my roommate loves Ondaatje and i could only remember being really bored by the movie; i’m glad that was long enough ago that i could read this without seeing those images. it’s really a beautiful story, in the telling and the imagery. an incredible amount of details (often well-researched) packed into this so that several different personal histories are laid out and you can really see the dynamics between everyone.

WWII is ending and a nurse stays behind in an old nunnery outside of Florence to tend to a severely burned man who no longer remembers who he is. a family friend manages to find her, knowing that she must be lost after her father’s death in the war and hoping he can convince her to return home. eventually they are joined by an indian sapper. and “an unlikely bond develops” because “In memory, love lives forever.” (maybe i should write book jacket descriptions.)