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3.22 AVERAGE
3.22 AVERAGE
I was intrigued by this novel of intertwining characters from different eras and different cultures, but it somehow left me hoping for something more - something deeper? a richer portrait of Frieda? I'm not sure exactly what was missing for me. That said, it was a pleasant read and engaging enough that I read it rather quickly.
I expected more from this book. It felt disjointed, and the connection at the end felt forced. I found Tayeb's role in the story to be unnecessary. Overall, just ok for me.
Based on the title and jacket blurb about A Lady Cyclist's Guide to Kashgar, I was expecting a work of historical fiction about a woman traveling and experiencing new freedoms and horizons. Instead I read two separate but somehow intertwined stories, one set in Kashgar in 1923 and the other in present-day London, both of which felt stifling and claustrophobic. It didn't help that the two main actors, Evangeline and Freida, were rather passive and let their courses be set by other people, whether an over-zealous, culturally insensitive missionary or an undocumented Yemeni artist on the run. Some of the historical passages, particularly the descriptions about living arrangements and social organization, were interesting, but ultimately I didn't connect with the story (why was Freida's included?) or the characters.
Not a lot to say about this book. I finished it a month or so ago and just saw it in my Kindle and remembered I had read it. Nothing in particular stands out in my memory in either a good or a bad way.
Really enjoyed this book - very descriptive, interesting characters in strange and different sorroundings- but the ending was a disappointment. I would have liked more about Irene`s life and feel like the final couple of chapters were shallow and rushed.
Lovely read (if a little sparse on any actual cycling). Unusual in setting and theme although the historic/modern alternating story lines is kind of trendy these days. Description was vivid and plot was engaging and vaguely suspenseful. A close analysis might reveal some weakness of intent or denouement, but it was just an enjoyable story, so I won't get too picky.
Wow. Not sure whether it was the TERRIBLE, ATROCIOUS, WHAT-THE-HELL-WERE-THEY-THINKING reader or the pretty much random plot that got to me worse. . . but listening to this book became an effort of will. I finished it this evening with a sigh of relief, decided to pan it (I had honestly been thinking quite hard about whether it was good and I had just lost patience or was being short-sighted), and then cracked up when reading the review below this one, which clearly agrees with me about the reader. So I'll start there:
Sussssannnnn Duerdannnnnnn. The readah. Has an affffffffffffffffected. Way of speakinggggggggggggggg. She is whispery and pretentious, over enunciating virtually everything--until she reads a man's voice in the modern part of the story and suddenly she is loud and emphatic. WEIRD. She should never be employed as a reader again. EVER. Check out a sample if you don't believe me. Luckily, this was a library download/mp3 book, so I am not stuck having wasted $20 or so.
The story: well, it seems like it was an attempt to ride the tide of "spunky ladies who break stereotypes" stories, blended with a "blending time periods" story. . . but it is odd, unfinished, and confusing. There seems to be a big theme of "hey! homosexuality!" and then a modern theme of unhappy love, unfinished business, bad parents, smoking, and birds. No joke: the heroine inherits an OWL. Does anything happen with it? Nope. It escapes, then returns, eats, hoots, nearly gets released, and then moves to the sea with the heroine. Do we know why it's there? Um. No. Oh, there's also a bad skin motif, and a mucous motif (no joke. Long descrip. of a bad mother coughing mucous onto her hand and not having anything to wipe it off with.).
So. Spare yourself. Don't listen to this.
Sussssannnnn Duerdannnnnnn. The readah. Has an affffffffffffffffected. Way of speakinggggggggggggggg. She is whispery and pretentious, over enunciating virtually everything--until she reads a man's voice in the modern part of the story and suddenly she is loud and emphatic. WEIRD. She should never be employed as a reader again. EVER. Check out a sample if you don't believe me. Luckily, this was a library download/mp3 book, so I am not stuck having wasted $20 or so.
The story: well, it seems like it was an attempt to ride the tide of "spunky ladies who break stereotypes" stories, blended with a "blending time periods" story. . . but it is odd, unfinished, and confusing. There seems to be a big theme of "hey! homosexuality!" and then a modern theme of unhappy love, unfinished business, bad parents, smoking, and birds. No joke: the heroine inherits an OWL. Does anything happen with it? Nope. It escapes, then returns, eats, hoots, nearly gets released, and then moves to the sea with the heroine. Do we know why it's there? Um. No. Oh, there's also a bad skin motif, and a mucous motif (no joke. Long descrip. of a bad mother coughing mucous onto her hand and not having anything to wipe it off with.).
So. Spare yourself. Don't listen to this.
"I looked at myself in the mirror for the first time in a while to see how I might seem to a stranger." (p 142)
This historical fiction story is fascinating in many ways. The two time periods and places - Eastern Turkestan, 1923 and London, present day - present alternating chapters that are seemingly disparate, but the reader knows that somewhere along they will intertwine, complement, and explain one another’s bond. And, so they do although somewhat abstruse.
In the first setting one has a visceral understanding of the place and time as seen through the eyes of a young woman, although somewhat an outsider in her thoughts, but raised in London’s 1920s. Her story has the most unusual twists and turns presenting understanding at times and clashes at others not only with the Eastern culture, but that of her sisters’ views who are with her in this missionary expedition. The “present day” story is again told from the point of view of another young woman, who also feels like an outsider and possesses an empathic understanding of Eastern culture due to her work.
Joinson gives the reader panoramic story with the first, certainly, but limited with the second. Additionally, while the author does not "hit you over the head" with direct connections among characters, she does include elements, such as the bicycles, eye twitches. It is up to the reader to see and make these subtle links. Perhaps too subtle?
This historical fiction story is fascinating in many ways. The two time periods and places - Eastern Turkestan, 1923 and London, present day - present alternating chapters that are seemingly disparate, but the reader knows that somewhere along they will intertwine, complement, and explain one another’s bond. And, so they do although somewhat abstruse.
In the first setting one has a visceral understanding of the place and time as seen through the eyes of a young woman, although somewhat an outsider in her thoughts, but raised in London’s 1920s. Her story has the most unusual twists and turns presenting understanding at times and clashes at others not only with the Eastern culture, but that of her sisters’ views who are with her in this missionary expedition. The “present day” story is again told from the point of view of another young woman, who also feels like an outsider and possesses an empathic understanding of Eastern culture due to her work.
Joinson gives the reader panoramic story with the first, certainly, but limited with the second. Additionally, while the author does not "hit you over the head" with direct connections among characters, she does include elements, such as the bicycles, eye twitches. It is up to the reader to see and make these subtle links. Perhaps too subtle?
I enjoyed the read, very easy, but was disappointed at how it unraveled.
I liked this book it was nothing amazing but just a nice poetic story spanning two time lines 1920s and present day. One is about the notes from Eva on her guide which I found heartfelt and you feel her fear of the unknown from that time and also being a missionary in country that didn’t want you. Friedas story is also a good plot with tayeb who turns outside her flat one night homeless and they become friends I won’t spoil it on how this happens but I felt that sometimes it was his story too which I liked and it all connected nicely at the end. I did feel that maybe these could have been two different books but maybe the author felt that was not the way she wanted go I especially thought this about Eva’s story with the historical side to it, which could have developed more. But all in all a nice enjoyable read