Tu by Patricia Grace - first published 2004
I thought this novel was going to be set in New Zealand. However in the opening chapter Tu, youngest of 3 Maori brothers, joins the army and sets off for Italy in 1943. Half of the book is set in Italy, including the battle to capture Monte Cassino (in gory detail) but the other half is the story of Tu and his brothers Rangi and Pita's childhood, first in an unnamed place and then in Wellington after the death of their father. The book offers an insight into Maori culture and traditions. I was unaware that Maoris had fought for the Allies in the Second World War. The story was a bit laboured in places but overall it was ok. This was the only book of my journey so far that I haven't been able to borrow from my local library. 6/10
20th December 2011
Wednesday, 28 December 2011
Wednesday, 7 December 2011
Book 58, Country 64 - Australia
The Broken Shore by Peter Temple – first published 2005
24th November 2011
Wednesday, 16 November 2011
Book 57, Country 63 - Indonesia
Map of the Invisible World by Tash Aw - first published in Britain in 2009
I didn't enjoy this book very much - it is readable but not very exciting. It is about 2 brothers, who were separated as young children when they were living in an orphanage and were adopted by different people. Johan, the elder brother was taken to live a life of luxury in Malaysia while Adam stayed in Indonesia and was adopted by a Dutch man called Karl, who led an unconventional life but was very kind to him. In the 1960s when Adam is 16, Karl is arrested by President Sukarno's soldiers who are trying to rid Indonesia of its colonial past. Adam sets off to Jakarta to find him and meets up with Margaret, an old friend of Karl's. However he also unwittingly gets involved in anti-government protests. He does eventually find Karl but is never re-united with his brother. There was lots of detail about life in Jakarta in the 1960s but no clear explanation of the background history. Maybe I should have known this and I know I could have looked it up online but I would have found it useful if there had been a timeline of historic events or a page summarising the 20th century history of Indonesia at the front or back of the book. 3/10
2nd November 2011
I didn't enjoy this book very much - it is readable but not very exciting. It is about 2 brothers, who were separated as young children when they were living in an orphanage and were adopted by different people. Johan, the elder brother was taken to live a life of luxury in Malaysia while Adam stayed in Indonesia and was adopted by a Dutch man called Karl, who led an unconventional life but was very kind to him. In the 1960s when Adam is 16, Karl is arrested by President Sukarno's soldiers who are trying to rid Indonesia of its colonial past. Adam sets off to Jakarta to find him and meets up with Margaret, an old friend of Karl's. However he also unwittingly gets involved in anti-government protests. He does eventually find Karl but is never re-united with his brother. There was lots of detail about life in Jakarta in the 1960s but no clear explanation of the background history. Maybe I should have known this and I know I could have looked it up online but I would have found it useful if there had been a timeline of historic events or a page summarising the 20th century history of Indonesia at the front or back of the book. 3/10
2nd November 2011
Monday, 10 October 2011
Book 56 - Country 62 - The Philippines
The Tesseract by Alex Garland - first published 1998
This book is quite a gripping read but I wouldn't say that I enjoyed it, as it includes several sudden violent deaths. There are 3 seemingly unrelated stories, which come together in a violent conclusion. The main action takes place over a few hours one evening in Manila. The first part is about an Englishman called Sean, who is waiting in a run-down hotel for a gangster boss and his henchmen to arrive and kill him. Why you would hang around if you knew someone was coming to shoot you, I have no idea. The second part is about a lady called Rosa and her family, who live in a more prosperous part of the city and the third part is about 2 homeless teenage boys, who are friends. The author explains at the back that a tesseract is a hypercube unravelled. That meant nothing to me, so I looked it up and the definitions I found say it is a 4 dimensional cube. That doesn't mean anything to me either! and I don't really see the relevance to the book. 5/10
October 9th 2011
This book is quite a gripping read but I wouldn't say that I enjoyed it, as it includes several sudden violent deaths. There are 3 seemingly unrelated stories, which come together in a violent conclusion. The main action takes place over a few hours one evening in Manila. The first part is about an Englishman called Sean, who is waiting in a run-down hotel for a gangster boss and his henchmen to arrive and kill him. Why you would hang around if you knew someone was coming to shoot you, I have no idea. The second part is about a lady called Rosa and her family, who live in a more prosperous part of the city and the third part is about 2 homeless teenage boys, who are friends. The author explains at the back that a tesseract is a hypercube unravelled. That meant nothing to me, so I looked it up and the definitions I found say it is a 4 dimensional cube. That doesn't mean anything to me either! and I don't really see the relevance to the book. 5/10
October 9th 2011
Wednesday, 5 October 2011
Book 55 - Country 61 - Singapore
Inspector Singh Investigates: A Most Peculiar Malaysian Murder by Shamini Flint - first published in Great Britain in 2009
I suppose the title should have made me aware that not all this book was set in Singapore! In fact only the very beginning and ending are set there. The rest of the story takes place around Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. Middle aged and overweight sikh police inspector Singh is sent to Malaysia to investigate the murder of businessman Alan Lee because the chief suspect - Mr Lee's wife Chelsea Liew - is a Singapore citizen. The book is an easy read but the story is engaging with several twists and it does touch on the important environmental issue of illegal logging of forests in Borneo and sharia law regarding the custody of children following divorce. It also gives an insight into everyday life and the culture of Malaysia and how it contrasts to its more prosperous but constrained neighbour, Singapore. 7/10
1st October 2011
I suppose the title should have made me aware that not all this book was set in Singapore! In fact only the very beginning and ending are set there. The rest of the story takes place around Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. Middle aged and overweight sikh police inspector Singh is sent to Malaysia to investigate the murder of businessman Alan Lee because the chief suspect - Mr Lee's wife Chelsea Liew - is a Singapore citizen. The book is an easy read but the story is engaging with several twists and it does touch on the important environmental issue of illegal logging of forests in Borneo and sharia law regarding the custody of children following divorce. It also gives an insight into everyday life and the culture of Malaysia and how it contrasts to its more prosperous but constrained neighbour, Singapore. 7/10
1st October 2011
Tuesday, 27 September 2011
Book 54, Country 60 - Malaysia
The Harmony Silk Factory by Tash Aw - first published in GB 2005
I'm not sure quite why it has taken me 4 months to finish this book. I think I needed a rest from my world tour and summer is always a time when there is more going on. Anyway I am now back on track. This wasn't the greatest book I have ever read but it got better once I got passed the first section. The book is about the life of a man Chinese textile merchant called Johnny Lim and is told in 3 parts, first by his son, secondly by his wife Snow and thirdly by his friend Englishman Peter Wormwood. They all see him from a different angle. His son hates him but we begin to see other sides to his character when Snow and Peter take up the story. Snow's story centres around the belated honeymoon, which she takes with Johnny, Peter, a Japanese professor Mamoru Kunichika and another Englishman Frederick Honey in 1941 just before the Japanese invasion of Malaya. They travel in an old fishing boat to visit the mysterious islands known as the Seven Maidens. At first it seems like they have discovered paradise but then it all starts to go disasterously wrong. This bit reminded me of Alex Garland's novel The Beach. 6/10
I'm not sure quite why it has taken me 4 months to finish this book. I think I needed a rest from my world tour and summer is always a time when there is more going on. Anyway I am now back on track. This wasn't the greatest book I have ever read but it got better once I got passed the first section. The book is about the life of a man Chinese textile merchant called Johnny Lim and is told in 3 parts, first by his son, secondly by his wife Snow and thirdly by his friend Englishman Peter Wormwood. They all see him from a different angle. His son hates him but we begin to see other sides to his character when Snow and Peter take up the story. Snow's story centres around the belated honeymoon, which she takes with Johnny, Peter, a Japanese professor Mamoru Kunichika and another Englishman Frederick Honey in 1941 just before the Japanese invasion of Malaya. They travel in an old fishing boat to visit the mysterious islands known as the Seven Maidens. At first it seems like they have discovered paradise but then it all starts to go disasterously wrong. This bit reminded me of Alex Garland's novel The Beach. 6/10
Friday, 3 June 2011
Book 53, Country 59 - Thailand
Sightseeing by Rattawut Lapcharoensap - first published in 2004
I have never had any desire to visit Thailand and wasn't looking forward to my literary journey there. However I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I don't normally like short stories but I enjoyed nearly all of them. They are mainly about family life in present day Thailand. The last one, which is about cockfighting, was much longer than the others and not so pleasant, mainly because of the subject matter. 7/10
28th May 2011
I have never had any desire to visit Thailand and wasn't looking forward to my literary journey there. However I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I don't normally like short stories but I enjoyed nearly all of them. They are mainly about family life in present day Thailand. The last one, which is about cockfighting, was much longer than the others and not so pleasant, mainly because of the subject matter. 7/10
28th May 2011
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