Customer Reviews: Read 31 more reviews...
 Disappointing... November 28, 2008
I wanted to like this book, but the truth is, it just bored me. I couldn't see the point of it. It didn't seem to be about anything. I know some people might say I've missed the point of it or it's about a place and a moment in time, but I just look at all the praise it's garnered and wonder if they're talking about a different book. It's very well-written but it's just too sterile, too clinical. I never really felt anything about any of the characters and some of them I couldn't see the point of at all, most particularly the storyline involving Rotherham and Hess. It just didn't seem to do anything for the book and the link to Esther and Karsten's story was tenuous in the extreme.
 One of those all-nighter reads. October 29, 2008
One of those gems, heard about it through the Richard and Judy bookclub, something I tried to steer clear of initially! The book deals with a Welsh village "invaded" by English soldiers and then prisoners of war. Themes include trying to keep a national identity and the sense of a village when English culture and the war are coming in by stealth. Confusion about who is the enemy, the English or the Germans. Another theme is about identity, how you see yourself and how others see you. There are 2 storylines going through the book, the first is about a girl living in the village and the second about a Jewish interpreter.
Patriotism and Identity October 9, 2008
Be prepared for a slow read and you won't be disappointed. The prose is, at times, quite beautiful and Peter Ho Davies has a style all of his own. Through the novel he questions ideas regarding the way in which we view our loyalties and courage, as well as our identities. It also highlights the fact that war is a very masculine thing, during which the real nature of female nurturing comes to the forefront. The author is sometimes almost poetic when describing unremarkable actions; this is one passage I particularly liked : 'He starts to write. In the swaying candlelight the lines on the paper look like strips of bandages, and he has the strangest impression of his writing hand, unwinding them as it moves across the page, revealing the words beneath.' An unusual description, but so easily imagined. I enjoyed this novel, not just for the thoughts it provoked, but for its beautiful use of the English language (even though it's set in North Wales!).
 It is a poor read where facts have gone out of the window. September 28, 2008
Having read the critics about this book,I bought it.What a disappointment,it dragged on,it repeated itself over and over again.Now that I have waded through it I am no wiser for what I have read,it said nothing.I am not the only one in the family who is of the same opinion,although we normally read totaly different books we both had a go at this to see if either of us had opposed ideas,we didn't.How it got on to the Richard and Judy list I cannot imagine although I have found previously, books seem to get on to that list without too much merit.I will think twice before I purchase a book recomended by them again.Thinking about it,maybe the auther tried to be too clever bringing into this tale,bits of world war two of which he knew only hearsay but few facts.The entire book was badly written and the story badly planned.Don't waste your time reading this when there are so many really good books available.
Richard and Judy clouded my judgement! September 1, 2008
It sounded so good when they discussed it - but actually this novel is confused and confusing, without a central character with whom the reader can empathise.
I was really disappointed and ask myself who chooses these R and J titles?
If you are really interested in the war then you might find it tolerable, but as a rollicking good read - it fails.
|
