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3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
It was a very interesting story that started off slow, but by the end I had to finish it. I needed to know how the story ended
This book was painful ... how does it get so many stars? I may need to rethink using Goodreads as my guide when choosing books ...
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A beautiful little tale of love, the loss of senses (sight) and how it evolves into a richer experience of other senses (hearing and touch). Love and bitterness. How life can be altered in both good and bad ways from the actions of others with both kind and unkind intentions. Familial love and pure, instinctual love. The story of Tin Win who is suddenly blinded as a child, abandoned by his parents — his father with an early death and his mother with literal abandonment due to her fear of her son as a curse and bad omen. A showing of how beliefs impact our behavior. Buddhism and monastic life surrounds the characters in Burma. And then drops away beneath the priority of money and education as some of the characters shift to New York. As the book calls out: Life is interwoven with suffering. That in every life, without exception, illnesses are unavoidable. That we will age, and that we cannot elude death. Tin Win loses his sight, is abandoned by his parents, taken in by a woman named Su Kyi, who takes him to a monastery where he spends a few years under the guidance of the Abbot U May. He falls deeply in love with Mi Mi, a girl born with deformed feet who cannot walk. After 4 years of their deep connection, his uncle takes him to Rangoon and finances a surgery to restore his eyesight. But he does it to benefit his own karmic favor. He hides the love letters written between the two and then ships Tin Win off to New York where he reluctantly marries and fathers 2 children. After his long life there, Tin Win suddenly disappears from his life in NY and eventually his daughter, Julia, travels to Burma to discover what happened. When Tin Win had arrived, he went to Mi Mi’s home and laid with her in her death bed. They talked into the night and were discovered dead the next morning by their son U Ba. A son that was unknown to Tin Win and to Julia.
This book is a great story of trusting despite life being unjust. I found myself wanting to slow down and soak it all up. I loved the serenity of Tin Win and Mi Mi. I loved how even though their lives truly weren't fair, they accepted what came and were the best they could be in those situations.
This is a wonderful love story too. I was a little leery to read it because I don't like books about men who step out on their wives - but this story isn't that, even though it seems that way in the beginning.
I totally recommend this book. It would be a great book club book too.
This is a wonderful love story too. I was a little leery to read it because I don't like books about men who step out on their wives - but this story isn't that, even though it seems that way in the beginning.
I totally recommend this book. It would be a great book club book too.
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
I finished this book in less than a day because I just had to know what would happen. Then I kicked myself because I should have taken the rather obvious clue from "The Prince, The Princess, and the Crocodile" and known that it would result in me sobbing ugly, snotty tears. So there's that.
I like the message that life doesn't have to have a happy ending to be beautiful. I liked Su Kyi's approach to life -- bad things happen to everyone, you can't control it, just try to find happiness when you can. I liked Julia's journey of discovery, and the descriptions that made me feel like I was right there in Burma (Myanmar!) with Tin Win, Mi Mi, and later Julia too. It is also interesting to read about superstitions that govern people's lives. (Tin's mother, uncle, etc.) Sometimes they seem ridiculous but are hey any more or less so than the things we let control us?
On the negative side: I don't like feeling emotionally manipulated, and I felt that I had been at the end of the book. The lovers dying together after one last reunion...meh. I prefer some good years with a bit of bickering but happiness found in everyday life. Also, Tin Win and Mi Mi's love story is very beautiful, but...
- she's a little too perfect. She really doesn't even get a little miffed when that abominable uncle sends her the letter? Come on!
- the "hidden letters" scenario is too used and too lazy as a tool to move the story along. Sorry. At some point, send a messenger if you're not getting a response.
- no matter how sweet and poignant and utterly unfair T and M's love story was, it's not enough for him to smile enigmatically and then just disappear. (Like his mother did to him....) He owed it to his family to at least say goodbye. No bueno, Tin.
I like the message that life doesn't have to have a happy ending to be beautiful. I liked Su Kyi's approach to life -- bad things happen to everyone, you can't control it, just try to find happiness when you can. I liked Julia's journey of discovery, and the descriptions that made me feel like I was right there in Burma (Myanmar!) with Tin Win, Mi Mi, and later Julia too. It is also interesting to read about superstitions that govern people's lives. (Tin's mother, uncle, etc.) Sometimes they seem ridiculous but are hey any more or less so than the things we let control us?
On the negative side: I don't like feeling emotionally manipulated, and I felt that I had been at the end of the book. The lovers dying together after one last reunion...meh. I prefer some good years with a bit of bickering but happiness found in everyday life. Also, Tin Win and Mi Mi's love story is very beautiful, but...
- she's a little too perfect. She really doesn't even get a little miffed when that abominable uncle sends her the letter? Come on!
- the "hidden letters" scenario is too used and too lazy as a tool to move the story along. Sorry. At some point, send a messenger if you're not getting a response.
- no matter how sweet and poignant and utterly unfair T and M's love story was, it's not enough for him to smile enigmatically and then just disappear. (Like his mother did to him....) He owed it to his family to at least say goodbye. No bueno, Tin.
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated