by Heather Scott
Staff Writer
Switching fluidly from symbolic drama to lighthearted humorous poetry, author Michael Ondaatje, who wrote The English Patient, read passages from his works to a packed house Tuesday night at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
Ondaatje was the featured author for the season's conclusion of the Margarett Root Brown Houston Reading Series, co-sponsored by the University of Houston Creative Writing Program.
Most of the 362 people who were able to get into the packed Brown Auditorium came to hear the author read from and speak about The English Patient, his latest novel, the basis for a film which won nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director.
Vickie Fontana of Imprint Inc., a nonprofit organization which co-sponsors the reading series with UH creative writing, said she had attended other readings in the series, but had never seen such a turnout.
A crowd of about 200 had to be turned away from the door due to a lack of available seats.
Martin Acosta, a junior at UH who learned about the reading through his Introduction to Poetry course, was one of those not able to get in for the reading. He said that the name recognition was what caused him to attend.
"Of all the poets here, he's the most famous," he said of the authors who have participated in the series.
Tara Ezzell, a sophomore marketing major who is also taking the poetry class, arrived early to manage to get a seat in the auditorium. Ezzell, who attended the event along with two other UH students, said, "Our poetry teacher told us it would be crowded, but I didn't expect this."
During the reading, Ondaatje read selections from many of his novels and poems, including The Cinnamon Peeler: Selected Poems, Running in the Family and The English Patient.
Before he began reading passages from The English Patient, Ondaatje related an anecdote about a murderer who had given his lawyer a copy of the book and told him to refer to a specific page.
Upon holding the page to a light, the lawyer discovered that, by marking letters with pricks from a pin, he had spelled out, "I will plead guilty."
"In the same week, I found my book in the hands of murderers and filmmakers," Ondaatje joked.
A brief question-and-answer period followed the reading, during which the majority of the audience's questions concerned The English Patient.
During the session, Ondaatje commented on the transformation of his book from a novel to a screenplay.
"Some things that have a dramatic structure in a novel won't work in a movie," he said.
"I would prefer the film to be about an hour longer," he said, although the movie was almost three hours long. "I liked the movie," adding that, in comparison to the novel, "It was a different sort of creature."
After speaking, Ondaatje signed copies of his books and even a few posters for The English Patient.
Ondaatje also spoke on the UH campus Tuesday afternoon, answering questions about his writings for a classroom full of students and faculty members in McElhinney Hall.