by Vincent Lam
This is the story about a Chinese Headmaster who is operating an English Language School in Vietnam prior to and during the Vietnam war. It is not just his story, it is the story of his father, his grandfather and his son.
The Headmaster has a gambling problem and almost loses the school on several occasions. He sends his son off to China, thinking that will save him from military service in Vietnam. He does not know the life he is sending his son to in China which is undergoing the cultural revolution.
In the end he offers everything he has to get his son out of China, with tragic consequences. The Headmaster learns things he did not really want to know about his lover, his son, and his right-hand man.
This was a fascinating story, one of the best books I have read in a long time. I know the story will remain with me for a long time.
Friday, 29 June 2012
Tuesday, 12 June 2012
The Beggar's Opera
by Peggy Blair
This book is written by a Canadian lawyer who has experience both as a defence and prosecution attorney and with aboriginal law.
This is one of the best mysteries I have read in a long time. The story was very fast paced and had great tension because the accused has only a few days to prove he is innocent of a horrible crime when all the evidence seems to point at him. It is questionable if he will survive to a trial if he is put in a Cuban jail.
He insists that he has been framed, but he has to admit that he can't remember much about the previous night as he did his best to get drunk after his wife told him she is leaving him. Was he that drunk? Was he drugged?
The setting, in Cuba, with a quirky chief detective and head coroner, add to the appeal of the story. The detective thinks he is dying and is haunted by ghosts of his victims. Or, is he losing his mind as a result of his illness? The investigators have to conduct their investigations with shortages of supplies including gasoline for their vehicles.
The accused is a police officer from Ontario who is recovering from a brutal crime where his partner was killed and he was badly disfigured. He is found to be innocent of the crime he is acused of in Cuba, but we find out he is guilty of a serious crime.
What impressed me the most was how successfully the author wove several stories together and then sewed up all the ends together so well. Sadly the story involved pedophilia. However, it was a book I couldn't put down.
This book is written by a Canadian lawyer who has experience both as a defence and prosecution attorney and with aboriginal law.
This is one of the best mysteries I have read in a long time. The story was very fast paced and had great tension because the accused has only a few days to prove he is innocent of a horrible crime when all the evidence seems to point at him. It is questionable if he will survive to a trial if he is put in a Cuban jail.
He insists that he has been framed, but he has to admit that he can't remember much about the previous night as he did his best to get drunk after his wife told him she is leaving him. Was he that drunk? Was he drugged?
The setting, in Cuba, with a quirky chief detective and head coroner, add to the appeal of the story. The detective thinks he is dying and is haunted by ghosts of his victims. Or, is he losing his mind as a result of his illness? The investigators have to conduct their investigations with shortages of supplies including gasoline for their vehicles.
The accused is a police officer from Ontario who is recovering from a brutal crime where his partner was killed and he was badly disfigured. He is found to be innocent of the crime he is acused of in Cuba, but we find out he is guilty of a serious crime.
What impressed me the most was how successfully the author wove several stories together and then sewed up all the ends together so well. Sadly the story involved pedophilia. However, it was a book I couldn't put down.
Sunday, 10 June 2012
Sail of Stone
by Ake Edwardson
This mystery, set in Sweden and partly in Scotland, has two crimes being investigated by different police officers, both of whom seem to be trying to figure out what they really want from their lives.. One crime involves the mysterious death of a Swedish man in the heaths of Scotland. Did he really die of a heart attack while trying to track down the truth about his father's death in WW II? Who can he believe? Are people really telling him everything they know?
The other police officer is investigating a crime that may not be a crime. She is trying to find out what has happened to a woman who appears to be a victim of abuse. However, she cannot find the woman and the woman's father, her ex-husband and the man's sister are not telling the truth and she keeps getting told that there is no real evidence of a crime.
Both detectives get into very dangerous territory and neither of them is really able to solve their respective criimes. This is quite unique, I think, in most mysteries.
This story was well written, the author provides good details about all the characters and great descriptions of the locations in Sweden and Scotland.
This mystery, set in Sweden and partly in Scotland, has two crimes being investigated by different police officers, both of whom seem to be trying to figure out what they really want from their lives.. One crime involves the mysterious death of a Swedish man in the heaths of Scotland. Did he really die of a heart attack while trying to track down the truth about his father's death in WW II? Who can he believe? Are people really telling him everything they know?
The other police officer is investigating a crime that may not be a crime. She is trying to find out what has happened to a woman who appears to be a victim of abuse. However, she cannot find the woman and the woman's father, her ex-husband and the man's sister are not telling the truth and she keeps getting told that there is no real evidence of a crime.
Both detectives get into very dangerous territory and neither of them is really able to solve their respective criimes. This is quite unique, I think, in most mysteries.
This story was well written, the author provides good details about all the characters and great descriptions of the locations in Sweden and Scotland.
Solar Dance:
Genius, forgery and the crisis of truth in the modern age
by Modris Edsteins
"My great desire is to learn to make such variations, reworking, alterations of reality, that it might become, very well lies if you will - but truer than the literal truth," Vincent Van Gogh to his brother, 1885
This book is about the rise in popularity of Van Gogh's art. The author describes the atmosphere in Germany and especially Berlin around the first world war and how some of the intellectuals became enamoured with Van Gogh's art and his passion. The way he describes it, these individuals and their interest in his work were the reason for Van Gogh's appeal.
He does a great job of describing the artistic experimentation and ennui in intellectuals and artists at the time. He then goes on to describe a professional dancer who becomes an art dealer and who is later accused of selling fraudulent Van Gogh art. The man is put on trial and convicted but he keeps insisting that the art is legitimate
The story of the rise in interest in Van Gogh's art, the artistic liberalism and the disagreements between art experts were very interesting,. However, I had expected the author to expand the story beyond Van Gogh to the topic of celebrity in modern times. He didn't really do this, even though it is implied in the title and the book flyleaf. Only in the last chapter did he make any reference to other people and circumstances. I found this very disappointing.
by Modris Edsteins
"My great desire is to learn to make such variations, reworking, alterations of reality, that it might become, very well lies if you will - but truer than the literal truth," Vincent Van Gogh to his brother, 1885
This book is about the rise in popularity of Van Gogh's art. The author describes the atmosphere in Germany and especially Berlin around the first world war and how some of the intellectuals became enamoured with Van Gogh's art and his passion. The way he describes it, these individuals and their interest in his work were the reason for Van Gogh's appeal.
He does a great job of describing the artistic experimentation and ennui in intellectuals and artists at the time. He then goes on to describe a professional dancer who becomes an art dealer and who is later accused of selling fraudulent Van Gogh art. The man is put on trial and convicted but he keeps insisting that the art is legitimate
The story of the rise in interest in Van Gogh's art, the artistic liberalism and the disagreements between art experts were very interesting,. However, I had expected the author to expand the story beyond Van Gogh to the topic of celebrity in modern times. He didn't really do this, even though it is implied in the title and the book flyleaf. Only in the last chapter did he make any reference to other people and circumstances. I found this very disappointing.
Thursday, 31 May 2012
The Dressmaker of Khair Khana
by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon
This book is about a young woman in Afghanistan whose education is halted and whose family is threatened by the incursion of the Taliban. Initially the girl's life is disrupted as girls are no longer allowed to go to school. Then her older brother leaves for Pakistan to avoid being forced to join the Taliban and her father and mother leave for northern Afghanistan to avoid prosecution by the Taliban as her father was a government official prior to his retiremnt.
The young girl is left in Kabul with a young brother and several sisters. She worries about how they will survive and support themselves and comes up with the idea of sewing clothes and selling them to local stores. She doesn' know anything about sewing but her oldest sister, who is married but lives in Kabul, teaches her and her sisters how to sew and bead items.
The girl produces some dresses and then, escorted by her young brother, goes to seek orders from a local tailor. She succeeds and is so successful she ends up recruiting other women to help sew the dresses. This provides her family and also other women with money to survive. She later becomes involved with NGO's mentoring other women,
The book was written almost like a novel, with dialogue, etc. It is interesting to read about how creative people can be in very difficult circumstances. It is sad that after decades there is still no stability in Afghanistan.
This book is about a young woman in Afghanistan whose education is halted and whose family is threatened by the incursion of the Taliban. Initially the girl's life is disrupted as girls are no longer allowed to go to school. Then her older brother leaves for Pakistan to avoid being forced to join the Taliban and her father and mother leave for northern Afghanistan to avoid prosecution by the Taliban as her father was a government official prior to his retiremnt.
The young girl is left in Kabul with a young brother and several sisters. She worries about how they will survive and support themselves and comes up with the idea of sewing clothes and selling them to local stores. She doesn' know anything about sewing but her oldest sister, who is married but lives in Kabul, teaches her and her sisters how to sew and bead items.
The girl produces some dresses and then, escorted by her young brother, goes to seek orders from a local tailor. She succeeds and is so successful she ends up recruiting other women to help sew the dresses. This provides her family and also other women with money to survive. She later becomes involved with NGO's mentoring other women,
The book was written almost like a novel, with dialogue, etc. It is interesting to read about how creative people can be in very difficult circumstances. It is sad that after decades there is still no stability in Afghanistan.
Monday, 21 May 2012
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
by Deborah Moggach
I picked up a copy of this book because a movie version has just come out. The book is the story of several British seniors who find it hard to survive financially in Britain and who are enticed by promotional material about a senior's hotel in India.
The characters include a woman who doesn't trust coloured people, a couple who have done a lot of world travel, the skirt-chasing father of one of the partners in the project who has been kicked out of many senior's residences in England, a woman whose son is on the run from the law and a retired BBC producer.
The book is quite funny in places and also bittersweet. The hotel and the medical staff aren't quite as promised in the promotional material. The "Doctor" is actually a specialist in veneral diseases and the nurse (wife of the hotel owner is actually a foot care technician). The country seems to have a powerful impact on all the people. As the story progesses many of the characters, including family members and the owner of the hotel, start to evaluate their life decisions and make changes or think about making changes.
I enjoyed the book. It was poignant and funny.
We saw the movie yesterday, it stars Judy Dench and Maggie Smith. The movie is quite different from the book however it also was very enjoyable.
I picked up a copy of this book because a movie version has just come out. The book is the story of several British seniors who find it hard to survive financially in Britain and who are enticed by promotional material about a senior's hotel in India.
The characters include a woman who doesn't trust coloured people, a couple who have done a lot of world travel, the skirt-chasing father of one of the partners in the project who has been kicked out of many senior's residences in England, a woman whose son is on the run from the law and a retired BBC producer.
The book is quite funny in places and also bittersweet. The hotel and the medical staff aren't quite as promised in the promotional material. The "Doctor" is actually a specialist in veneral diseases and the nurse (wife of the hotel owner is actually a foot care technician). The country seems to have a powerful impact on all the people. As the story progesses many of the characters, including family members and the owner of the hotel, start to evaluate their life decisions and make changes or think about making changes.
I enjoyed the book. It was poignant and funny.
We saw the movie yesterday, it stars Judy Dench and Maggie Smith. The movie is quite different from the book however it also was very enjoyable.
Wednesday, 16 May 2012
Villa Triste
by Lucretia Grindle
This is a mystery story set in Florence, the setting for the story shifts between WWII and the present.
Two aged partisans are murdered and both have salt in their mouths. As the police officer investigating the crimes tries to solve the murders he is drawn back into activities in WWII and the lives of the two men and a women whose diary is in the safe of one of the murdered men.
The police officer becomes obsessed with learning more about the life of the women who wrote the diary and he is being shadowed by an American woman who is trying to find out the true identity of her Italian grandfather. In the end it turns out that her genealogy is intertwined with the lives of the people the police officer is tracking.
The story is well told and provides good historical details. The obession of the police officer and the American, in the present, add to the intrigue in the story. It was a book that I didn't want to put down, you wanted to know what would happen next, or what new detail would be uncovered. The ending was a bit of a surprise but the story neatly tied things together.
I would certainly recommend this book as an engaging read.
This is a mystery story set in Florence, the setting for the story shifts between WWII and the present.
Two aged partisans are murdered and both have salt in their mouths. As the police officer investigating the crimes tries to solve the murders he is drawn back into activities in WWII and the lives of the two men and a women whose diary is in the safe of one of the murdered men.
The police officer becomes obsessed with learning more about the life of the women who wrote the diary and he is being shadowed by an American woman who is trying to find out the true identity of her Italian grandfather. In the end it turns out that her genealogy is intertwined with the lives of the people the police officer is tracking.
The story is well told and provides good historical details. The obession of the police officer and the American, in the present, add to the intrigue in the story. It was a book that I didn't want to put down, you wanted to know what would happen next, or what new detail would be uncovered. The ending was a bit of a surprise but the story neatly tied things together.
I would certainly recommend this book as an engaging read.
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