The English Patient. Put the DVD down, and buy the book

"She stands up in the garden where she has been working and looks into the distance. She has sensed a shift in the weather. There is another gust of wind, a buckle of noise in the air, and the tall cypresses sway. She turns and moves uphill towards the house, climbing over a low wall, feeling the first drops of rain on her bare arms. She crosses the loggia and quickly enters the house."

Now maybe it's just me, but reading that opening paragraph meant one thing: I was reading the whole book. It's not exactly "There was a terrific explosion and Hurst was thrown to the floor of the aircraft as it fell into a screaming descent", but it's got everything I want. It's the sketch for a picture I want to see more of. It's straight into storytelling, without preamble. It's an introduction to a writer who sees wind as "a buckle of noise in the air", and drops that hard, metallic word in amongst languid, gentle language to emphasise the point. And that first sentence: simple, rhythmic, lucid.

Gives me shivers.

If it does anything for you, read this epic, stunning book. And if at all possible, don't watch the movie first. The visuals in the book are just as good, and there's a lot more story besides.