louiza_read2live's reviews
331 reviews

A historical fiction based on the stories the author has heard from her own family and others, which also includes her own experience growing up in Vietnam. The family story of four generations is told in alternate chronological chapters (from past to present) by the grandmother and her grandaughter. We hear how they try to survive during decades of war and division. People often are left with impossible decisions and dilemmas, human against human, not just against foreign powers, but countryman against countryman, neighbor against neighbor, brother against brother... We see the best and the worst of humanity. The characters are fictional, but the tragedy is all too real. Once again, we see the ruins left in the land and in the hearts of people by greed, envy, and fanaticism, the blind unquestioned support of one political ideology or another, when in fact, they are each side of the same coin and have one and the same goal: power, control, dividing people into groups to hate one another, and leaving them scared, destitute, or dead. 

Heartbreaking and tragic, and yet in the midst of emptiness and unimaginable loss, hope and love always rise above. This was not an easy book to read. Emotionally, at times, it was devastating, but the grandmother's words felt like a balm in the heart soothing and healing the reader as she was trying to sooth and heal herself and her family. 
Very sad, but beautifully written and hopeful. I especially loved reading the Vietnamese proverbs and about the Vietnamese traditional customs. The Vietnamese phrases given created the perfect atmoshere and the imbeded English translation was so well done that there was not disconnection felt at all; the two languages just flowed as one.

Notes: 
1. After the end of the novel, it is worth reading the acknowledgments  and the author's essay written at the very end because it gives insight into the author's mind while writing this novel.

2. The unvonventional presentation of the timeline in alternate chapters can possibly confuse a reader who might not be deeply familiar with the history of Vietnam's social and political climate during the decades that the novel covers more extensively 1930s - 1980s. Thus, it would benefit from a good historical introduction that will help acclimate the reader to the novel's historical context and background.

Very unpopular opinion. I dnf (didn't finish) this book at chapter 31. I thought I'd love it, but I decided I have too many great books I want to read and not enough time, so I can't bother forcing myself to continue. This has similar problems that at times I encounter in contemporary fiction novels. The concept of the story is great! The writing, however, is repetitive, tedius, and underwhelming for what could have been a wonderful story. At times, it was funny, sad, emotional, and heartwarming, and that is why I went through 31 chapters before I said enough. Also, if I was to read one more sentence about the blue Saab car and the Volvo, I would scream. 

 1. Ove is a man of 59 years old. It would have been more believable and much closer to the writing style of this character if he was much older, a man in his 70s. 

2. Even worse, what's up with the cat? She acts like a dog! Why the choice of a cat when the author writes as if he's dealing with a stray dog? 

3. What really made me dnf it and ignore the good parts (because there were good parts in the story) is the tedius repetitions in the storyline, and the repetitive short chopped sentences. I would have loved to finish it despite the rest of the weaknessess and I was planning to give it possibly a 3 stars depending on the ending. However, I could not take anymore of the writing. 

I think I'm getting grumpy and too picky lately with my readings, but oh well, what can I do? I don't count as read the books that I dnf and I removed them from my goodreads, but I still wanted to rant a little about this book. Because of how it is written, I think it might work better as a movie, but as a book, reading it was frustrating. I will watch the movie when I can find it because the story as an idea is wonderful! 

To the majority who loved this book, don't hate me. I do understand why you loved it. The writing just wasn't for me. 

A few years ago, I had read and loved the other two books by the same author Bear Town and its sequel Us Against You (Haven't read the final book in the trilogy yet, but I plan to do so).

Not bad, but nothing special. Nice quiet writing and atmosphere but very underwhelming story and characters. There must be other better books on the subject of Ireland's Magdalen laundries. This book made me interested to read more on this part of Irish history, and that is a good thing. 

Also, authors, please stop using the phrase "he let out a breath he didn't know he was holding." I read the same exact phrase in at least one other  contemporary book (can't remember titles because I ended up dnfing those books anyway for other reasons). What's up with that phrase? Isn't other ways to say the same thing? 

I didn't dislike this book, and in general I liked the writing style, but overall it left me indifferent and unsatisfied.

(Maybe 4 stars) I knew some things about the Siberia prisons in the 1800s and the awful conditions under which the exiles survived (if they did); however, I knew nothing about George Kennan before this book although he was the one who first fully exposed the life of these prisoners and political exiles.

The American George Kennan used to defend the 19th century Russian system of exiling prisoners and political opponents to Siberia thinking that they have a better experience than prisoners elsewhere because their families could follow them and be with them. Kennan, however, quickly changed his mind when he and the sketch artist Robert Frost travelled all the way to Siberia to investicate the Siberian prisons and report back to the United States. Their journey lasted one year from 1885-1886 where they experienced first hand the deplorable conditions under which the prisoners lived, not only criminals, but anyone who opposed the regime (and their families who often volunteered to go with them). Kennan and Frost returned in 1886, and Kennan almost immediately set to a campaign against the Russian violation of human rights that shocked the 19th century Americans and generated some strong reactions against the Tsar, Alexander III (which I found interesting if we were to think that at the same time the United States was still perpetrating their very own violation of human rights and it was just 20 years earlier that they had fought the Civil War to end slavery). The book touches on this contradiction in the last chapter. 

A good book, but it started very slow with dry details of Kennan's life, while I couldn't wait to be immersed in his experience in investigating the Siberian prisons. Just over a hundred pages, it really picked up and it kept my interest till the end. I don't think this book is spectacular in any way, but it is interesting and a good basic introduction to the topic and to Kennan's character. 

The even better part for me was the bibliography given at the end of the book and through the endnotes. Definitely, I will be reading George Kennan's book Siberia and the Exile System. I have also put several other interesting books on my list to read, including among others: Siberia and The House of the Dead: Siberian Exile Under the Tsars by Daniel Beer that if you are interested is on kindle for $6.99  and Sakhalin Island by Anton Chekhov also on Kindle for $4.99.

(3.5) This was very enjoyable to read. Joe, a young college student, is assigned for homework in his English class to interview someone and write a short biography of that person's life. He ends up interviewing Carl, an elderly convicted murderer at the end of his life. I enjoyed the relationships between Joe, his autistic brother, and his girlfriend Lila, and Joe's friendship with Carl (although I wanted a little more of Carl and Joe). I also enjoyed the 1st and the 2nd twist in the story even though I guessed early on everything to the very end (even when the evidence showed something different). 

Nevertheless, the storyline and writing had some glaring weaknesses. 

Storyline: At times, it was difficult to suspend my disbelief because of the youth and inexperience of the main character(s). However, I haven't read contemporary mystery or crime type of novels, so that could be a "me" problem and not a story problem. Not sure, how people who read many of these type of novels would feel.

Writing: The similes were a few too many for me and some feel forced or out of place and unessesary; for example, the sky's colors "[...] as if the policeman brought his own aurora borealis with him" (something like that was the sentence). 

In general, I found this to be enjoyable, fast reading, with good twists. Also, it has a couple very dark scenes of rape and murder, so be aware of that too; it's only graphic on a specific part of the book, not everywhere.

This book went down for me from 4 stars to 2.5-3 stars, but this one is from the books that I leave open the option of a later reread with fresh eyes. I like that it is thought provoking and realistically portraying the lives of people who are desperately and hopelessly lonely, unloved, and entrapped in their own minds and traumas more than in the geographical location of where they live. However, once I hit half way through, the monotone writing, the consistently awful, antipathetic characters without a hint of hope tired me out to the point that I dragged through the rest. Also, the story of the pedophiliac teacher was a point for me where it started going down fast and I couldn't stomach it anymore. I think the writing style was more what it eventually ruined it for me. Too monotone and eventually I felt I was always expecting something more and I was always at the same place... At some point, I started feeling as if I, the reader, and the awful characters, we were all part of a twilight zone episode:  Realistically written stories, but none of the characters alive enough. I got too tired of the sameness, and I feel  that was the point of the author after all; therefore, maybe another day, on a second reading, I'll feel differently and it'll get back its initial four stars. For now, I move on from Winesburg, so I can feel I can breath again. 

How do you survive in a world where if you open your eyes what you see drives you to madness, suicide, even murder? This was a page turner and I really enjoyed the reading; however, it left me unsatisfied because I wanted to know more about what is it that they see exactly. I felt there were plotholes that bothered me. Nevertheless, I liked the ending. Overall, a quick read and enjoyable thriller for a light reading despite its dark subject matter. I had watched the movie years ago, and I want to watch it again now that I have read the book also.

Superb! A must read!