Author: Jin Jing
Source: QingfengYuan, April 2021 issue
The English Patient is a novel by Canadian author Michael Ondaje. This book tells the story of the fate of four people with stories in an abandoned building in Italy at the end of World War II. They live in a paradise-like landscape, but they cannot enjoy peace and tranquility. When reading this book, the reader will feel a kind of mystery and passion. The author introduces the reader to another world and clearly reveals the relationship between this world and ourselves.
One
In 1939, Germany struck Poland and World War II broke out. This book is set at the end of World War II. The essence of war is plunder, either one or the other, you live and die, and the gulfs and contradictions between countries and between races and races are extremely acute. "What's your name?" Where are you from? "These seem to have become questions of survival.
The situation is turbulent, life and death are unknown, and individuals are as small as ants. Nobles, healers, thieves, and sappers are settled in an abandoned building north of Florence, Italy, for various reasons, and they uncover mysteries in conversations and conversations, and snuggle up to each other to warm up and redeem their wounds.
The book is delicately written, hard and soft. On closer reading, the title "English Patient" is ironic in itself. "Britain" was a label imposed on the protagonist by the environment at that time, the Hungarian explorer Olmahi, and "disease" refers to the loss of order in the world at that time. Olmahi had to call for help from the British in order to save his dying lover Catherine, but was arrested because of his German surname.
After olmahi managed to escape, he cooperated with the Germans and exchanged the topographic map of Africa for German gasoline. He was flying a British plane, but was mistakenly shot down by the Germans. Holmahi, who was burned all over his body, was rescued by the Arab Bedouins and later moved with Allied troops in the Italian countryside. His medical card reads impressively – British Patient.
Catherine eventually died. She left a message on her deathbed: "Although we die, we are full of love and experience. ”
In times of turmoil, it is a luxury to discuss love and freedom. But once longed for, worked hard, and had it, the beauty of that moment will become eternal, remain in their hearts, and also remain in the long river of history.
Two
Olmahi hates labels the most. In his view, the most valuable thing about a person is truth, even if the shortcomings are as significant as the advantages, it is also flesh and blood and vitality because of "truth".
Learned, handsome, and elegant, this is Olmahi; burned, unrecognizable, dying, speculated to be British, German, alien, and also Olmahi. Whether it is Olmahi before the burn or after the burn, he shows tenacious vitality and waiting for hope.
There are some details in the book that are very moving. For example, the field nurse who took care of Olmahi fed the peeled plum meat into his mouth little by little, and after chewing slowly, Olmahi's faint sense of taste was touched. He opened his scarred lips and said, "Plums with a plum flavor." "The plum is tiny, but it prompts the person in pain to walk harder, reminding him that he is living with the world."
It can be said that "The English Patient" presents the tragic beauty of love, and it also reflects the compassion for life.
Ruled by too many rules and regulations, people are easily alienated and become machines that are labeled and play various roles. However, each individual is an independent and great being, and this uniqueness has nothing to do with title, identity, family lineage, fame, appearance, etc. Born to be human, everyone deserves to be cherished and treated well.
Moss flowers are as small as rice, and also learn to bloom peonies. The more one rebels against the shackles of fate, the more powerful one becomes. "The English Patient" tells us how to break free from the shackles of the world, unload the heavy burden, and explore the truth.
Jin Yong once said: "Life is a big fight and quietly leaves." Olmahi did the same, following the direction of the heart and guarding the oasis of the heart.
May each of us be able to live a life of wanton pleasure and write a true and regret-free life.
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