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barbaram's review against another edition
4.0
Particularly enjoyed reading this in Hong Kong. Engaging, moving, evocative story well told, with nice touches of humour. The framing stories (especially Dawn's) were less interesting to me than the central narrative.
hcq's review against another edition
3.0
I really do like Lanchester. This is a really solid novel, which shows off his knowledge of Hong Kong, business, WWII history, and a great many other things to real advantage.
Admittedly, it didn't grab me the way [b:The Debt to Pleasure|169510|The Debt to Pleasure|John Lanchester|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1312009160s/169510.jpg|163686] did, but that's not very fair, because that's one of my favorite books.
Admittedly, it didn't grab me the way [b:The Debt to Pleasure|169510|The Debt to Pleasure|John Lanchester|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1312009160s/169510.jpg|163686] did, but that's not very fair, because that's one of my favorite books.
kathleenitpdx's review against another edition
3.0
A delightful read. An interesting story set against modern Hong Kong history. Through a few inter-related characters, Lanchester takes you through Hong Kong as a British colonial outpost, the Japanese capture, the Chinese communist revolution, to the handover.
jondillon's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
An exotic and compelling read. Nice mix of historical narrative and characters
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