Sliver of Truth: A Novel

Sliver of Truth: A Novel
Average customer rating:

Sliver of Truth

Horrid!

Confusing

Another good one

Receives Broadway actress Jenna Lamia's acting strengths

Sliver of Truth: A Novel
Lisa Unger
Manufacturer: Shaye Areheart Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Thrillers | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
Psychological & Suspense | Thrillers | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
Suspense | Thrillers | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
General | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
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Beautiful Lies: A Novel

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ASIN: 0307338460
Release Date: 2007-01-02

Book Description

Recently, Ridley Jones stepped off a street corner and into an abyss of violence, deception, and fear. She is being a lot more careful about where she steps and trying to get on with her life when another seemingly mundane act- picking up a few envelopes of prints at a photo lab- puts Ridley at the nexus of a global network of crime. A shadowy figure of a man appears in almost every picture she’s taken in the last year, lurking just far enough away to make identification impossible. Everyone from the federal government to the criminal underworld wants to know who the man is- and where he is- and some people are willing to kill to find out.

Now the FBI is at her door, some serious bad guys are following her every move, and the family she once loved and relied on is more distant than ever. Ridley has never felt so confused or alone in her life. Everyone she loves has turned out to be a stranger- she even feels like a stranger to herself. Is she a product of nature or nurture?

At once hunting down a ghost and running for her life, Ridley doesn’t know if she ever had the power to shape her own destiny or if love exists anywhere beyond her imagination. The only thing Ridley knows for sure is that she has to get to the truth about herself and her past if she’s ever going to find her way home.

Charged with relentless intensity and kinetic action, playing out with unnerving suspense on the streets of New York and London, and seen through the terrified but determined eyes of a young woman whose body and heart are pushed to the point of shattering, Sliver of Truth is another triumph from the New York Times bestselling author of Beautiful Lies.

From the Trade Paperback edition.

Customer Reviews:

Sliver of Truth.......2007-08-11

Now this is a story that will keep you turning pages--for hours! It will also make you wonder--and hope--you never have such happenings yourself.

Horrid!.......2007-06-11

There really should be a warning on this book that you MUST read the first one or you won't have a clue! I tried to read this POS and just gaveup after 35 pages. I had NO idea who these people where, what was happening - and ultimately just didn't care! This piece of junk illustrates the main problem I have with series - if you don't read them all you won't know what the hell is happening. In this case, I didn't care. The writing wasn't that good and if was very frustraing being jerked around, not knowing who or what was going on. Why would I waste my time when there are SO many GOOD books out there! Thank goodness I didn't pay for this, this, THING. I got it from the library where it's been sitting gathering dust. You can tell no one has ever read it all the way through - no surprise there. YUCK.

Confusing.......2007-05-19

This is a really interesting book, but I think you must read her first book, Beautiful Lies, to make sense of what is happening. You do finally figure it out but would have been nice to have the background while you were reading the new book. I think impatient readers would stop in the first few chapters because it seems that nothing connects.

Another good one .......2007-05-12

Second book in the series. No need to read the first,Beautiful Lies, but it does make this book even better. Both books are easy to read, with so much detail you will want to read it in as few sittings as possible. Enjoy the great mystery and suspense

Receives Broadway actress Jenna Lamia's acting strengths.......2007-05-12

Lisa Unger's SLIVER OF TRUTH receives Broadway actress Jenna Lamia's acting strengths as it tells of Ridley Jones, who finds herself at the center of a global network of crime simply by picking up a few envelopes of prints at a photo lab. The photos will change and challenge her life and may even destroy it unless she can find out their truth.

Average customer rating:

One of the best Erdrich novels
I Enjoyed This Audiobook Very Much!
Pass on Erdrich's latest
erdrich rocks!
Engrossing

The Painted Drum: A Novel (P.S.)
Louise Erdrich
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Literary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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Love Medicine : A Novel (Perennial Classics)
Birchbark House, The
Tracks
Four Souls : A Novel (Erdrich, Louise)

ASIN: 0060515112
Release Date: 2006-08-22

Book Description

While appraising the estate of a New Hampshire family descended from a North Dakota Indian agent, Faye Travers is startled to discover a rare moose skin and cedar drum fashioned long ago by an Ojibwe artisan. And so begins an illuminating journey both backward and forward in time, following the strange passage of a powerful yet delicate instrument, and revealing the extraordinary lives it has touched and defined.

Compelling and unforgettable, Louise Erdrich's Painted Drum explores the often fraught relationship between mothers and daughters, the strength of family, and the intricate rhythms of grief with all the grace, wit, and startling beauty that characterizes this acclaimed author's finest work.

Download Description

When a woman named Faye Travers is called upon to appraise the estate of a family in her small New Hampshire town, she isn't surprised to discover a forgotten cache of valuable Native American artifacts. After all, the family descends from an Indian agent who worked on the North Dakota Ojibwe reservation that is home to her mother's family. However, she stops dead in her tracks when she finds in the collection a rare drum -- a powerful yet delicate object, made from a massive moose skin stretched across a hollow of cedar, ornamented with symbols she doesn't recognize and dressed in red tassels and a beaded belt and skirt -- especially since, without touching the instrument, she hears it sound.

From Faye's discovery, we trace the drum's passage both backward and forward in time, from the reservation on the northern plains to New Hampshire and back. Through the voice of Bernard Shaawano, an Ojibwe, we hear how his grandfather fashioned the drum after years of mourning his young daughter's death, and how it changes the lives of those whose paths its crosses. And through Faye we hear of her anguished relationship with a local sculptor, who himself mourns the loss of a daughter, and of the life she has made alone with her mother, in the shadow of the death of Faye's sister.

Through these compelling voices, The Painted Drum explores the strange power that lost children exert on the memories of those they leave behind, and as the novel unfolds, its elegantly crafted narrative comes to embody the intricate, transformative rhythms of human grief. One finds throughout the grace and wit, the captivating prose and surprising beauty, that characterize Louise Erdrich's finest work.

Customer Reviews:

One of the best Erdrich novels.......2007-08-25

After reading many of Louise Erdrich's novels, I had become tired of their similarities -- until, that is, I decided to give The Painted Drum a chance. Erdrich's novel recaptures the originality of her earlier work and improves it with the maturity of a veteran novelist, succeeding with her multiple narratives as she never has before.

The author has been quoted as describing her writing style as a patchwork quilt, piecing scraps of stories together until they form a beautiful whole. In The Painted Drum, these scraps consist of two major plots: the present day story of Faye, a contemporary woman living with a sense of loss, and the history of a painted drum Faye acquires. The novel's structure is not as simple, however, as this division suggests, as individual stories abound. The throbbing resonance of the drum takes on haunting meaning as its history, traced back to its creation, is revealed. Although the lineage of the drum defines the novel's scope, the stories that surround it veer off in tangents.

Although the Ojibwe history and cast of characters (including the familiar Fleur Pillager) give this novel a complexity that goes beyond what Erdrich has accomplished in recent books, Faye's story steers the work in a new direction, one that gives the ancient spirituality of Native Americans an urgency in contemporary America. The connections between mothers and daughters, between the dead and the living, and among survivors lend this novel poignancy and hope, even if the hope seems less solid that the grief itself.

I highly recommend this novel, especially to fans of Love Medicine and The Beet Queen.

I Enjoyed This Audiobook Very Much!.......2007-07-01

I was drawn to this book because I have read Louse Edrich's books before and I enjoyed her treatment of American Indian history and lore. I do not know a lot about it myself, but I assume she researches these things quite a bit before she writes about them. It would be interesting to go back and check some of her historical background and presentations to see if they are accurate.

Loiuise Edrich's book, the Painted Drum is a story about a mother and daughter team of estate appraisers who find a treasure of a painted American Indian drum in someone's attic. The story is developed at first as part of the lives of the mother and daughter. The daughter has stolen the drum for a reason that she doesn't quite understand herself! Later on, the drum is returned to its rightful owners and we learn of its story as Bernard, the grandson of its creator tells it. The story of the drum kept me interested as it wove through the generations and told of the life and hardships of the drum's maker. It made the drum's creator seem like a real person to me, not just a person from a book.

As an audiobook, this is really special. That is because Anna Fields is really gifted in the way she uses her voice to depict the characters. Even when she does the voices of men, she does so very convincingly. I haven't heard an authentic American Indian accent, but I imagined hers were close to the real thing and I could almost see the characters in my mind.

I would really reccommend this book. I would especially reccomend it to someone who is interested in American Indian history and lore.

Pass on Erdrich's latest.......2007-05-17

I've got one word to sum up this book - yawn. I've been a fan of many of Erdrich's earlier novels, such as The Bingo Palace, and Love Medicine. Erdrich has made a name for herself as a writer who vividly portrays the balancing act of Native Americans in a westernized world. Sadly, The Painted Drum doesn't live up to her earlier writing, and is beyond boring. Erdrich seems to be following in the vein of movies these days, that is to say forgetting to include a plot. The book begins as a dull and detailed description of sifting through the junk in someone's attic, which is about as interesting as watching paint dry in someone's attic. I was so bored I couldn't even finish listening to the book. Do yourself a favor, and pass on The Painted Drum.

erdrich rocks!.......2007-01-30

as with all of her novels, louise erdrich weaves an unusual and original story about an ordinary object; in this case, a drum. she uses odd but real characters, diverse landscapes and geographical locations, and beautiful language to entertain us to the last page.

Engrossing.......2006-10-24

What I really appreciate about this book (as well as all Louise Erdrich's work) is the different cultural perspective on events, the difference in interpretation of those events, which I assume are Native American.

I couldn't put the book down - that is, when I wasn't listening to it on CD during commutes to work.

Average customer rating:

For all adolescent boys, and the people who love them
An enjoyable read, but not for everyone.
Good story, reads quickly
Couldn't get into this book
What is it REALLY like to be a 13-year-old boy?

Black Swan Green: A Novel
David Mitchell
Manufacturer: Random House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1400063795
Release Date: 2006-04-11

Book Description

From award-winning writer David Mitchell comes a sinewy, meditative novel of boyhood on the cusp of adulthood and the old on the cusp of the new.
Black Swan tracks a single year in what is, for thirteen-year-old Jason Taylor, the sleepiest village in muddiest Worcestershire in a dying Cold War England, 1982. But the thirteen chapters, each a short story in its own right, create an exquisitely observed world that is anything but sleepy. A world of Kissingeresque realpolitik enacted in boys’ games on a frozen lake; of “nightcreeping” through the summer backyards of strangers; of the tabloid-fueled thrills of the Falklands War and its human toll; of the cruel, luscious Dawn Madden and her power-hungry boyfriend, Ross Wilcox; of a certain Madame Eva van Outryve de Crommelynck, an elderly bohemian emigré who is both more and less than she appears; of Jason’s search to replace his dead grandfather’s irreplaceable smashed watch before the crime is discovered; of first cigarettes, first kisses, first Duran Duran Lps, and first deaths; of Margaret Thatcher’s recession; of Gypsies camping in the woods and the hysteria they inspire; and, even closer to home, of a slow-motion divorce in four seasons.
Pointed, funny, profound, left-field, elegiac, and painted with the stuff of life, Black Swan Green is David Mitchell’s subtlest and most effective achievement to date.

Download Description

David Mitchell is the author of Ghostwritten, Number9Dream, and Cloud Atlas, the last 2 finalists for the Booker Prize. Granta magazine named him one of Britain’s best young novelists in 2003. He lives in County Cork with his wife and daughter.

From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Reviews:

For all adolescent boys, and the people who love them.......2007-10-09

This book took me inside the mind of a witty, scared, and dear adolescent boy with some of the best (often internal) dialogue since George V Higgins

An enjoyable read, but not for everyone........2007-10-02

Black Swan Green: A Novel

"Black Swan Green" By David Mitchell.

"Black Swan Green" chronicles one year in the life of 13 year old Jason Taylor who lives in a small town in England named Black Swan Green in 1982. The book is broken into 13 chapters with each chapter devoted to one month in Jason's life starting in January and ending in January (January man).

This book was very good and I rate it on a par with "Catcher in the Rye" or "A Separate Peace". Be warned this book is not for everyone and is a little bit of a sleeper. Initially it was slow going, a book about the trials and tribulations of a 13 year old yada yada. Right when I thought I was getting bored with the book the hooks were in. The initial part of the book which seemed a little slow was the necessary character building stage and after that the characters were alive and I cared about them and had to find out what happened. I say it isn't for everyone and this it true. This story isn't an action packed thrill ride and it isn't filled with mystery or violence or sex. What it is full of is very life like realistic characters that you come to see could have been you or someone you knew growing up. If you enjoy character driven stories you will probably like this however if you need action etc, this may not be for you.

The Good: As stated the characters are superbly written. Not a lot to elaborate on. This is a character driven story and the characters are excellently drawn.

The Bad: A little slow at first but the patient reader will be rewarded.

Overall: I recommend this book. It was very enjoyable and worth giving a read!

Good story, reads quickly.......2007-09-19

I enjoyed this book very much. I liked how the story was constructed over one year in the boy's life, and there were several interesting plots going on, that all seemed to resolve by the end. I found myself laughing out loud from time to time. It was a fast read for me, and I thought that the 13-y/o's narrative made it even more interesting. I liked all the characters that came in and out of the novel, especially the old woman who was going to teach French. I was shocked by the depravity of some of Taylor's "friends" and their families, though I guess I shouldn't have been...that's everywhere. I wish this story didn't end!

Couldn't get into this book.......2007-09-08

This book was recommended to me because I enjoyed Middlesex, no comparison. I gave up reading "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell in the middle of chapter one. I started reading again, put it down picked it up and finally..........Yes, it was that dull. However, the New York Times has a positive review of "Black Swan Green". I could find only one negative comment in the entire review

What is it REALLY like to be a 13-year-old boy? .......2007-08-19

Black Swan Green by David Mitchell answers that very question. I choose this book to read because it was listed as a New York Times Notable book in 2006, and I'm certainly glad I did!

Black Swan Green is the name of the small village in Worcestershire where 13-year-old Jason Taylor lives. It's a sleepy little village minus the swans. The year is 1982, and Jason is trying to navigate his way through a maze of difficulties: bullies at school, trying to blend in, overcoming a stammer that could label him forever, parents at war with each other, an older sister that calls him "The Thing", a war in the Falklands, and gypsies that have taken up residence is the village. Can life really be so difficult at 13? You bet it can!

Eliot Bolivar is a poet that submits his writing to the local parish magazine. He is talented and writes eloquently. And he is actually Jason Taylor, our 13-year-old antagonist. But really, could a kid hold up his head in school if he admits to being a POET? I think not!

This book is chocked full of insight. It is exactly one year in the life of Jason Taylor. Mitchell's writing is so fantastic, you can actually see through the eyes of this boy. At first, it was a bit difficult to understand some of the British phrasing and terms, but that didn't stop any enjoyment I felt reading this book. When Jason was called on to read aloud in class, I actually could FEEL his fear in the pit of MY stomach. Trying to navigate through school without being seen, not popular enough to be part of the in-crowd, and not detested enough to be one of the lepers, Jason tries hard to fit in. And he has to fit in in a way that lets him live with himself.

One of my favorite passages in the book comes right at the end: "The world's a Headmaster who works on your faults. I don't mean in a mystical or a Jesus way. More how you'll keep tripping over a hidden step, over and over, till you finally understand: Watch out for that step! Everything that's wrong with us, if we're too selfish or too Yessir, Nosir, Three bags full sir or too anything, that's a hidden step. Either you suffer the consequences of not noticing your fault forever, or , one day, you DO notice it, and fix it. Joke is, once you get it into your brain about THAT hidden step and think, Hey, life isn't so bad after all again, then BUMP! Down you go, a whole new flight of hidden steps. There are always more."

The entire book is filled with this type of writing and insight. The characters are all well-rounded, simple yet complex. This book will make you laugh and it will make you cry. And it will make you exceedingly glad that you never have to go through that horrible time in life again. I would recommend it whole-heartedly!

The Dragon's Village: An Autobiographical Novel of Revolutionary China

Average customer rating:

Where's the climax?
Waiting and waiting: for a climax, a resolution and an epilogue.
Contradiction's Village.
Really an Autobiography?
A great read... though Chinese names can be confusing

The Dragon's Village: An Autobiographical Novel of Revolutionary China
Yuan-tsung Chen
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Literary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0140058117

Customer Reviews:

Where's the climax?.......2006-04-12

This book succeeds in illustrating the effects of political conflict on a teenage girl who is constantly fighting her contradictory beliefs. She has passion for Communism to win, but her moral beliefs sometimes intervene. The actions she must take for the land-reform to work are often too violent or cruel for what she is capable of doing, but at the same time, she knows that this is what she is required to do in order to be the "correct" cadre and leader. The traditional values of the villagers are a major obstacle that she must overcome for Communism to take place. These traditions are well depicted in the novel through the conservative villagers who are still doubtful about the reform. This leads to the theme of "tradition versus change". The story continually revolves around this conflict, especially in terms of women inferiority. For example, the rape of Little Jade and Tu's belief that a wife who cannot bear sons is a burden, both result in major political issues in the small village of Longxiang. This tradition interrupts the Communist ideal, and once again, confuses many people including Ling-Ling. This is because everyone still possesses their traditional beliefs and finds it hard to ignore them. Another conflict in this novel is "justice versus revenge". While the people know that when a problem occurs it is best to put things right the calm way, their hot-headedness overtakes their emotions and their goals of seeking justice is replaced by revenge. This feeling of revenge often leads to more trouble, and the whole process is repeated again.

Our experience reading this novel was more negative than positive. We felt that it was an unnecessary experience overall. Although we did learn about the land-reform which actually took place, we could have done this through a different source, perhaps a history class. Besides, we were not entirely sure if this novel was historically correct in some parts. Many characters were underdeveloped and from time to time, we faced huge holes in the plot, leaving us confused. We must admit, though, that many heated discussions took place because of this book. However, this was most probably because of the unclear issues that we were determined to solve with our own reasoning. The debates were extremely interesting, but as mentioned previously, there was a void since we were almost never able to figure out an answer.

The novel's literary strengths include the fast pace and clever dialogue. Most phrases are short and straightforward, so it is clear and easy to comprehend. The tone of each character suits the situation well, enhancing the tension, the fear, or the gaiety. Another aspect that helps create the atmosphere is the use of symbolism. The appropriate use of the symbols strongly supports the real-life situation because of their clearly parallel connection. An example of symbolism is Ling-Ling's dreams. Her dream of drowning in water represents the suffocation she is feeling in the village. She is not content with her miserable life in the poor village and she feels that she cannot express her thoughts and emotions freely. Speaking of connection, we realized that there were many foreshadowing of future events, especially of the unfortunate ones. This is supposed to add onto the excitement of the incidents because when the foreshadowing comes true, the impact is larger than when an event happens out of the blue. The build up is what makes the outcome all the more surprising and prominent. However, this book did not make good use of the upsurge. At the final point, the incident seemed to dissolve and nothing dramatic happened, deceiving the expectations of the readers.

Another literary weakness of this novel is the unnecessarily large amount of description. Although the effective symbolism and foreshadowing may be included, some paragraphs drag on and on, boring the readers. Some details are truly unneeded for the story to be interesting. In fact, less descriptive passages sometimes intrigue us to read on. Another literary weakness is the characterization. Some parts of the story abruptly ended without any development in the characters such as Bob Lu, who abruptly did not show up anymore after Ling-Ling left Shanghai. His character is left hanging in mid-air, worsening the already opened void in the plot.

Overall, we give this book 2.5 stars because we thought that this book wasn't so bad that we couldn't read it, but it wasn't a good read. It is definitely a book to read in class, where you are required to study it; not something you would snuggle up with in front of the fireplace.

Waiting and waiting: for a climax, a resolution and an epilogue. .......2006-04-12

This autobiographical novel by Yuan-Tsung Chen is a portrayal of the author's experience as a young Communist cadre who participated in the Land Reforms during the mid 1940's. The book is written from the perspective of a 17 year-old teenager, Ling Ling who is eager to be a part of the new political, social and cultural change at that time.

Since the novel is written by a female author with a female protagonist, a large portion of the book focuses on the status and role of women in society. The first two chapters show how the Shanghai aristocracy and bourgeoisie women enjoy a more western lifestyle as socialites who frequent fancy parties and gatherings. They are also educated in western schools even if their ultimate social goal is to secure their status through a well-connected marriage. The protagonist, Ling Ling, also happens to be a girl from the Shanghai elite but her ambitious activist friend, Ma Li shows how women were starting to become more active in political activities because of the spread of Communist ideas. However, the status of women in the rural village of Longxiang is a stark contrast to the privileged lives of Shanghai women. Since the village is virtually a place where women are oppressed by a Confucian society, virgin brides whose husband has died or wives who repeatedly give birth to daughters are seen as women of bad luck while underprivileged and vulnerable women are sexually exploited. However, a young female activist, Xiu Ying, shows the hope of gender equality by running for the elections and becoming elected as a new village leader.

This new promotion of a woman into a political position also presents the theme of Tradition vs. Change. When Ling Ling first arrives to Longxiang with her fellow cadres Malvolio Cheng and Wang Sha, the elders, especially the men, are reluctant to change their ideas. The bold presence of an adolescent girl like Ling Ling also surprises them because it completely clashes with their Confucian ideal of the low status of women. Throughout the book, the villagers are challenged with new changes such as the meeting where all villagers, men and women are brought together to discuss the land reforms as equals. Gradually as the story progresses, the men feel more uncomfortable about the new role of women and an example of this is when Xiu Ying's father attempts to force her into an arranged marriage after her election. The villagers also feel some conflict when they are made to raid the houses of the landlords but after the repudiation of the first landlord, a new generation of young activists emerges as it steps out to seize power for its own. Their rash and reproachful attitude towards the landlords shows a definite break from the traditional feudalist society.

Another theme that was significant was "the wheel of history" which Ling Ling describes in Chapter 13, as something that moves against the will of the individuals, involving them without discrimination. Although the land reforms seem to end successfully in the last chapter after the repudiation of the "evil" landlords, signs of new corruption are already evident from the previous chapters where the young activists treat Landlord Chi and his farmer spy very brutally. Even Ling Ling acts in response to her emotions on the spur of the moment, flinging out profane words, while setting a bad example of a leader for the newly elected authorities. The action and violence shows how the former corruption of the feudalist society is already manifesting itself in the new communist society.

Even though the book might be suitable for a history class as a primary source (despite it's historical inaccuracy), the majority of the chapters which were basically empty or void of depth which made it tiring to apply literary criticism. In addition to that, many of the characters were underdeveloped, including the protagonist and it was felt that the author wasn't very inquisitive and analytical of her past experiences in the book. The lack of self-evaluation was so critical that it almost felt as if she had written the book one week after her return from Longxiang. The last chapter also left us readers hanging on the edge because we had no idea as to what the author's stance was; did she feel that the land reforms were successful or did she think that it was futile? It would be most favorable if at least she added in a short epilogue about her life after the land reforms.

However, one must admit that the first chapter was intriguing enough to keep the reader reading the whole book while expecting the important and significant climax.

Contradiction's Village........2006-04-12

The experience of reading this novel, The Dragon's Village, is a complex one. It is truly a unique story about Communist China, told from an interesting perspective, though because of its ambiguous genre and structure, the reader is left wondering if the story is for Communism or against, fiction or factual, introspective or blatant, intellectually stimulating or written to please the mass audience. Its themes revolve around those that have been stated time and time again in novels that describe a communist dictatorship: that the upper-class cannot adapt to the lower-class' standards without putting up a fight or assuming authority/paternal roles, and that one who has indulged in a luxurious life cannot easily give it up, no matter how circumstances may change. Further, the novel explores different characters' diverging reactions to Communism, and derives its ultimate theme, that a communist state cannot realistically ever function, from those characters' opinions.

The novel's strengths are its unique point of view, way in which events are told which leave an impact on the reader, and the use of archetypes that make it a strong literary piece. Because the novel is `autobiographical', the reader is enthralled by the events that are `true' within the novel, while the courses of action that some characters take build upon the intertwining relationships the narrator develops during her stay in the village. Archetypes are generally not apparent, though the meaning of names (Ling-ling = bells; perhaps she was the one that awoke the villagers to see the new Communist way) and characters (Broken Shoe is the `socially unacceptable woman'/antagonist that all novels must have) subtly portray their importance.

The novel's weakness is its structure. The format of the story is not very clear and there is no apparent climax - the novel presets itself as a collection of interesting stories that share common characters, and the fact that each chapter has a separate title instead of being numbered seems to support this point. The genre of the book is also confusing - it is stated as fiction and autobiographical: "This story is fiction, but it is true." (Forward The Dragons Village) However, the notion of an "autobiographical novel" seems to be a contradiction in itself. Further, what does the author mean by this quote? Since the novel is fiction, one expects the story to have a significant climax. The book would be more entertaining as a fiction novel if it were manipulated into a simple structure. Perhaps the author attempted to include too many incidents and details in one novel. The chapters are dull and tedious to read, while there seems to be no relevance in many characters that appear throughout the novel. Many of the characters are underdeveloped, which subtract from the narrator's personality that unfolds as the novel goes on. Each theme the author presents in the book has the potential to develop, yet however many themes this book touches, it only goes into to superficial detail and never gets anywhere near as deep as a reader would hope for.

Altogether, the story is interesting yet dull, structured yet ambiguous, reflective yet superficial, and a contradiction to itself as in its stated genre of "autobiographical novel".

Really an Autobiography?.......2006-04-12

The Dragon's Village written by Yuan-Tsung Chen was the story of a girl's self-discovery during the Chinese Revolution. In the novel, she struggles to find her purpose in life and what she can contribute to the new communist country. Through her journey, the reader discovers a distinct conflict between the traditional way of life and the way the newly formed government tries to create. The reader can see the struggle between the conservatives and the reformers making readers curious to find out which side will prevail.
While reading the novel the reader finds easy to connect and empathize with the protagonist. The reader is able to vicariously live the revolution through the main character, Ling Ling. The novel was written in such a way that any reader could enjoy and understand it. Chen delivers an interesting storyline with good imagery and elaborate description.
However, Chen's efforts to make good imageries fail because they often made the novel seem repetitive and random. At times, characters and ideas seem to pop up at random with no clear connection to the rest of the novel, such as the role of the Soprano and the character Dai Shi. For instance, both the Soprano and Dai Shi appear at the beginning of the novel only to disappear without mention and then reappear again at the end of the novel. Even once the characters are reintroduced in the novel, they serve no purpose in furthering the plot.
The novel dragged on slow and needlessly sometimes, but it was interesting to follow Ling Ling's development throughout the novel. Also, it was more engaging to us as readers for we felt connected to the novel thanks to the view of a young teenage female protagonist. This provided the only motivation to finish the novel in hopes of finding out what happens to our heroine. It brings light to the Chinese Revolution, a topic not often discussed in such detail.
For personal reading, this novel might offer one an interesting new perspective on a journey during a critical time in history, however, as an educational tool, the effectiveness of this novel is questionable. If one is interested in historical fiction, this novel would be enjoyable to read, however, if one is looking for a research materials or more concrete account of this time, this is not the novel one would want to read.

A great read... though Chinese names can be confusing.......2005-12-20

The Dragon's Village is an autobiographical novel that portrays the psychological contention of a seventeen year old girl set against a chaotic era in Chinese history- an era of Communist land reforms. The theme expresses the writer's perspective on the conflict between political and personal realities and political and personal ideals. Prior to the turning point, the main character, Ling-ling is torn between traditional Chinese values and her communist ideals. The novel focuses on how political and social reforms can force one to change internally, however the novel also succeeds in depicting oppressive Chinese traditional values such as the static subordinate status of women despite the communist revolution.
The book tells the story of Ling-ling, a seventeen-year-old, Chinese girl of bourgeois origin who joins a revolutionary work team and travels to a secluded village to spread the reform movement. Fueled by idealism and determination, Ling-ling goes to the Dragon's village (dragons being a symbol or mystery, the extraordinary, and strength in Chinese mythology) only to be obstructed by landlords and villagers who fear them. She finds the village and villagers to be indeed mysterious. In effect, Ling-ling feels her goal to find herself and her niche in life is being blocked by traditional Chinese patriarchal values and the corruption that results from it; exactly what makes her leave Shanghai in the first place.
The conflict is introduced early in the novel when Ling-ling, expressing her distress with the traditional role she is expected to play, leaves to join a reform team. Towards the turning point, Ling-ling begins to notice that neither the traditional society she comes from nor communism truly defines who she is. During the rising action, Ling-ling questions herself several times whether she belongs to the village or not. At the turning point, she is faced with a choice: to her aunt, who will still accept her at this point, or press ahead. While pondering over this and reflecting on her past, Ling-ling notices that the KMT and the Communist are "all the same people"; one is not better than the other. Upon realizing this, she burns the old pages of her diary to burn away the idealistic past and move into a new level of self awareness of her own inner complexities and the complexities of ideologies. She realizes that there needs to be a balance of reality and aspirations.
The main theme of the story is embodied in two sentences in the novel: "Every one of us- peasants, work teams, and landlords alike- was caught in the wheel of history. Immense forces beyond our control were moving us forward, but at the same time molding and remolding all our hopes regardless of who and what we were." Oppressed people rise up, albeit not without opposition and obstacles, freed but then tied down again by the elite group of the next regime- that is the cycle of history. But regardless of who or what one is, in each turn of the "wheel", values are forced to be redefined; in this novel communism forces traditional values to be redefined. This is reinforced in the climax when Tu's doings are discovered. Tu, a communist, is discovered to have been working with Landlord Chi- the main opposition of the reform team and Ling-ling accordingly. Just as the imperial day and the KMT days, corruption is being spread in society.
Of the many issues embedded in the novel, it effectively illustrates a concern that is often overlooked in China. Gender equality remains something that is intangible in China until the introduction of communism. Women have been inferior to men in Chinese society for so long that it is not an idea easily destroyed. There is an underlying sense of male resistance to allow women to be equals early in the communist revolution. There is a rift between ideals and reality in enforcing Communist ideas; equality turns out to be a subjective matter. Ling-ling notes that it is the hard realities of life that scare women back into marriage. In the Dragon's village men are apathetic to the women's plight. At then end of the novel, Tu a leading village Communist is found out to have murdered his stepdaughter after raping her. Women are seen to be objects and men are allowed to treat women in virtually any way they want. The reluctance of men to vote for Xiu-Ying and her father's resistance to allow her to run for election is also a depiction of inequality. However, she does win a position. This is perhaps pointing to a new time for women's rights. Nonetheless, communist ideas of equality are hard to enforce, even in the party itself, because the traditional patriarchal ideas are ingrained deeply into Chinese society.
The last words of the novel are "Da Niang, come. Come and get your land. It's time." This restates the theme- history is cyclical. Now the table has turned and it is the peasants turn to prosper. These words are said at the end by a wiser and some what more mature Ling-ling who learns the political reality of the difficulty of enforcing communist ideas and her personal reality that she is a construct of traditions and communism and not one or the other. In some ways, the initial idealism Ling-ling holds undercuts her success in the reform movement in the Dragon's Village because it is not who she really is. She makes real progress personally and politically when she abandons her romantic view of reform (along with her infatuation with Wang Sha) and her complete disapproval for traditions. Near the end of the book she says, "I don't like any superstitions, old or new." Ling-ling realizes that the new government is not any better then the KMT. History is cyclical- nothing is new.

The Village in the Jungle (20th Century Classics)

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The Village in the Jungle

The Village in the Jungle (20th Century Classics)
I. Woolfe , and Leonard Woolf
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

British | Short Stories | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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Beginning Again: An Autobiography Of The Years 1911 To 1918

ASIN: 0192813129

Customer Reviews:

The Village in the Jungle.......1999-11-24

The Village in the Jungle, a fictional novel by Leonard Woolf, associates a series of catastrophic stories with one another. The predominant figures are Silindu (a hunter) and his two daughters Punchi Menika and Hinnihami. This story itself is based upon several different significant themes, including fate, love and tragedy. Personally, I found the book an absolute delight to read, being both suspenseful and interesting. Although the book cover jacket will most likely lack appeal to many people, this is most definitely a situation where one should not "judge a book by its cover". The title, The Village in the Jungle is nothing short of appropriate to the theme and plot of the novel. The plot, in a nutshell, is about a man named Silindu, who lives in the jungle and resists fate at every turn. He is an excellent hunter with cunning eyes, hunched-up shoulders and a small dark face all pinched. His ability of traveling around the jungle exceeds those of the animals. The incredible descriptions Woolf utilizes in the story allows the reader to clearly picture Silindu and his quest. The climax of the story is about Silindu's journey, having caught an "eccentric" disease. He didn't allow his daughter Hinnihami to marry a man from Vederala in the first place. Thus it was said that the disease he has is actually an evil spell. No matter how much effort he tries to cure himself it won't happen unless he willingly lets his daughter marry the man. The plot itself is really exciting throughout the entire book, with a few parts that are fairly slower in pace. "Leafless trees, hot humid air, rigid branches, and spider leg stems" is a portion of Leonard's description of the Jungle. All of his descriptions are perfectly arranged throughout the story, in which it makes the readers fall into the fabricated jungle described in his plot. "The air is heavy with the heat beating up from the earth. There is a fear everywhere: in the silence and in the shrill calls and the wild cries, in the stir of the scattered leaves and the grating of branches, in the gloom, in the startled, slinking, and peering beasts." (Pg 6, Woolf) This is one of the best lines taken out of the novel, because it gives the reader a full picture of the setting in the story. I highly recommend this novel to anyone looking for a hero's novel, although copies are exceedingly rare to locate as there were initially only a limited amount of copies printed. Through this story we can evidently see Silindu's courage in facing problems in unfavorable circumstances. I personally believe he is a true hero, because he really did have the spirit in surviving and staying alive no matter what happened. Overall, this novel is definitely an extraordinary thrilling book for anyone, providing hours of entertainment for people of all ages.

Tales from Fish Camp: A City Girl's Experience Working in an Alaskan Fishing Village

Average customer rating:

A Little Disappointed
Something to Not Try
Good, quick, memorable read about a neat adventure.
Leaves much to be desired.
Not very good.

Tales from Fish Camp: A City Girl's Experience Working in an Alaskan Fishing Village
Danielle Henderson
Manufacturer: AiT/PlanetLar
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1932051252

Book Description

Bear chases. Stabbings. Broken bones. Sleeping three hours a day. Drinking whiskey all night. It all comes with the territory when a city girl from New York takes a job in an Alaskan fishing village. Tales from Fish Camp is a humorous take on the day-to-day drudgery of working 18 hour shifts, boozing it up with wizened old fisherman, hitchhiking, blood poisoning, and sucker hosing, filleting and packing thousands of pounds of fish. Though it sounds like she lost a lost bet, Danielle took this job on purpose - with no idea what she'd be getting herself into.

Customer Reviews:

A Little Disappointed.......2006-07-11

Before buying and reading this book I had visited her blog in order to get a sense of her writing style. I had also searched for her on the net and read reviews and interviews concerning this book and was expecting something better than what I had received.

I was a little disappointed in the brevity of the "stories" and the book in itself.

While I did not expect the writing to be of a serious nature I was a little disappointed in the ability of the author. I believe that this book should have been worked on a little more. Perhaps if she had done so then the "stories" might have contained more detail and the quality of the writing might have been improved.

The layout of the book, as others below have mentioned, leaves much to be desired and questions the seriousness of the author in the creative writing field. Illustrations in place of the blank pages would have been perfered.

This is a very light read that is perfect when one wants something one doesn't have to spend much time thinking about.

I would, instead of buying this book, either borrow from someone or find it in a local bookstore and read it there.

Something to Not Try.......2006-06-13

Well after reading the reviews on here I decided to give this a try.

I was disappointed. The good reviews on here promised me something else as did her blog. I did not enjoy the writing. I feel as if the writer should have waited a bit before putting this to print and worked on this a little more.

The writing is amateurish at best. But it fits the genre and type of book it is.

I'm glad I didn't pay for this as I would have demanded my money back. I'm not in the habit of paying blank pages in books.

If you're looking for an extremely light read then pick it up. But I recommend that you read it at Barnes and Noble instead of buying it.

Good, quick, memorable read about a neat adventure........2006-06-11

I thought I should put a review up here to even out the bad reviews.

I thought "Tales From Fish Camp" was a pleasant read. The book is basically the narrative thoughts of a girl's adventure to an Alaskan fish camp for a few months. I thought the book read like a 'zine. And since I am a big fan of 'zines, I really enjoyed the book.

It only took me about 2 hours to get through the whole thing, but I found the writing and the stories she told very inspiring. It brought back a good deal of good memories of my own adventures and friends that I haven't seen for a long time. I'm glad Danielle Henderson took the time to write her memories down from this interesting time of her life and share them with us.

Leaves much to be desired........2006-04-08

I was greatly disappointed in this book. I had bought it after reading the first review. I guess I should have waited longer for other reviews.

It wasn't funny. The jokes were badly done as well as the writing. I felt this needed more work done to it and more content. I don't know why this was turned into a book. It's more like a short story.

Each chapter was a few pages long. There were blank pages that separated each chapter with nothing but a fish on it. I paid for content, for a story. Not blank pages! I was very put out that I spent over ten dollars on this "book".

I really did not like the writing for this book. I felt it lacked real talent creative and otherwise. I don't believe this author has what it takes to be one of the greats.

Not very good........2006-03-05

I do not recommend this book to anyone who is interested in serious literature.
This short story is badly written. Aside from humor it really offers no valuable insight on life or anything of a serious nature. The descriptions are badly written. Some parts of book seemed strained and unfinished.Aside from the content of the book, the layout leaves much to be desired as does the title. Some chapters are only two pages long and in between chapters are pages upon pages of nothing.
I was suprised that this wasn't self-published from the appearance of it. But then I learned that the only reason she was able to obtain a contract was that she was already affliated with Ait via some friends she had.
I recommend this book to younger girls who like reading such series as the Baby Sitters Club but not to anyone looking for something meatier and with more value.
So to sum it up do not spend money on this book, you'll be wishing you didn't.

Average customer rating:

This book moved me...
Gross and Misleading
Funny domination?
a classic
This is one excellent read!

Mr. Benson: A Novel
John Preston
Manufacturer: Cleis Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Erotica | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

In Search Of A Master
The Initiation of Pb500
Entertainment for a Master: A Novel
I Once Had a Master
The Citadel

ASIN: 1573441945

Book Description

A classic of modern gay S/M fiction, Mr. Benson is the compelling story of a young man's quest for the perfect master. In a West Village leather bar, he finds wealthy, sophisticated, exacting Aristotle Benson, who leads him down the path of erotic enlightenment, teaching him to accept cruelty as love, anguish as affection, and ultimately, Mr. Benson as his master.

If John Preston, the masterly, handsome author of more than 30 books, was himself a gay icon, his character Mr. Benson defined the culture of gay sex for an entire generation. When Mr. Benson first appeared in the pre-AIDS early 1980s, its unabashed celebration of male sexuality made it a cult favorite among gay men, many of whom wore T-shirts declaring that they were "looking for Mr. Benson." The novel's fresh voice and insights into identity, desire, power, and love influenced a generation of writers and editors, including Anne Rice, Samuel Delany, Michael Lowenthal, Laura Antoniou, and Joan Nestle.

Customer Reviews:

This book moved me..........2007-09-14

As a young gay man within the leather and bdsm community, this book moved me. The emotions, the story, the setting and the description, it feels as almost of the reader is there with our aspiring slaveboy Jamie. But this isnt some trashy domestroe paperback novel, no, it is a love story of the deepest kind. It reveals that even within a Master/slave relationship, the need to for intimicy is still ever present and needed by the parties involved. S&M is just a paler form of true intimicy, the level of whcih we all seek and need some time in our lives.

Gross and Misleading .......2007-06-25

I ordered this item based on the reviews, expecting an entertaining and amusing read. No one mentioned the really gross initiation scenes where the narrator drinks out of the toilet while half-a-dozen men peed in it and on him, or later hung a sign around his neck and used his mouth as the toilet while they drank and gambled the night away. It was just nasty. I skimmed the rest of the book and found much of it sad rather than erotic or amusing. If you are not into golden showers, don't buy this book. I'm returning it for a refund.

Funny domination?.......2006-11-27

Awesome book. This was a nice easy read, also kind of funny. I loved it. I was really pleased with this book, it was well executed. The humor made it better than I had anticipated. The play between the sub and the dom was great, thoroughly enjoyable.

a classic.......2000-05-12

Another "BDSM" erotica classic! A must read for those who love submissive men or dream of dominant men -- like both then you'll be doubly pleased. The only problem is that the plot tends to drift off from the training to a police drama at the mid-point.

This is one excellent read!.......1998-08-27

Mr. Benson kept me on my toes the entire time I was reading it. From start to finish, it kept my attention. It was full of mystery as well as physical action, which is a great combination. I've never read a more thrilling book!

Average customer rating:

These new translations are a joy to read!
In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower

In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower
Marcel Proust
Manufacturer: Viking Adult
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Classics | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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French | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

The Guermantes Way
In Search of Lost Time, Volume 4: Sodom and Gomorrah (Modern Library)
Swann's Way (Modern Library Classics)
The Prisoner and The Fugitive (In Search of Lost Time, Volume 5)
Finding Time Again (In Search of Lost Time 6)

ASIN: 0670032778
Release Date: 2004-01-29

Book Description

Readers and reviewers in the United Kingdom have hailed the new translations of Proust as a major literary event. Soon to appear in the United States, Swann's Way, along with the second volume of In Search of Lost Time, In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower, will introduce a new century of American readers to the literary riches of Proust. These superb editions—the first completely new translation of Proust's novel since the 1920s—bring us a more comic and lucid Proust than English readers have previously been able to enjoy.

In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower is a spectacular dissection of male and female adolescence, charged with the narrator's memories of Paris and the Normandy seaside. In it, Proust introduces some of his greatest comic inventions. As a meditation on different forms of love, In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower has no equal.

Customer Reviews:

These new translations are a joy to read!.......2005-05-15

Penguin's new translations of "In Search of Lost Time" were just the nudge I needed to read Proust's masterwork again. I was particularly impressed by the job the American writer Lydia Davis did with "Swann's Way". By contrast, I have a few complaints about James Grieves's rendering of "In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower". Where Scott Moncrieff translated "petite bande" (of girls) with the expected "little band," Grieves uses "little gang," which to an American ear sounds rather tough. He mangles one of my favorite quotations. And there's a typo on the bottom of page 95: "not" instead of "now"!

Overall, though, I like the liberties Grieves takes with the text, and we were certainly overdue for a freshened-up translation of one of the most important books of the 20th century. Unlike Proust's French, Scott Moncrieff's English has come to seem dusty and overblown. (For example, he rendered the title of this volume as "Within a Budding Grove", the literal translation being too racy for his 1920s audience of post-Victorians.)

The American edition (from Viking) is particularly handsome. The four volumes now available are uniform in appearance when it comes to their cloth covers (grey and black with silver lettering), and the dust-jackets, though following a general theme, are distinctive enough that you're not likely to mistake one volume for another. Altogether, a wonderful gift for your library or that of a friend.

-- Dan Ford at readingproust dot com

In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower.......2004-11-03

For the second book of Proust's masterpiece, 'In Search of Lost Time', his attention turns away from the black and white realities of childhood to the greyer realms of adolescence, and with that, the deep, burning sensation of unrequited love. In essence, the second book is a 530-page essay on the different forms of young love, from deep obsession to airy neglect, from the savage loneliness of rejection to the dizzying heights of a love returned.

The book is split into two rough sections, the first of which is called 'At Mme Swan's'. Here we are introduced to Gilberte, Proust's first great love. The feelings he harbour's for her are ridiculously exaggerated, and oh so reminiscent of most people's teenage years. Every action, every word, every glance is analysed, studied, explored for meaning and intent. If, one day, Gilberte invites him to tea, the implications and potential meanings behind the invitation are debated internally for pages. If not, then even more pages are spent examining the pit of despair that Proust' soul fall in to. On top of this unhealthily obsessive love, we have his infatuation with Mme Swan, Gilberte's mother. There is almost a sense that Proust loves Gilberte because she is his age and he 'should' love her, whereas his affection towards Odette Swan is more real because there is no obligation or pressure from anyone, but less likely because she is twenty years older than him, and married.

When Proust's love for Gilberte is over - as it inevitably must, in those tender years of a boy or girl's life - the terrifying lows to which his emotions descend is as remarkable as the highs of his spirit not twenty pages previous. He obsessively analyses the ways in which he will get revenge, plotting to make her love him again, just so that he can reject her, to let her know how it feels. He tortures himself emotionally, visiting Mme Swan and purposely avoiding Gilberte.

What we have in this first part is a fascinating study on the tormented, melodramatic loves of early adolescence. Proust is too young at this stage to understand that love may not be forever, and can speak only in grandiose, exaggerated terms. If not for the fact that the prose is written with such grace and intelligence, his despair would come across as teenage angst at its very blackest.

In the second part of the novel, 'Place-Names: The Place', Proust and his grandmother retire to the beach to aid in the recuperation of his body and mind. Always a frail child, the rigours of new love have taken their toll on the young man. He rejects love, deciding that he shall become a writer once more, a passion that he had denied himself when his love for Gilberte had seemed so real and assured. He is introduced to a variety of characters which, we are told during the narrative, will come to play a great part in his later life: Robert de Saint-Loup, the Baron de Charlus and of course Albertine.

It is in this second section that Proust falls under the shadows of young girls in flower. He meets a group of girls, a 'gang' he calls them, and befriends first one, then all of them, reasoning that out of four or five girls, at least one would be worthy of love. Keeping with the true spirit of adolescence, he falls in and out of love with them all, needing only a stray glance or a casual smile to move from one girl to the other. Only two of them, Albertine and Andree, seem to return his emotions, and even then, everything remains chaste.

Interspersed throughout, we have long, insightful remarks on what love can do to the body, to the mind, and to the relationships we have with other people. Speaking as a male recently finished with his teenage years, I can say that Proust has captured the depth of feeling, the obsessiveness, the surety that everything in the universe will be perfect if only the love is returned, the electric thrill of acceptance, the deep darkness of rejection with such skill that perfection is a word that springs to mind.

Other topics are touched on throughout the novel. Early on, Proust is introduced to an author he holds in high esteem, one Bergotte. He is crushed upon discovering that the man does not exactly coincide with the image he had created while reading Bergotte's books, and ruminates on the fact that a man need not display the same intelligence and wit in reality as he does on the page. We must all focus our attention on achieving either a great reality or a great fiction, for Bergotte, his attentions were focused upon the fiction, and his personality and demeanour when interacting with flesh and blood people suffer. For Proust, it is an introduction to the idea that people can have two - or more - identities, and that a certain one is presented to a certain group of people.

The writing is, of course, typical Proust. Sentences are long, paragraphs are longer, and not very much happens. Dialogue is scarce, action scarcer. The reader is there to observe Proust's thoughts, not to use him as a mirror to the world he inhabits. Luckily for us, Proust's thoughts are never dull or boring. He says early on in the novel, 'For genius lies in reflective power and not in the intrinsic quality of the scene reflected', and Proust's reflective power more than reveal the truth of this maxim.

Average customer rating:

Miss Read's Simple Charms Shine Through

Storm in the Village (Fairacre)
Miss Read
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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Village Diary
Over the Gate
Fairacre Festival
The Caxley Chronicles
Village School (Chronicles of Fairacre)

ASIN: 0618884165

Book Description

Trouble brews in the tiny country village of Fairacre when it is discovered that Farmer Miller's Hundred Acre Field is slated for real estate development. Alarming rumors are circulating, among them the fear that the village school may close. The endearing schoolmistress Miss Read brings her inimitable blend of affection and clear-sighted candor to this report, in which a young girl finds her first love, an older woman accepts a new role in life, and the impassioned battle to save the village from being engulfed is at the forefront of every villager's mind.

Customer Reviews:

Miss Read's Simple Charms Shine Through.......2000-06-04

Miss Read wrote about the virtues of voluntary simplicity long before it became a movement or seminar topic. Her Fairacre books use a single school teacher in a small English village as an observer of a richly realized provincial life. One is tempted to wax on about the influence of Jane Austen and Charles Dickens in her work, or to somehow disparage Jan Karon, who has created a Readesque world from a North Carolina milieu. No doubt one day folks will write their masters' theses discussing how Ms. Read and Muriel Spark headed for many of the same places, and yet reached such different destinations. But really, all that folderol would be missing the point completely. Miss Read writes warm, sentimental gentle English provincial satire, which is really all you need to know.

The Fairacre characters are ordinary folks, burnished up a bit, as novels tend to do, so that they are entirely believable in their own universe, but not necessarily a part of our own "real world". Miss Read is not a pollyanna, nor does she set out to teach us some social lesson. Instead, she sets out for the reader a solid meal of good characterization, gentle wit, and a solid dessert of warm-hearted sentiment.

Storm in the Village deals with a dilemma all too familiar to anyone from a small town--the town church is damaged, and money must be found to repair it. The book exists in a world of happy endings and wonderful good fortune, but the straightforward plotting is beside the point. We do not live in suspense about the ending--we just enjoy with pleasure how our characters make the ending happen. Miss Read is not out to convert us to move to Fairacre, or even to cause us to create our own Fairacres. But she does offer us a chance to peek through the gauze into a middle-class life whose virtues and foibles we recognize and appreciate. Perhaps someone out there now is toiling away on rescuing our suburban stories from the smug modernisms of the latter-day aesthete. In the meantime, though, Miss Read shows us that the ordinary life, well told and brushed up a bit about the edges, can make a darn good read.

Storm in the Village is not going to make you pause and ponder life's inner contradictions. But it may allow you to sigh with relief on a rainy Saturday afternoon. What could be wrong with that?

A Few Green Leaves
Average customer rating:

Less Is So Much More

A few old ideas

dreary and non-engaging

Wisdom And Hopefulness

One of Barbara Pym's best

A Few Green Leaves
Barbara Pym
Manufacturer: Moyer Bell
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

20th Century | British | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
British | Short Stories | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Pym, Barbara | ( P ) | Authors, A-Z | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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Crampton Hodnet

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Sweet Dove Died

Some Tame Gazelle

ASIN: 1559212284

Book Description

Completed barely two months before her death, Pym's last novel is an incisive and wry portrait of life in an English village in Oxfordshire. It is also certain to be considered by many her masterwork.

In A Few Green Leaves the author combines the rural setting of her earliest novels with many of the themes--and even some characters--of her later ones. Switching points of view among many characters, she builds with accumulating effect the picture of life in a town forgotten by time yet affected dramatically by it. Historical time--represented by Druid ruins, the local eighteenth-century country manor, and the last aristocrats who occupied it in the 1920's--is juxtaposed against the banalities of life in today's world.

Customer Reviews:

Less Is So Much More.......2007-01-08

This novel is so very British, reserved, yet profound. It beautifully celebrates the cerebral machinations of a small Oxfordshire village and portrays the intertwined lives of its aging as well as its younger residents. Symptomatic of changing times, the village has two doctors, a Dr. G who is older and traditional and comforting, unwilling to dispense medicine but more than able to send his patients away with a platitude or bromide; and a younger doctor, geriatrics specialist, far more modern, believing in the cure-all of exercise and perhaps a prescription. Besides the medical comforters is the traditional religious comforter, Reverend Tom, a widower living with his thwarted sister Daphe, who dreams of owning a dog and living on a sun-drenched island in Greece. Reverend Tom is a lovely, harmless man, unable to be bold or aggressive, dreaming of a lost medieval village somewhere in the woods around the town, and preoccupied with history while the present slips away from him. Then there is Emma, an anthropologist, rather plain by her own telling, who has come to the town to recover from a shabby "affair" with a fellow academic, as well as to study small-town village life. After doing something impetuous, she finds herself facing the same rather boring man with which she was slightly entangled and is befuddled again as to what their "relationship," if it can be called that, really means, if anything. "A Few Green Leaves" is really about what is meaningful and beautiful in our lives. So very little can mean so much to us. A true artist, Barbara Pym creates for us these village lives, with their frustrations, their humor, their longings, and their mortality. This was her last artistic effort before her own death two months after its completion. It is a fine work, and I felt the whole way that I was in the secure hands of a master story teller: wise, funny, perceptive, and profoundly literate. Bravo!

A few old ideas.......2006-03-11

This novel was our February Book group text. It was not hard to read and had a restful quality about it. Unfortunately it did not say very much at all to me or other members of the group. Many of the characters were underdeveloped and there were hints at interesting aspects of their personalities but it did not go any further than that, so left me with a feeling of frustration and irritation. I appreciate that her forte is writing about quiet village life and the attention to detail of very mundane events but I think this can be taken too far.

dreary and non-engaging.......2003-12-20

This is a book club choice so I wished to be conversant for the discussion. However, I could not force myself past 100 pages. I found the style to be disjointed and just plain boring. I am not a fan of British lit in general, the plodding, prim, takes forever to say anything, much less happen style. But this novel was just painful for a reader to try and care about any of the characters. My time is too valuable with other great reads to pursue rather than this book.

Wisdom And Hopefulness.......2000-07-18

This is another review comparing Barbara Pym's books so that readers can choose between them.

A FEW GREEN LEAVES is my favorite. After writing about London settings, Pym returns to the small country village of her beginnings. But, this village lacks the comfortable traditionalism of her earlier SOME TAME GAZELLE. Much of the book dwells on the changes that have come about in the English countryside by 1980.

A FEW GREEN LEAVES is not depressing, however. It is instead humorously realistic about the incongruities between what people have been raised to expect and what actually is. In this sense, it is the most profound of her books because it demonstrates how we can still get the most out of life when only "a few green leaves" remain. This book was written at the end of Pym's life and it contains wisdom and hopefulness as well as, of course, great humor.

One of Barbara Pym's best.......2000-05-11

"A Few Green Leaves" is one of Barbara Pym's best novels. It is full of characters familiar to readers of Pym's other novels; rectors, widows, spinsters, eccentrics, anthropologists and a cat lady. There is romance, but in true Pym fashion it is not always suitable. It is subtly funny and poignantly sad, often at the same time. The heroine, Emma Howick, is a prototypical Pym spinster, intellectual, unsure and perhaps uninterested in the classic ways to attract a man. She is an anthropologist recently moved to a small village to live in her mother's cottage. I discovered Barbara Pym's work while in college and nothing she has written has ever disappointed me.

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