrounds and that adds new opinions and stands on issues without making the book seem choppy (it will flow naturally like a real life conversation). Something that Ondaatje said during the interview was that “Pleasure of writing is the element of discovery”. That really stuck out to me because when you write you learn a lot about the world around you and sometimes you tend to discover different sides of yourself as well.

https://youtu.be/oLeD97p9gcQ

https://youtu.be/bF717oAYvWo

https://youtu.be/3gBVILOsetU

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[ranaaqrawi]

The English Patient- Research #1

Recently I watched the movie adaptation of my book “The English Patient”. The movie was released in 1996. The movie adaptation is quite similar to the book with the characters and events. However, something that is lost in the movie is the mystery side of the book that keeps the readers interested throughout the story. In the opener of the movie you already know that Katharine and Almasy crashed the plane after he came to retrieve her body, but in the book the end of their love story is somewhere in the middle of the book. Another mystery that is lost in the movie is the identity of the English Patient, unlike the book the movie revealed his identity as the Hungarian Almasy in the first 10 minutes. Those are very minor changes but as someone who read the book first it is very noticeable changes.

The portrayal of Katharine and Almasy love story in the movie was something that I definitely preferred more than the book one. Throughout the book I never really understood the deep love they had. To me it seemed rather toxic and abusive, but after watching the movie I got to see the fiery side of their love and also their passion for each other. Personally, I thought the movie focused more on Katharine and Almasy love story, which gave the viewer a well rounded love story. With that focus on Katharine and Almasy love story, you tend to miss out on Hana and Kip’s love story which was something I didn’t mind since the book fulfilled that aspect of the story for me.

With the movie being a romance/war genre, the viewer tends to miss out of the educational side of the book. Unlike the movie, the book had a lot of information about the desert and the discoveries the scientist made there. Although half of the movie took place in the desert of Egypt, you still miss out on valuable wind information that Almasy discovered since the movie is a little over two hours. Viewers of the movie strictly tend to miss out on the poetic side of the Ondaatje’s book since many of the lines in the movie have been altered in some way. There’s also the loss of many pages that have been dedicated for descriptions and imageries of the villa and the character’s action. The movie definitely loses the language side of the story that is filled with poetic descriptions and imagery.

Overall, I really enjoyed the movie even with the minor changes that it had. The movie represented my expectations of the book before reading it because I expected a tender love story rather than a tragic one. I honestly wasn’t fulfilled with the portrayal of Katharine and Almasy love story in the book. The movie main focus was the relationships which was something that I enjoyed more.

movie trailer: https://youtu.be/Xk_LRcOFT0c

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[ranaaqrawi]

The English Patient- Annotations #3

This passage of the book is from the last chapter of the book. In the last chapter, the characters discover that the Allies dropped a nuclear bomb on Japan. In the passage, Ondaatje shows Kip’s reaction towards the attack on Japan and how it made him feel betrayed by the English. 

The drop of the nuclear bombs on Japan shattered the bonds the people in the Villa had. The Villa in the book represented a nationless place where all the characters could belong to despite their race/ethnicity, but the nuclear bomb revealed to Kip that the Allies don’t care about the lives of the colored people and see them as less valuable compared to the white people. 

After Kip heard the news he was unable to trust anyone around him as the narrator said, “The weeping from shock and horror contained, seeing everything, all those around him, in a different light”. The fact that Kip is Indian in a Villa filled with white people made him feel as if the people in the Villa represent the English which he now considers as enemies.

As a Sapper, Kip took the drop of the bomb seriously because he diffuses bombs as a living to save the lives of the Italian people. This made him question his entire belief system since he disregards his own life to save white people only to see the Allies drop an atomic bomb on the Japanese which are people of color just like him. When Kip says, “we were easily impressed-by speeches and metals, and your ceremonies” it clearly shows that he feels betrayed by the English because he is well aware that an atomic bomb would’ve never been dropped on a white nation. In the passage, Kip pulls a gun on the English patient because he represents the “new revealed enemy” for him.

In this part of the book, Ondaatje adds new material to the book that was not present in previous chapters. For the first time, Kip showcases emotion in the book, this is very unusual to him since in the entirety of the book he was represented as a calm and collected person. The state of rage he was in showcases the first time he showed any humanistic emotion since his job as a bomb defuser requires him to be completely focused on his tasks disregarding any distractions. Similarly, Caravaggio shows that he cares about Kip for once. Throughout the book, Caravaggio avoids any relationship with Kip despite him wanting Kip and Hana to get married. In the passage, Caravaggio seems as if he understands Kip and wants to help him by talking to him and letting him open up about the pain he feels inside. Ondaatje uses a new technique in this passage which was the rhetorical questions that Kip included in his speech. In addition, there were several metaphors to describe the bomb and Kip’s actions in order to intensify the descriptions in the passage, such as “a swat from the paw of an animal” describing the action that Kip did when he shoved the rifle in Caravaggio’s ribs, “the hawk in the valley air seems to float intentionally into the V sight” represents Kip going into the Patient’s room to shoot him. All of the metaphors used alongside the descriptions help paint a clearer picture of the actions taken in the book.

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[ranaaqrawi]

The English Patient- Reading #7

Final Thoughts:

Now that I have reached the end of the book I’m honestly disappointed with the ending I was expecting more from the relationships in the book. At the end of the book, the characters find out that the Allies dropped a nuclear bomb on Japan. The news of the bomb shatters the relationships in the book as Kip gets furious by the news since all the characters know that a nuclear bomb like that would’ve been dropped on a white-nation. This causes Kip to go back to India and become a doctor leaving behind all the memories and relationships he had in the Villa, especially his relationship with Hana. I honestly felt like the last chapter of the book was the climax and the entire book was a slow build up to end. At the same time, the ending felt rushed since we didn’t get to learn more in detail about the character’s life after the nuclear bomb. Ondaatje only mentioned Kip getting married and having kids with an Indian woman while Hana remained single all those years. 

The drop of the bomb killed the trust that Kip had for the English and it also made him fooled since his family warned him that the Allies don’t care about colored people and view them as less valuable than white people. Likewise, Kip running away proved to Hana her previous suspicions that he would eventually move on fast if something were to happen to her or their relationship. The war also broke Hana’s nationalism as the drop of the bomb made her feel tricked and betrayed since this sort of thing wasn’t what she signed up for.

Even though the ending wasn’t the best and it was rushed a little, I still liked the book because it introduced ideas and concepts I’ve never read about before. It was a little hard to read the book since the author used a lot of descriptions/imagery throughout that made the book a slow build. I really enjoyed other techniques he used though such as the flashbacks, foreshadowing, and the multiple narrators. 

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[ranaaqrawi]

The English Patient- Reading #6

I am of the last few chapters of the book and I finally found out the answers to the mysteries in the book. In chapter 8 of the book, it provides a comparison to the three men in Hana’s life regarding their observation and work ethics. The comparison starts out with Caravaggio as it is clearly stated that he was a bad thief due to him being easily distracted by human things such as wrong calendars. On the other hand the English patient (Almasy) and Kip seem to have a stronger work ethic that is completely focused on their tasks. It is still unclear to me why the author decided to showcase such a comparison but I’m assuming that it had to do with the women in their life and the men's ability to open up to them. This part of the book seems like a flashback to Katharine ending the affair because Almasy wasn’t vulnerable enough.

Another thing that was a new addition was the use of allusions to literary work. In chapter 9, there’s a lot of references to “Herodotus” (a Greek historian that wrote a book) and his book, a copy of his book included all of Almasy’s thoughts/explorations during the desert and also his affair/obsession with Katharine. The other allusion is to the book “Rebecca” that was apparently used by the Germans spies in the desert. Rebecca included codes for the spies to send back to Germany.

https://theconversation.com/guide-to-the-classics-the-histories-by-herodotus-53748

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[ranaaqrawi]

The English Patient- Annotations #2

This passage takes place in the middle of the book. In this passage, Katharine and Almays (English Patient) show the readers the first signs of the beginning of their relationship/ affair. It is clearly shown in the passage the amount of tension there is between them and in a way passion. From previous chapters, it is known that Almays only acts rude towards women he likes and Katharine in a way is expressing a lot of frustrations she has about him. This is an important passage because we get to see the start of their relationship that makes it far from normal.

This passage showcases Ondaatje multiple narrators technique that includes quotations and the use of different viewpoints. In this page specifically, there’s a lot of different quotations that introduce different voices, this technique helps the readers envision the dynamic the two characters have. The quotes make it clear to the readers the amount of tension there is between the characters, for instance, the quote “If you make love to me I won’t lie about it. If I make love to you I won’t lie about it” make it seem as something that would be said in a piece of poetry or even a song because of the meaning it holds but at the same it's a very believable and realistic line. Ondaatje also includes descriptive information from both Katharine and Almays to add more depth to their relationship.

Another repetitive technique in the book is the use of imagery/descriptive words in a poetic way rather than just stating the action occurring. This is important because it makes the language sound elegant therefore adding more interest to the love affair. For example, when the narrator says “Her fist swings towards him and hits hard into the bone just below his eye”, somehow this type of elegant description tricks the brain into thinking Katharine hitting Almays is something bigger than just an abusive behavior. Adding to that you have the imagery he gave about the cushion which makes the scene seem more than just a hookup it adds a type of tension and passion to the relationship. An interesting aspect to imagery is that it's from the viewpoint of all the characters rather than just describing the events in the scene.

The overall setting of the book also can be seen as a technique because of the war zone timeline it is expected that Katharine and Almays relationship will have a different dynamic than normal relationships. In addition, Ondaatje provides narration from all characters, therefore, giving the relationship multiple reasons as to why it ends just as Katharine’s guilt, Almays jealousy/possessiveness, and their physical/mental abuse to each other.

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[ranaaqrawi]

The English Patient- Reading #5

In the current part of the book that I am on, the author is dropping new information about the character's past, especially that of Kip and the English Patient. It seems as if the characters in the book are trying to reveal the facade that the English Patient is trying to put on. Caravaggio is eagerly trying to find out who the English patient really is and he might be a Hungarian guy named Almasy that worked for a German spy. Which can completely change the entire premise of the story since all the people in the house worked with the English. Another interesting idea that was introduced was nationality vs personal character. In chapter 7, Ondaatje introduces the entire history of Kip and how he joined the English bomb squad. This is a very interesting part of the book because it clearly showcases the similarities between kip and the English Patient as two people that left their past to create a future based on their knowledge and personal character. This similarity was also acknowledged by the English Patient himself as he called Kip and him as “International Bastards” because they were born in a place but chose to belong to another. This aspect of the book is relevant to our society today as many of us choose to move to different places based on our skills and intelligence. Also, a repeating thing in the book is the shifts in points of view between narrators. Ondaatje seems to use this method in order to add depth to his stories.

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[ranaaqrawi]

D you think that the book being off beat is a writing technique or just your personal opinion? Also, do you think that making the characters seem messed up is the author’s way trying to relate it to the readers or doing the opposite? 

page. 273

This leads back to the final toxic woman. The heroine herself. We see these traits come through when she decides to stay with Maxim despite him confessing to murder, through not telling Maxim of the man that Mrs.Danvers had over while he was away, or when she lied for him in court. Almost every character in this book is messed up in some way. And it’s overall just a very off beat book.

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[ranaaqrawi]

This part of the book sounds very interesting but at the same time really confusing to the non-readers. It might be effective for you to think about why the character had so many affairs, why those two characters are very similar and how it adds to the content of the book.

page. 175

Mrs. Danvers makes the Heroine feel as though she was a rebound and isn’t loved by Maxim. Saying she will never replace Rebecca and that Maxim is still in love with Rebecca. But what both women have yet to realize is that Maxim killed Rebecca because he hated her so much. But because the Heroine had no clue of this she almost convinced herself that what Mrs.Danvers was saying was true. She almost convinced herself to jump out of the window.

It’s interesting to see the similarities between Rebecca and Mrs. Van Hopper. Doing things just for the attention. Playing with people like they are pawns on a chess board. Rebecca as we learn was having multiple affairs including but not limited to her cousin. We find out that she was also bearing his child. This however never comes to be as Maxim murdered his wife and faked a crime scene or her death. Saying she committed suicide by drowning herself in a boat.

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[ranaaqrawi]

Honestly my book took an entire chapter to describe the broken down villa they live in so I feel you on that. I also feel like it’s very necessary to have a descriptive piece of work since it expands our personal creativity and imagination.

Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier

Reading the work.

This book so far is pretty boring and I feel like reading is torture. Even though I like to read this book took 3 pages to describe the area in and around a mansion. It was way too wordy and this book is just hard to get through. I’m hoping this book picks up soon.

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[ranaaqrawi]

I honestly had a very similar process for choosing my book except Rachel’s list wasn’t that interesting to me. So I looked online and found a book about like mysterious romance. Hopefully, we have some similarities while we read our books.

Rebecca By: Daphne Du Maurier

Why I chose this book and why I found it interesting. Originally when looking for my book I went through tons of websites ranking the best fiction books and then I scanned all of google scholar for critisicm. I couldn’t find anything that interested me. Then I asked Rachel and she had a list she made of interesting books that also have a good audio book on youtube. Rebecca immediately drew me in. The cover looks like some old abandoned stairs that have moss growing in the cracks. It seemed mysterious so I looked it up. It talked about a girl marrying a man whom she bearly knew. Of time that is dead but not forgotten. Seemed spooky and fun. And surprisingly I found lots of criticism. Seemed too good to be true. The only issue was that I had to battle Kelli for the book. Wasn’t too hard of a battle because I had already foolishly bought the book which ended up being to my advantage.

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[ranaaqrawi]

The English Patient- Reading #4

In this part of the book, we finally get a closer look at the English patient’s old life in the desert while he was a part of some “Oasis Society”. I found it interesting when he talked about his frustrations about nations and belonging to one nation and how in his mind the desert brought people together. It seemed kind of relevant to me due to all the mistreatment and stereotypes that are put on people from other nations. As is the desert in a way is the connection all those people have that doesn’t care about nationality or even age. Also, we get introduced to “Katherine” the great love of the English Patient and also the wife of one of his desert buddies. Right away their love story is really weird since the English patient mentions his tension/hatred he had for her but somehow still fell in love with her voice. On Katherine’s side, it started with her frustrations towards his kindness towards her and the female stereotypes he believed in. But at the same time, you can see that her madness is just a bunch of sexual desires that she has for him and that’s how the affair started. It seems like a toxic relationship to me since Katherine takes out all of her marriage frustrations on him in a way physically abusing him it seems more like hatred than love to me. At the same time, he is somehow still very attached to her. Honestly, I expected more of a romantic love affair than a toxic/abusive one but it’s an entertaining story.

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[ranaaqrawi]

The English Patient- Annotations #1

This passage from The English Patient is during a conversation that Hana and Caravaggio were having after he arrived at the Villa. This passage represents an important moment in the book because it reveals key aspects about the character’s well being and how it was affected by the war.

In this passage, Ondaatje wanted to showcase the emptiness that the characters exhibit (especially Hana) due to the war by adding few dialogue/quotations and instead focusing on narrating the piece through Caravaggio’s thoughts. Readers can also sense that emptiness through the use of imagery or poetic prose that doesn’t add much to the narrative but instead offers a clearer description of the attitudes or actions that the characters are having. The English patient in this passage is also seen as empty or out of it because Hana claims that “he’s still in Africa”, which suggests to the readers that his amnesia has completely taken over him and there is no way to reach him at the moment. In this passage, the narrator describes Hana as being “calm in this universe or hers” and that also adds on to the damaged mental state the war has put her in that makes her feel empty and lonely on the inside.

This part of the book also reveals the damage that has been done to Caravaggio due to his role in the war. Every character in the book has gone through a mental or physical transformation because of the war. This passage reveals that the Germans had cut Caravaggio’s fingertips when he mentions that he “lost [his] nerve”. Caravaggio isn’t the only one with scars from the war; this passage also showcases the mental damage that Hana has gone through during this war. We can also see the same mental issues that Hana is going through reoccurring with the English patient. A major theme in this book is showing the lives of the characters before the war and then comparing to how they are doing after the war.

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[ranaaqrawi]

The English Patient- Reading #3

The thing that was very unique about this part of the book is that the author started including the concept of love in romantic relationships and also family wise. In chapter 3, a new character is introduced and it is an Indian Sikh named Kip. He is described as this strong protective and respectful man. He draws attention from everyone in the villa because of the way he represents himself and also the fact that he is Indian plays a role since the rest of the people are white. Another thing we learn is that Hana was previously in a relationship with a soldier that died while she was pregnant with their kid and she had to make the hard decision of getting an abortion. Due to all that trauma she chooses to focus on her work and get rid of any potential of finding another lover. The thing that was really interesting is how fast that was proven wrong in the book as Hana tries to seek a relationship with Kip and she calls it a form of protection. There's also the aspect of her being in love with the English patient because he provides her with an emotional connection. It seems to me that she is trying to seek affection from two men because she is afraid of solely committing to one. I thought this part of the book was refreshing because it exposes everyone’s reliance on each other and how important it is for one to have the love and support from others.

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[ranaaqrawi]

The English Patient- Reading #2

So this chapter started out by introducing a new character named Caravaggio and he’s like this former thief from Canada that was sent on a mission to steal some documents from the Germans. During that mission he ends up getting caught and they cut his fingertips off so he can’t steal anymore (very clever soldiers). Where it gets complex is that we learn that he’s friends with the nurse’s dad (nurse: Hana) and then somehow at a hospital for the war soldiers he learns that she lives at a villa with a semi-dead patient (English Patient). So he decides to go and stay with her since the villa is kinda sketchy. This is where it gets really weird because Caravaggio says that she reminds him of his wife and there’s like some type of sexual tension and like feelings (from him only). He's annoyed and very jealous that she likes the English patient. This chapter weirds me out because of this whole jealousy/crush type of thing since Caravaggio was friends with her dad and now he wants to get with her (so weird on so many levels). Also, there’s like a bunch of childhood flashbacks of Caravaggio and Hana where he’s like taking on a fatherly role and teaching tricks and fun activities (which confuses me on why he seems to have a crush on her). Then the book moves on to show Hana sitting in the Kitchen half naked and she flat out tells Caravaggio that she doesn’t want to get with him (if you know what I mean). She seems like she has some emotional issues from the war. Honestly this sort of thing occurs with all characters showcases how normal and beautiful their life was before the war and then sort of comparing it to how dead and damaged they are on the inside and out.

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[ranaaqrawi]

The English Patient- Reading #1

The English Patient starts out with descriptive imagery of a bombed-out villa in Italy. Then moves on to introduce a nurse and her severely burned patient from an airplane crash in the African desert. The patient is also suffering from amnesia and there’s no way to identify him since his entire body is burned in a way he doesn’t have any more distinctive features. He also can’t move any parts of his body and is strictly on bed rest. The patient has some recurring memories from his past. The only thing that was found with the patient was a notebook with the patient’s observation and memoirs of the wind in the desert. 

This first chapter is very descriptive similar to The Handmaid’s Tale as a way to introduce the characters and the setting. The descriptions are very realistic and easily understood. There’s a lot of shifts in the book, especially ones from present to past and vice versa ( when the patient has recurring memories). There are some religious allusions to Christianity such as “Hip bones of Christ” and the ancient crucifix that was used as a scarecrow. 

The book at this point seems a little slow like there aren’t any special events occurring it's more of a bunch of descriptions. This makes the book a little hard to read because the author is pilling a bunch of information that is not needed at this point in the book. At the same time, I find the flashbacks really entertaining and it's a good way to introduce new ideas and stories in mid chapters.

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