The Distant Land of My Father
by Bo Caldwell
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Book Reviews of The Distant Land of My Father
Book Review: Distant Land of my Father, Bo Caldwell
Summary: 4 Stars
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The author painted a very vivid picture of not only the culture and architecture of the times, but of the people with an inward glance to their feelings and emotions. There was an intense accuracy to the horrors of war, without portraying more detail than was necessary to tell the story. It was helpful to see it through a childs eyes, which gave it a certain innocence. You felt protected as she did from some of the truths, which only revealed themselves to her later in life.
I recommend it for lovers of historical fiction, it is about a time in fairly current history, that not all of us fathomed or imagined, even though we lived in a parallel time.
Book Review: Nostalgia
Summary: 3 Stars
Strained relationships between middle-aged parents and their daughter are the focus of a story whose main interest for me was the reliving of the period from WWII into the 50s and 60s, with some mostly accurate information about the customs and values of a now-longago time in Shanghai and Southern California. As I am a resident of the Pasadena area the local geography brought to life a story that was otherwise not terribly compelling of a daughter's ambiguous relationship with her father and grandmother. The somewhat shady experiences of the father in Shanghai were perhaps purposely not clearly defined. All in all, it's a nice book to take and read on a long trip.Book Review: Old Shanghai reborn
Summary: 5 Stars
This book was great... the smells, sounds, sights, and tastes of Old Shanghai drip from the pages. Sadly, as Shanghai itself is transformed into a government bureaucracy¡¯s vision of modernity, books such as this are one are some of the few surviving places that the old city lives on. Ironically, the main characters infatuation with Shanghai can be seen again with the large influx of foreigners returning to the city in the past five years. If you liked this book, you may also enjoy ¡°Rice¡± written by the Chinese author Su Tong. This novel also takes place in pre-communist Shanghai and is centered on a Chinese organized crime boss.Book Review: I kept reading, but the style nagged me throughout
Summary: 4 Stars
I echo other comments regarding an impersonal writing style. You do not feel drawn into the relatively stereotypical characters. I'd like to add that the author uses a cheap trick to establish historical details: laying on all the brand names of items the characters used: Pabst, Pepsodent, they went to Fosselman's, etc. I've read other historical fiction and this author's attempt at it struck me as lazy.
The one big positive: I kept reading. The story kept moving me along, and stayed dramatic. Its broad sweep of time and space was interesting, particularly the three phases of Shanghai's early 20th century history.
Book Review: Beautiful
Summary: 5 Stars
There is not much I can add to the existing five star reviews, I just feel compelled to add SOMETHING as this book is truly a gem and, I think, one of the best books I've read in my 56 years. Whether or not you have traveled to Shanghai (I have spent 3 months there during the past year, but my good friend who loved the book has never been there), you will feel a bit of magic has entered your world when you open these pages.