brookworms - reviews (12)
Previous page (11)
Red
Dust by Ma Jian (6.10) the story
of the author’s travels around China whilst evading arrest for spiritual
pollution in the late 1980s. 5 of us had read this and while we agreed it was an
informative and interesting read, we did not warm to Ma Jian himself, nor to the
somewhat callous character of Chinese citizens in general as depicted in this
book, written only 8 years after the death of Chairman Mao and banned in China
at least until 2004 (I’m not sure if it is still banned, but Ma Jian is now
permitted entry to China). We found the characters’ names hard to remember,
despite the crib sheet at the front, and the maps hard to make sense of. The
descriptions of the country itself and Chinese life were excellent – no wonder
the book won the 2002 Thomas Cook travel book award. We discussed for a while
the meaning of the title, red dust possibly signifying China, the world,
Buddhism, reincarnation and/or illusion. I looked back at our review of Hong
Ying’s book “Daughter of the River” and remembered that we had not found her at
a sympathetic character either.
read Amazon's review
The
Warden by Anthony Trollope (6.44)
8 of us had read “The Warden” and found it a funny, old-fashioned and
gentle book, full of tongue-in-cheek descriptions about clerical life and the
power of the press. We noted the reference to Charles Dickens as “Mr Popular
Sentiment”. We felt the character of the Warden in particular to be so real as
to be almost touchable, and loved his playing of the “air cello” at times of
mental strain. Many of us intend to carry on and read the rest of the
Barchester Chronicles.
read
Amazon's review
Our next books -
The
Truth about these Strange Times by Adam Foulds
about the unlikely
friendship between Saul, aged 10, who is preparing for the World Memory
Championships, and Howard, 28, lonely, overweight and poorly educated.
read Amazon's review
The
Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer
about
the wartime German occupation of Guernsey, told through the letters and stories
of island characters.
read Amazon's review
Previous page (11)
