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Alison Pink (7 KP) rated The Foremost Good Fortune in Books

Jan 15, 2018

So I am not usually big fan of memoirs. I won this book from First Reads & only entered the giveaway because it said something about cancer. Unfortunatly I know too many people who have been diagnosed with it. All of them have fought bravely, some have won the battle but some have lost it too.
This book was interesting on many fronts. I was fascinated to read about life in China & how the author & her family adapted to China. They were just beginning to feel comfortable there, when I author was diagnosed with breast cancer. The book follows their journey through China, the US & back to China. I was entranced with Conley's descriptions of her battle with cancer. I have watched people fight this from the outside & thankfully have not had to experience from the other side. Her thoughts & descriptions gave me a peek into what a cancer patient goes through.
My heart went out to her & her family. I was rooting for her & them through the entire ordeal. I hope she continues to live a long, happy, & healthy life. I look forward to reading more from her!

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Suswatibasu (1703 KP) rated Housekeeping: Faber Modern Classics in Books

Sep 7, 2017

Haunting imagery, tremendous classic American literature

There was something deeply unsettling yet moving about this book exploring abandonment, solitude and loss over the span of three generations of women in a family.

Ruth, who is our main narrator, is speaking about her childhood in which her sister Lucille and her were continually abandoned by one family or another. Eventually they end up with their deeply eccentric aunt Sylvie, and she seems completely incapable in many ways of being a responsible parent, but rather a sister instead. She leads a transcient life, having deserted her husband, jumping on trains to get from place to place. She's a spirited wanderer, and sees Ruth as an ally and her own sister, Helen, who killed herself at the start of the book.

Their solitary life of never mixing, but staying in the great outdoors both seems idyllic and claustrophobic. There are images of the lake where the children's mother committed suicide, that seem to draw the women to this area. The metaphors are cold and quiet hence it feels unnerving.

It's a classic American tale about real women, which makes this different to the old books talking only about marriage and fidelity.

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David McK (3721 KP) rated Sharpe's Revenge in Books

Feb 18, 2019

For the last couple of years or so, I've been (slowly) making my way through the Sharpe books, in chronological order by setting and in between my various other reading activities i.e. maybe one Richard Sharpe book every couple of months or so

I'm approaching the end of that project, with (currently) only two more novels to go: [book:Sharpe's Waterloo|328986], and [book:Sharpe's Devil|615225].

This particular entry is set during the latter days of the Napoleonic Wars: during the Peace of Amiens in 1814, to be precise, with Sharpe's personal and professional life falling apart after he is framed by wily French spymaster Pierre Ducos. This novel also sees the fall-out from certain events in the previous entries ([book:Sharpe's Siege|564536]), starting with an - illegal - duel between Sharpe and the naval commander who was responsible for abandoning him and his men behind enemy lines, moving on to his cuckolding by his wife Jane by a former friend, and even expanding on the family of the commander of that French fort with one family member, in particular, playing a very important role in Sharpe's future life!

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Suswatibasu (1703 KP) rated A River in Darkness: One Man's Escape from North Korea in Books

Jan 17, 2018

An utterly bleak story of an invisible man

Masaji Ishikawa's story is truly soul-crushing, the level of trauma is beyond comprehension, therefore read it with caution.

Ishikawa describes his life under the North Korean regime as gruelling, horrifically terrifying, and there are some completely hopeless moments where you think why even bother anymore.

His journey begins in Japan, the child of a Japanese mother and Korean father, he was forced at a young age to move to North Korea under the pretence of "returning" to his motherland, though he never believed so. His father, an originally extremely violent man became pacified as he realised the perilous situation he bought his family into. But they soon face the truth and brutality of their circumstances.

The narrator defects at a much later stage in life, living around 30 years under the dictatorship, but leaving his family behind. He questions whether he made the right decision in the end as the consequences are revealed and the reader is left writhing in agony at his pain.

It is not an easy read, but it is important to understand the level of complexity and the reality of the situation. An absolute must read.