Book Description
Sometimes the magic inside us isn't meant to be discovered....
Orphan, exile, priest, Josan has been posted to a lighthouse on the farthest edge of the kingdom. As a member of the collegium, he once dreamed of making a real contribution to the Learned Brethren, but those dreams died after a mysterious fever shattered him, body and mind. At least that’s the story he’s been told to explain a past he can’t remember. But that past has returned…with a vengeance.
When Lady Ysobel Flordelis is shipwrecked on Josan’s island, this sets in motion an explosive destiny. The Seddonian trade liaison is traveling to Ikaria on official business, but her secret purpose is to revive the revolution brutally crushed years before. Neither Ysobel nor Josan can foresee the significance of their brief meeting. But as Ysobel navigates the elaborate court intrigues in Ikaria, Josan will be forced to leave his island exile and embark on a treacherous journey to unlock the secrets that bind his past–an act that could lead him to glory...or doom.
Customer Reviews:
Growing.......2007-03-25
After reading the Sword of Change series with Devlin, I eagerly waited for the next adventure from Patricia. I can honestly say that this series(so far at least) is better than her first. Her stories are grand kingdom changing stories without having to consult a glossary of hundreds of names of people, places, gods, etc. She writes a nice flowing story that is easy to read, yet still tells a terrific story. I hope she continues to grow as a writer, and I will continue to support her efforts.
Slow to start leaves you wanting more.......2007-02-19
Had trouble getting to this book. but once you got past the first 50 pages it just sucked you in by the time your done you have lots more unanswered questions. so where is the next book
A true diamond in the rough - Glad I found it.......2007-02-09
The First Betrayal by Patricia Bray is the first book in the Josan Chronicles. The second book called The Sea Change is scheduled to be released in July, 2007. I stumbled upon this gem while looking through Amazon recommendations, and I must say I am quite pleased I took the risk of getting this sight unseen.
There are some things that need to be discussed prior to the actual review. Yes, this is a fantasy book. However, it is not a traditional fantasy novel in the terms of what people expect to see in a fantasy book. Meaning, if you are looking for a book that has wizards hurling fireballs, a vast assortment of monsters rampaging the countryside, and large scale battles with gallant knights - this book may not for you. You will find none of that within these pages.
The plot of this book has a couple different layers to it, which are all written very well. The first plot like follows the monk Josan as he is the lighthouse keeper of a distant peninsula to keep ships from crashing against the sandbars. As the story unfolds we find the reason Josan is there, or shall I say the reason Josan believes he is there. A certain sequence of events takes place that turns Josan's world on its head causing him to make some decisions that have larger consequences. The second plot is one of political intrigue and a group of people trying to give rise to a rebellion and coup of the current queen of Karystos. Throughout the book we learn that there was a similar rebellion attempt six year previous and the ramification of that failed rebellion still linger today. Both plot come to an unexpected conclusion.
The main character of this book is the monk Josan. There is also a myriad of other characters that all play important roles within this book. While the plot of this book is solid and well written, it is the characters that steal the show by far. If you enjoy books where character development is not only present, but one of the driving forces then you may enjoy this book. The character development of Josan is second to none. Ms. Bray does a fantastic job of building Josan from the ground up so that the reader not only understands him, but also begins to care about him as well. Another favorite character of mine is Lady Ysobel Flordelis and the role she plays in this novel. She also develops quite a bit as a character - but I won't delve into spoilers so I can't say much more. All of the characters in this book are well written and I felt I had a decent understanding of each and every one of them, which based on the number of pages in this book (342) says a great deal about the quality of Ms. Bray's writing.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It was a fresh take on the fantasy genre. This book proves you don't need fantastic battle, hoards of monsters, and wizard duels to be a good book. The political intrigue was written very well, the characters are some of the best I have ever read. This is an engaging book that will help the hours fly by. I have read a lot of fantasy book over the course of time, and I have no qualms saying that this will most likely be on my list of top five books I read in 2007. It's that good. I can't wait until the next one comes out.
A good start to the story of Josian.......2006-08-02
Josian is a monk and a lighthouse keeper on a remote island who has no reason to doubt his past till an assassin tries to kill him and he responds with deadly skills he knows he never learnt. Forced to leave the only home he has Josian finds there is more to his past than he ever suspected.
This is a good opening instalment to this trilogy. Josian is a likeable, if somewhat conflicted and tortured character. This book is a good introduction to Josian and his world but by the end of the novel you have the clear feeling that this is only a starting point and the main act is yet to come.
My only reservation with this series is how it will end given the very poorly written 3rd novel in the Devlin series by this same author, but based on this book I'm willing to give this a series a chance to prove itself better overall than the last one.
Good Story, Great Character, More Please.......2006-07-25
I first started reading Mz. Bray's work with her entertaining story of Devlin in a previous series. Patricia showed herself an entertaining storyteller in that series, turning a relatively mainstream fantasy plot into a very easy read, and a likeable character (I recommend it).
Here, in _First Betrayal_, Patricia is proving out herself as a storyteller once again, in providing great entertainment, this time with a decently non-derivative and unpredictable story involving a character with an interesting history who has to make some very hard decisions for himself and his future, when he discover that his past and future both could involve very high human costs indeed.
With this book, Mz. Bray has stepped up a notch as an author in my eyes.
Average customer rating:
- Connection with biographies
- A post-modern historical novel
- Trotsky's "diary" in Coyoacan
- The gist of it
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In the Casa Azul: A Novel of Revolution and Betrayal
Meaghan Delahunt
Manufacturer: Picador
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 Historical | British | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Classics | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Literary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Historical | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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The Diary of Frida Kahlo: An Intimate Self-Portrait
ASIN: 0312291078 |
Book Description
This breathtaking first novel explores Leon Trotsky and his wife's years of Mexican exile in the home of Frida Kahlo and her husband Diego Rivera. Mingled with the voices of Stalin's desolate young wife and that of Trotsky himself are the tales of the lesser known who have also created history--the Mexican artist who foretells Trotsky's death; a Bolshevik engineer surviving the chill of the Stalinist regime; the bodyguard who is unable to prevent the assassination. Together, the stories reveal the panorama of Russian history, revolution, and upheaval in the twentieth century.
Customer Reviews:
Connection with biographies.......2006-06-10
I enjoyed this novel because it pulled charactors and history from two previously and recently read biographies: The Orientalist and Them. The novel provided the fictional twist or color commentary to the historical events of the other two books. Good read.
A post-modern historical novel.......2004-11-06
While the pervious reviewers summed up quite well the novel's basic plotline (Leon Trotsky's mexican exile) and structure (multiple narratives), what seems to have been left behind is the emotional response this novel succeeds in evoking in its reader.
I am by profession an academic historian, but when I come to read a historical novel I do not come in search for the facts and figures. Rather, I am hoping that the novelist may offer me an alternative (yes, fictional) path to revisioning the past and provoke me to rethink long held truths. Meaghan Delahunt has juxtaposed texts, voices, artwork, flashbacks and flash-forwards to recreate an era that for most of us is even more foreign than a foreign country: the first half of the 20th century, an era of true-believers, when people chose to live and die for their beliefs.
By piecing together the varied texts, Delahunt utilizes a common post-modern literary device designed to evoke nonlinear insights. So this is not your traditional historical novel, with a linear plot progression and well-rounded characters; if you are looking for such a novel at this moment, you may well be disappointed. But if you are willing to go along with the author and face the challege of its narrave structure, you will find you have been rewarded with a unique and mesmerizing historical novel, which succeeds in conveying the texture and timbre of another place and time far better than many "facutal" historical texts
Trotsky's "diary" in Coyoacan.......2003-10-23
As time is precious, this book was a bit of a dissapointment but is saved by the sometimes brilliant passages. The problem is that there were not enough of them. The book is interesting as a historical novel but is more of a fictionalized novel set to a historical background. Take a couple of charismatic characters, Frida Kahlo and Leon Trotsky , and you have enough material to let your imagination go wild amidst the true to life affair that existed between them. The book is told in a jumping around style, flashbacks and stories told drawing on "diaries" amd memories of different characters who in this novel rubbed elbows with El Viejo(The Old Man) and somewhat less with Frida. This book deals primarily with Trotsky and his own personal hell, as he is in hiding in Mexico in a paranoid world where potentially everyone is out to kill him and one man eventually does with an ice pick(yes, we get to go into the muderers mind) in his brain. Another reason I was dissapointed was because I thought the book might be more about Frida but it is clearly Trotsky's stage and Frida is just a player in this passion play. An interesting side note is all this passion for a world vision that is all but extinct now with only a few hanger on nations devoted to Communism makes this book seem like some type of glimpse into the early twentieth century but it may as well have been five thousand years ago. If you are looking for what went on in the Casa Azul in Coyoacan look elsewhere because this novel is heavy on the Trotsky memories of his days before he even got to Mexico. So is it worth your time? Your time might be better spent elsewhere but if you like hearing about kulaks, comrades, Bolsheviks, Moscow, the Kremlin, the Ukraine, Stalin and of course, Trotsky, than you might enjoy this book. Myself I was looking for more Diego and Frida and came up with just a few nibbles. There are plenty of broad strokes of Russian history, vignettes into revolution and assassinations but not enough of The Casa Azul.
The gist of it.......2002-06-12
I discovered In the Casa Azul quite by chance and since the subject of this historical novel interests me a great deal, bought a copy. It is more a collection of vignettes than a novel, concerning somewhat the life and death of Leon Trotsky, a story told in revolving point of view by those who knew him or coexisted with him in history: enemy Stalin, his father, the poet Mayakovsky, wife Natalia, lover Frida Kahlo, bodyguard, even his assassin. The book appears researched enough for its own purposes and tends to stay within historical accounts, its author filling in the missing dramatic elements, speculating for example on the affair between Trotsky and Frida through brief character narratives. Some of the narratives, particularly those of Trotsky and his bodyguard, Jordi Marr, are interesting and engaging, especially by the book's end as we bear down on the inevitable fate of one of twentieth century history's most misunderstood and underappreciated figures. More frequent deft blurring of the facts would have been nice, though. One problem with the execution; the many voices in the book all sound like the same one voice. The writing is confessional, poetic perhaps to a fault with its endless, often heavy-handed symbolism presaging what we already know will happen, repetitive, italicized rusticisms, fragmented sentences, present tense narratives, and a cinematic attention to image reminiscent of the movie cutaway. The book makes ample use of facts but these appear all too evocative, piled on at times.
Another problem with In the Casa Azul is it lacks something in the development of the story and the characters to make the book work on the level of the novel: discovery. It also lacks ideas. If the novel is not to become another instance of soap opera or extra-journalistic reportage, which we have up to our nostrils already, it must do more than scatter juicy tidbits over its 300 pages. It is as if the best way to make one's historical cast of characters appear human and real is by showing up their weaknesses.
The book is perhaps too ambitious in its scope; when I'd rather have read about Trotsky and his assassin (aka Jacques Mornard) I instead got chapter after chapter on Stalin, snatches of his childhood and a drawn out personal account of his wife's suicide. Stalin may be more "important," but that doesn't mean beans for the novel. Besides he's been done to death already. And it's not so interesting "who" ordered Trotsky killed as it is "what" and "who" pulled it off. Just when the author begins to go in this direction we're suddenly yanked away to history's sideline some ten or even fifty years before. The characters become morose, reflective victims of history by the book's end, even poor Mornard, who in actuality had achieved instant celebrity status (especially with the FBI), leaving behind a dead Trotsky who was suddenly as contemporary as a pharoah.
Mildly entertaining, in a few moments insightful and even lovely, but as a treatment of the fascinating aged Russian intellectual, not just the politico, but the man of letters, superficial. A better example of the historical novel as a treatment of a man of ideas is Jay Parini's "Benjamin's Crossing."
Book Description
From the acclaimed author of The Girlfriends Club a deeply affecting novel that tests the bonds of friendship against the long-buried pangs of first love
Rhonda, Gina Kay, and Holly were the best of friends in their small-town Texas high school until the day Gina Kay ran off and married Rhonda's boyfriend, Terry Robertson. Now, twenty-five years later, news of Terry's sudden death has reunited them, and brought to the surface old bonds and betrayals they thought they'd left behind.
The three old friends share a trip to New York City, where Gina Kay promises to finally reveal why and how she stole the love of Rhonda's life and ruined a friendship that was supposed to last forever. Over the course of that tumultuous trip, the women find themselves reconsidering their lives, the choices they made, the men they married, and all the paths not taken. As girls, they were stifled by their parents' expectations, small-town life, and the inevitability of biology. How many of their dreams did they actually pursue, and how many have they relinquished? If Rhonda had married Terry instead, would all of their lives have turned out differently?
A Good Man is a novel about good friends, first loves, shocking disloyalty, long-held secrets, and that ever-present question -- what if?
Customer Reviews:
Absolutely Shallow and amateurish.......2007-01-19
Please do not waste your time reading this book. The story line and characters are cliched and very poorly developed. Not even good enough for casual reading.
Not as Good As Her Older Stuff..........2005-09-30
Judith Henry Wall is one of my favorite authors, but this book just didn't stand out as much as some her earlier works have, such as Handsome Women, My Mothers Daughter, and even Blood Sisters. Now don't get me wrong, this really was a good read, but I felt it was a three star read until the ending.
Rhonda, Holly, and Gina Kay have been friends since they were little. They plan on having big careers and leaving their little Texas town behind. They all go to the same college together, but that's where the friendship between the three falls apart.
Rhonda's been dating her high school love Terry for five years when she leaves for college. Not wanting to give him up but not wanting to get married either, she sort of strings him along for awhile. Well, out of the blue, Gina Kay leaves school for good and marries Terry all on the same day. Rhonda doesn't speak to her for over two decades, and Holly's stuck in the middle. The three get together 25 years later, shortly after Terry's accidental death, and Gina Kay promises to tell the two women why she married him.
For about 3/4 of the book I really couldn't stand Rhonda. We've all had that high school love-of-our-lives, but you grow up, get married, and move on. I found it really irritating that Rhonda just couldn't let it go. For being a big-shot lawyer, she was acting incredibly petty and immature. I understand why she was so hurt, but it's been 25 years...get over it. But in the end, she took the high road, which for the most part changed my opinion of her, and Gina Kay's story about how her life with Terry came to be was satisfying. While I recommend it, it's not her best stuff.
profound character study .......2005-04-27
In Lamberton, Texas Rhonda, Holly and Gina Kay were best buddies attending high school together. Rhonda had one foible: her obsessive love for her boyfriend Terry Robertson, an heir with a suicidal attitude. Her parents forced Rhonda to leave Terry to attend college; eventually she became a lawyer. In high school Holly fantasized of becoming a famous fashion designer, but instead runs a successful wedding-gown business. Gina Kay was impoverished with an ambulatory mother until she won the Miss American Teenager beauty contest that included a college scholarship. The friendship between the three buds ended when Terry eloped with Gina Kay.
The threesome is together for the first time in two decades at Terry's ranch now owned by his widow Gina Kay following his funeral. After numerous attempts to kill himself and passengers by vehicular suicide, Terry lived up to the mantra of if at first you don't succeed try again. With the object of their schism interred Rhonda, Holly and Gina Kay head to Manhattan to exorcise his ghost find reconciliation, and start new adventures with Russian immigrants in Brighton Beach.
This profound character study looks deep inside the three amigas and through them at the late Terry. The story line hooks the audience who want to know more about Terry and his relationships with the trio. Though the streets of Manhattan and Brooklyn enable further glimpses at the lead protagonists, that sidebar takes away from the critical essence of how a male can break up the strongest sisterhood bond (explained via well designed flashbacks). Judith Henry Wall paints a powerful family drama although the childhood friends are not related by blood, they act like siblings.
Harriet Klausner
Book Description
BETRAYAL In The First Degree depicts a young, black female lawyer who finds herself faced with difficult decisions surrounding personal questions of loyality, trust and the issue of faithfulness to a lover. She has a finely tuned sense of determination that leads to her success as a woman in a group of men largely comprised of white males.During the course of proving herself in such a well established lawfirm, this young lady had the energy to deal with the distractions of several romantic encounters. This lawyer definately had to deal with so many series of dramatical events that took place in her personal and professional life which eventually threatens to unravel her sense of security and her zeal for life.
The cover was designed by my 17 y/o son.
Customer Reviews:
Awesome Pioneer Work.......2002-09-27
This is an awesome book. It is very inovating in her writing styles and her unique cutting edge use of imagery! This book is not recomended for children but it is a great adult mind wrencher for adults.
Deborah Thomas - USA.......2001-04-02
This was a great book. I could not put the book down from the beginning to the end. The main character Dana, a young black female atorney with many decisions to make in her professional and personal life. Dana was a strong minded person who went after that she wanted, and a man's nonsense was not it. Betrayal had it all, many twist and turns that kept me wanting to read more. Betrayal was like real, it was like everyday life drama that really happen to others. This book must be read by all females as well as males. For the ladies who's going through some drama with a man. The author of Betrayal should continue to write on. This author could definitely become famous. I hope to read many more of Doreen Larkins books. It's been a pleasure.
Average customer rating:
- Pity yourself, blame others
- Romance meets thriller
- Good intentions, but no cigar
- These sorts of things should be left in the drawer
- worth the wait
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The Drowning People
Richard Mason
Manufacturer: Warner Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
British | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books | 18th Century | 19th Century | 20th Century | Classics | Contemporary | General | Historical | Humor | Letters & Correspondence | Middle | Old | Poetry | Renaissance | Shakespeare | Short Stories
Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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Us
ASIN: 0446525243 |
Amazon.com
"My wife of more than forty-five years shot herself yesterday afternoon. At least that is what the police assume, and I am playing the part of grieving widower with enthusiasm and success... It was I who killed her." Thus begins the much-hyped first novel by 20-year-old Oxford undergraduate Richard Mason. Your typical murder mystery The Drowning People is not, for we are given the identity of the killer--the who--immediately. The puzzle in this introspective novel is why--why did 70-year-old James Farrell murder his aristocratic wife, Sarah? The answer lies nearly 50 years into the past as the book ranges from Prague to London, from France to a remote castle in Cornwall. At its core is an intoxicating love affair between 22-year-old James, a talented violinist and hopeless romantic, and Ella Harewood, an American heiress to an English title, trapped by her heritage and destiny. A beautifully written exploration of self-absorbed first love and its tragic consequences, The Drowning People soars beyond the highest of expectations placed upon it. --Shannon Bingham, Amazon.co.uk
Book Description
So begins The Drowning People, an extraordinary debut novel by a twenty-year-old Oxford student.
When he first lays eyes on her sitting by the Thames, James Farrell, an aspiring violinist, falls instantly in love with Ella Harewood, a young and beautiful society girl engaged to a Cambridge don. Defying the strict social standards of upper-class England, the two carry on a passionate affair, believing that the burning power of their love will justify all their actions, guarantee them a life of happiness, and keep them on top of the world.
But the heady rush of first love threatens to ruin their lives forever. In the ultimate test of loyalty, Ella forces James to violently betray his best friend, and, in doing so, sets off a chain of events that will lead to murder and bitter revenge.
Written with wisdom beyond the author's years, The Drowning People is both a trenchant portrayal of the British upper class and a passionate story about the limits of friendship, the legacy of family, and the volatile power of first love.
"I see her fumble absently in her bag for a cigarette, watch her light it, and follow silver-grey smoke circles upwards to a pale blue sky. The park is noticeably warmer now; people are trickling in, and as they pass they cannot help but look at us, an odd pair under the trees. I can smell the faint odour of sweet perfume and soap and stale cigarette smoke which surrounds her; can hear the click of her lighter flint as she makes a flame; can see, as she holds her cigarette, that one of her nails is bitten to the quick.
"Have you been out here all night?" I ask.
She nods, with a little tightening of pale lips. "Oh yes," she says. "This bench and I are old friends. It's heard more of my secrets than it cares to remember, I suspect."
Customer Reviews:
Pity yourself, blame others.......2007-09-01
Lots of self pity, lots of blaming. The main character of the book, James Farrell, takes no responsibility for his actions. It's other people who made him do it. Although the book has an interesting, though unlikely, plot and some sections are well written, the many dialogs are simply boring. I skipped pages over pages and read to the end only because I wanted to know why the main character felt so justified to kill. Compressed into a third, the book would have been a better read.
Romance meets thriller.......2006-03-13
James Farrell, the narrator and main character of this novel, begins by informing the reader that he has just murdered his wife, Sarah, but staged it as a suicide. What follows is James' telling of events that led up to this murder, beginning when he was in his early 20s and met Ella, the love of his life. He finds Ella to be a fun loving free spirit that has subjected herself to her parents expectations, including becoming engaged to the type of man she was "supposed" to marry. James, himself, is fighting his parent's expectations and following his dream of being a famous violinist. James and Ella begin their love affair in secret waiting for Ella to extricate herself from the situation in which she has found herself.
The novel continues with James travelling to Prague with his friend, Eric, to study violin. James learns while he is gone that Ella's family history is coming to haunt her. Her family has a history of mental instabillity amoungst some of the women of the family, and Ella's actions, including breaking off her engagement, appear to others as following in her ancestors' footsteps. The remainder of the novel follows James, Ella, and Eric and their fatal interactions. Also at play are Ella's family, particularly her cousin, Sarah, who has been her life's rival.
What makes this novel great is that the reader is, for the most part, clued in to the truth in advance by the narrator and is usually about a step ahead of the narrative. But despite knowing what is likely coming next, it is the telling of the story that keeps the pages turning. Despite knowing from the beginning that James marries Sarah instead of Ella and knowing that he kills her, the entertainment is in the getting there. The story is strong, the characters intriguing, and the reader wants to know exactly how it all transpires.
Richard Mason has written an impressive debut novel, especially given that he was only 20 at the time of it's writing. It is full of love, tragedy, and excitement. Anyone who has been in love understands the love that James and Ella share. Anyone who has ever been jealous relates to the emotions between the other characters, and anyone who has ever felt loss will be moved by the tragedy that befalls James and those close to him. Highly recommended.
Good intentions, but no cigar.......2005-03-14
The best thing about Richard Mason's debut novel is its deeply macabre plot about upper-class family madness, murderous revenge, and the ruthless insensitivity of young people in love. Taken on its own, it's quite good fun in a gothic, BBC-drama kind of way, and would make a decent movie. You'll work out what's happened well before the final pages, but that doesn't actually spoil things at all - it's entertaining to watch it all unfold like a car accident in slow-motion, and most readers will be happily immersed in it. Mason clearly has a talent for conceiving bizarre revenge plots (as his second and weaker novel, "Us", confirms - not available in the USA, but you can get it from Amazon UK). What he's not so good at (yet) is the actual writing. In "The Drowning People", he seems to have made the fundamental error of wanting us to take the plot seriously; or, rather, choosing such a plot as the basis for a novel which obviously yearns to say something serious about guilt, the dangerous power of first love, and the life-long consequences of youthful selfishness. But it's too convoluted, too B-movie, and too concerned with its own construction to be very effective in that task. The result is that the real "content" of the novel - the ideas about guilt and responsibility - don't emerge from the events. Rather, they're imposed on them. They're constantly re-stated by a narrator who pontificates about Life and all that he has learned from it, which sadly seems to be little more than a raft of platitudes and cliches, delivered in a pompous, finely-cadenced, T.S. Eliotesque tone that irritates more than it convinces. But what else would you expect from an 18-year-old writer with no experience of the kind of life-long perspective he's affecting? It's a classic example of a nervous young author striving to make his point clear and impressive via narrative commentary because he knows it doesn't flow from the action - action which, once again nervously, he's made too flashy, too plot-heavy, to be emotionally engaging in the way it needs to be. If Mason had chosen just one part of this elaborate story - the James-Eric-Ella love triangle, for example, with its hideous "proof of love" pact - and gone deep rather than long, it might have worked. James' pain would have been far more interesting, far more tangible, if he'd really described how it actually felt to a confused 22-year-old rather than just relating it to abstract morality. The familiar lovers'-bargain-with-disastrous-consequences device used in the James-Eric-Ella vignette has long been a powerfully effective one, as in "Les Liaisons Dangereuses" and "Wings of the Dove", and could have been given a nice contemporary airing here exploring issues of class, masculinity, sexuality and female power. Alternatively, Mason might have taken Sarah's point of view - for she's actually a much more interesting character than narrator James. But he didn't make these choices. So, in the end, the novel doesn't work beyond the level of "trashy thriller with literary pretensions", neither fish nor fowl, etc.
To observe the difference between this and really good writing, you need only pick up one other novel, published in the same year, which is also about the memory of a juvenile crime and its life-long ramifications: I'm talking about Ian McEwan's "Atonement". It has everything Mason's novel lacks: a simple but compelling plot, credible characters, a subtle use of language, a convincing depiction of several historical periods, a wonderful sense of the passage of time, and a quiet but entirely justified confidence in its own hidden complexities. It's also incredibly moving in a way Mason's novel strives to be but never comes close to achieving. Moreover, the actual telling of the story is not simply an excuse to revel in "the wealth of shameful detail" (p.196), as it sometimes seems to be in Mason's novel despite the narrator's protestations to the contrary. For McEwan, the telling is a vital act emerging from the central character's nature; an imaginative transformation, that is itself a part of the story, and immovably locked into the novel's theme. Read them back to back and you'll see what I mean.
These sorts of things should be left in the drawer.......2005-01-16
Poor Richard Mason. The talent that allows some of his very good writing and the perspicacity that generates amazing wisdom for one one so young, can also produce potential literary disasters. Very few first novels should be let out of the bottom left hand drawer of the battered wooden desk. One should read them every couple of years as a reminder of the necessity of time and time again. As for the results, sorry Kid but Scott Spencer and Ruth Rendell writing as Barbara Vine cornered this market years ago and not on a first time basis.
worth the wait.......2004-08-10
This book was at times slow moving, and the detailed descriptions were often repetative and frustrating. Despite this, I could not stop reading it. The story was haunting, and worth the wait. The slow pace seemed to fit the main character's slow revelation of what had taken place. Although I did figure out the ending before the author gave it away, I don't feel it was too obvious.
Customer Reviews:
A well-written and insightful novel.......2003-11-08
This is a well-written and meaningful novel. It is primarily about the experience of a woman, much more than it is about the experience of being in 1989 Beijing. The poet Lin Ying's journey is a series of painful disillusionments that many readers will readily identify with. The manner in which she gains strength and ultimately transcends the bleak world around her may be incomprehensible to some men and objectionable to some women, but will be powerful to the sensitive reader. Admittedly, Lin Ying's view of her world is unfamiliar to me as a man - which is the primary reason I found this book to be so worthwhile.
About 1989, but more about the decades leading up to it........2002-05-23
I loved this book, just like I loved Hong Ying's other novels. What was 1989 about? Read "Summer of Betrayal", and if you don't get it, and you still want to know, read "Daughter of the River". It is Hong Ying's autobiography, written a few years later than "Summer". Still, "Summer of Betrayal" is like an echo of "Daughter of the River". "Daughter of the River" is about growing up in Chongqing, a city of extremes. It is a voice from the labourers who didn't profit by the so-called Communist revolution. You learn about what happened in the 50s, and before. You learn about the famine. You learn about the 60s and 70s. Cannibalism. Boys executed for homosexuality. Civil war. "Summer of Betrayal" is beautiful and terrible. It doesn't care what you think. The same goes for every novel by Hong Ying. 1989 was about everything that happened since the 30s, at least. Nobody seems to have said that clearly. How do you talk about China in a way that avoids cliche? To read Hong Ying is to listen to voices that have always been there, only they are not what you've been told. You start thinking of the past. What happened? Not 1989, but 1937, for example? Read "K", it has just come out in English, ... "K" and "Daughter of the River" are available in every bookstore in China. They are not about 1989. But they are about everything that led up to it. Sexual pretense is part of the face of China, or of any country, that doesn't want you to remember, to ask your parents, to keep asking what happened. Hong Ying's books are beautiful, and terrible. Look for the short stories, too. One is about an old Chinese opera and a modern French writer who taught in Nanjing in the 1960s, when De Gaulle had taken up diplomatic relations with the PRC. In today's Paris, a Chinese man tries to meet this writer, and to remember what happened there at the university. Paris becomes Nanjing. But it is harder to meet again the person that he was. Do you know what I mean? It is terrible. And you know that these things have happened. Hong Ying always takes her stories from real events. There is one about a Chinese-English Red Guard who blows himself up with a house full of hippies in London. It is a true story. Hong Ying got a prize for it in England. "Summer of Betrayal" is a good way to start reading Hong Ying. There have to be people who don't understand her. I wonder what people seek for in literature. There have been few books, in any language, about any topic, that have moved me like Hong Ying's.
I didn't really see the point of this story.......2002-02-24
I didn't really understand this novel. It begins with a dramatic description of a young woman's escape from Tiananmen Square on June 4th, which is dramatic, but then it degenerates into a (tedious) meditation on women and sex. If there was some kind of parallel drawn between the momentous political events and this woman's personal protest against repression, it would be better. But it is too disjointed and never brings the two together. Skip it unless you can get it cheap. Only takes a couple of hours to read.
Summer of Betrayal review.......2001-11-01
The idea and promise of this book are intriguing but the book is a huge disappointment. The writing is disjoined. The focus of the story seems mis-placed with emphasis on portions of this characters experience that detract from readers ability to find the main character compelling. While the book has a strong beginning - it quickly loses itself in over-blown descriptions of situations and characters that are unimportant to the development of the main character. I don't recommend this book.
A generic book.......2001-09-20
This book does not focus on the June 4th incident, but rather a woman's jouney through the Chinese underground. In both respects, it fails miserably. Chinese writers should not try to emulate an established American form (the novel is a mixture of harlequin romance and feminist melodrama), but instead venture to new territories. This book is both pretentious and treacerously unoriginal. If you're looking for a good Chinese fiction, skip performance artists like Amy Tan and Hong Ying, and read the short stories of Ha Jin or the novels of Gish Jen.
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