Comments: Laura - 2004-11-26 00:42:47 This was a definite one-sitting read. My mom dropped it off at Thanksgiving dinner and I'm already through with it. Compelling and skillfully done. Reviews I read online say over and over that fans of Michael Ondaatje will probably like this work. A doubtful claim. Ondaatje wrote one book with a vaguely similar plotline, of course, The English Patient, but his style in that work is so different, with a somewhat more abstracted air and all that jumping around in time, which I always find to be distracting and disorienting, if not downright irritating. Frankly, I found The English Patient to be affected. OK, I'll admit it: I don't like Ondaatje's work in general. At any rate, I prefer the more down-to-earth, give-it-to-me-straight storytelling here in The Englishman's Daughter. * * * * * * * * * * * * andy - 2004-11-26 01:13:43 There's a new WWI/romance movie out starring Audrey Tatou (of "Amalie" fame, and by the same director). She makes me swoony. * * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2004-11-26 01:22:27 Hi Andy--oh yes, I know the movie you mean but I can't recall the title...what was it, please? * * * * * * * * * * * * Andy - 2004-11-26 13:54:07 "A Very Long Engagement" * * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2004-11-26 21:43:03 That's right; thank you. I see that it has somewhat mixed reviews--apparently beautifully filmed but, one reviewer said, a bit too cute for the grim backdrop. It takes place in the same region of France as "The Englishman's Daughter," I note, on the Somme river. * * * * * * * * * * * * Andy - 2004-11-27 00:39:34 oops, I spelled "Amelie" wrong. * * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2004-11-27 01:16:04 No worries. Tatou is quite beautiful I must say, though I'm unfamiliar with her work. * * * * * * * * * * * * add your comment: your name: your email: your url: back to the entry - Diaryland