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The English Patient

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The English Patient

By: Michael Ondaatje
Narrated by: Jennifer Ehle
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About this listen

With unsettling beauty and intelligence, this Golden Man Booker Prize-winning novel traces the intersection of four damaged lives in an abandoned Italian villa at the end of World War II.

The nurse Hana, exhausted by death, obsessively tends to her last surviving patient. Caravaggio, the thief, tries to reimagine who he is, now that his hands are hopelessly maimed. The Indian sapper Kip searches for hidden bombs in a landscape where nothing is safe but himself. And at the centre of his labyrinth lies the English patient, nameless and hideously burned, a man who is both a riddle and a provocation to his companions - and whose memories of suffering, rescue and betrayal illuminate this book like flashes of heat lightning.

©1992 Michael Ondaatje (P)2020 Audible, Ltd Classics Historical Fiction Fiction Heartfelt Italy

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All stars
Most relevant
I've waited years for an audio book of the English Patient and this reading by Jennifer Ehle is superb. Her quiet, unemphatic voice delivers the story so powerfully and subtle shifts denote each character. Brilliant.

Worth waiting for.

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I already knew the story as I had seen the film yet I was keen to listen to the book for all of the missing bits.

The narrator has an American accent which I didn't think suited the story at all! I also felt like there was a lack of emotion in the telling and I found myself thinking about other things whilst listening because her voice was so boring.

Great book but didn't enjoy the narration

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Love this book and love the film version too. Saw the film first and wondered whether it would spoil the audio book for me but I was just as impressed. Brilliant narration and story which brings the characters to life in your imagination. Is now in my favourites list as will be happy to listen to again at a later date.

Simply Excellent

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I first read this book at a time i needed an escape from a very busy time at work. It provided exactly that. What I found was that I enjoyed listening to it just as much and have often since listened to it when I can’t sleep. It is a beautiful narrative that you can drop in and out anywhere and still get little surprises.

The best book I I have read and listened to

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This is a beautifully set and gripping story exploring the pain of war and ability to find mutual support. Very enjoyable but drawn out. I found the performance thin and weary

Great story but drawn out too long

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