The Distant Land of My Father
by Bo Caldwell
|
List Price: Our Price: $0.99 You Save: $14.01 (93%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of The Distant Land of My Father
Book Review: Good Enough
Summary: 3 Stars
This book was good. (Personal note: it actually struck a cord in me at one point and I had to put the book down and have a good cry!... I don't know if that was about the book or about me - HAHA.)
Anyhow, the story WAS good. IT WAS DEFINITELY WORTH READING. It was interesting and I cared ENOUGH about the characters to keep reading. And it certainly DID become a more engaging story (from the personal and "story" perspective) later in the book.
But since SO many of the reviews are 5 stars and mostly complimentary, I thought I would put some of my reasons for making it only 3 stars.
The author's writing style felt detached and impersonal to me... I was glad to read other reviewers felt that way too (I thought it was just me).
Also a little too detailed (boring) in a few places.
The story was a little slow and meandering in the first half.
All the characters - except Anna - were not well developed... you didn't get to know or care about them at all. They were just figures in Anna's life.
Hope this helps!!!
Book Review: A Wonderful Read
Summary: 4 Stars
This novel is a wondeful read and it is by far one of the best books that I have read in a long time. The book is so well written and detailed that you can almost see and hear the sites and sounds of Shanghai as you read. Bo Caldwell does a fantastic job of portraying life in Shanghai prior to the invasion of the Japanese and also in presenting historical facts about the changes and hardships which this invasion brought upon the people living there. She does this in such a way, that you are able to learn a great deal about Shanghai and it's past and at the same time enjoy a well written and intricate story. Not only does this book deal with Japan's invasion of Shanghai, but it is also examines the relationship between a father and the daughter whom he abandons. I would highly recommend this book to anybody interested in Shanghai or anybody who simply wants to read a very interesting and well-written book.Book Review: Lush and involving fictional memoir
Summary: 5 Stars
One of the best books I have read in years. Great portryal of Shanghai prior to the invasion of the Japanese and gives a well researched presentation of historical facts and the changes and hardships which this invasion brought upon the families living there. The story centers around the impacts on a young American family living in Shanghai (father, mother and daughter), and is told from the viewpoint of the young daughter (from age six to a grown woman with children). It focuses particularly on the relationship between father and daughter whom he abandons, by sending his family back to the U.S. (L.A) as he stays on in his beloved Shanghai and ultimately ends up spending a couple of years in war camp. I bought several copies for my fellow bookworm friends and they all loved it is well. We couldn't believe this was the author's first novel and are eagerly awaiting her next. In a word: fantastic.
Book Review: seemed too real to be fiction
Summary: 5 Stars
Having read many memoirs and biographies of persons who have lived in China or who have come to terms with an estranged parent, this book seemed too real to be fiction. Regrettably, the author's bio in the paperback did not provide sufficient information to determine how Caldwell gained her insight into the subject matter. This insight combined with her wonderful, descriptive prose produced a book I could not put down. It left me crying through the last chapter.This book tells of Anne Schoene?s relationship with her speculator father. It tells how his love for the city of Shanghai made Anne feel enchanted when he showed to her as a young child, disillusioned when he could not protect her from its wartime horrors, and abandoned when he chose it over life with Anne and her mother. It tells how he wormed his way back into her after being forced to leave Shanghai for good.
Book Review: Wonderful, But With Too Much Unfinished Business
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a wonderfully written novel about betrayal, forgiveness, and redemption. It starts out after Anna's father Joseph Schoene has died. She finds out that he has left journals explaining why he did some of the horrific things he did to her and her mother. We are led thru the young family's life in Shanghai, and their separation when Eve (her mother) and Anna return to the states without Joseph.
He tells Anna that he wrote his journals so she will understand why he did what he did. I read the book and never understood him, which was a source of tremendous frustration to me. But I did understand Anna's need for her father and the necessity for her to forgive him in order to heal her own sorrows.