The Booker Prize Podcast

The Booker at the Oscars: The English Patient


Listen Later

Welcome back to the second of our Booker at the Oscars mini-series where we explore Booker Prize novels whose silver screen adaptations went on to experience Academy Award success. This time we're revisiting The English Patient, the joint Booker Prize 1992 winner by Michael Ondaatje (the other winner was Barry Unsworth's Sacred Hunger) and its silver screen counterpart, directed by Anthony Minghella.


In this episode Jo and James:

  • Share a brief biography of Michael Ondaatje
  • Summarise the plot of the book, and discuss their thoughts on it
  • Explore the four main characters we meet in the novel
  • Delve into Anthony Minghella's film adaptation and the differences between book and film

  • Reading list:

    • The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje: https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/books/the-english-patient
    • Sacred Hunger by Barry Unsworth: https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/books/sacred-hunger
    • Black Dogs by Ian McEwan: https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/books/black-dogs
    • Butcher Boy by Patrick McCabe: https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/books/the-butcher-boy
    • Warlight by Michael Ondaatje: https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/books/warlight
    • Anil's Ghost by Michael Ondaatje
    • The Histories by Herodotus
    • In the Skin of a Lion by Michael Ondaatje

    • A full transcript of the episode is available at our website.


      Follow The Booker Prize Podcast so you never miss an episode. Visit http://thebookerprizes.com/podcast to find out more about us, and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Tiktok @thebookerprizes.

      Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

      ...more
      View all episodesView all episodes
      Download on the App Store

      The Booker Prize PodcastBy The Booker Prize

      • 4.4
      • 4.4
      • 4.4
      • 4.4
      • 4.4

      4.4

      59 ratings


      More shows like The Booker Prize Podcast

      View all
      The Book Review by The New York Times

      The Book Review

      3,857 Listeners

      The New Yorker: Fiction by WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

      The New Yorker: Fiction

      3,322 Listeners

      World Book Club by BBC World Service

      World Book Club

      365 Listeners

      The LRB Podcast by The London Review of Books

      The LRB Podcast

      293 Listeners

      Bookclub by BBC Radio 4

      Bookclub

      236 Listeners

      London Review Bookshop Podcast by London Review Bookshop

      London Review Bookshop Podcast

      128 Listeners

      Backlisted by Backlisted

      Backlisted

      581 Listeners

      The New Yorker: The Writer's Voice - New Fiction from The New Yorker by WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

      The New Yorker: The Writer's Voice - New Fiction from The New Yorker

      2,111 Listeners

      The Waterstones Podcast by Waterstones

      The Waterstones Podcast

      36 Listeners

      You're Booked by Daisy Buchanan

      You're Booked

      50 Listeners

      Today in Focus by The Guardian

      Today in Focus

      998 Listeners

      NPR's Book of the Day by NPR

      NPR's Book of the Day

      606 Listeners

      Sara & Cariad's Weirdos Book Club by Plosive

      Sara & Cariad's Weirdos Book Club

      61 Listeners

      Critics at Large | The New Yorker by The New Yorker

      Critics at Large | The New Yorker

      589 Listeners

      A Good Read by BBC Radio 4

      A Good Read

      13 Listeners