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bitawiri's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
floorflawless's review against another edition
3.0
Belangrijk thema en een boeiend verhaal, maar ik vond dat Sarith nogal een groot deel van het boek innam en dat was echt een verschrikkelijk personage. Voor mij persoonlijk deed dat afbreuk aan het verhaal waar het werkelijk om ging.
dianbeekhuizen's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
hanntastic's review against another edition
2.0
Global Read 166- Suriname
I learned a lot about Suriname, and the book was certainly a page turner. The cost of sugar in this book is the brutality of slavery. And yet, the book was really only from the plantation owners' perspectives. There were enslaved people who were mentioned frequently and whom we were definitely supposed to care about, but we got nothing from their perspective. Maybe a few sentences, but by and large the characters who were enslaved loved the protagonists of the book and only existed to reflect on and deepen the white plantation owner characters.
I learned a lot about Suriname, and the book was certainly a page turner. The cost of sugar in this book is the brutality of slavery. And yet, the book was really only from the plantation owners' perspectives. There were enslaved people who were mentioned frequently and whom we were definitely supposed to care about, but we got nothing from their perspective. Maybe a few sentences, but by and large the characters who were enslaved loved the protagonists of the book and only existed to reflect on and deepen the white plantation owner characters.
jenmat1197's review against another edition
3.0
This story takes place in the late 1700s in Suriname on two plantations. The story is told through two step sisters named Ezra and Sarith who are part of a wealthy Jewish family in the area. They are the same age, and grow up together, but end up leading two different lives. Their husbands, their plantations, their slaves - all play a part in their life stories as they live through the slave war in Suriname.
This was an okay book. I know it has been translated, and I think that was part of the problem. The writing was just very juvenile, and the story was choppy. I didn't really like any of the characters. There is an interesting story underneath the so-so writing, but I really had to trudge through this book to finish it.
This was an okay book. I know it has been translated, and I think that was part of the problem. The writing was just very juvenile, and the story was choppy. I didn't really like any of the characters. There is an interesting story underneath the so-so writing, but I really had to trudge through this book to finish it.
octavia_cade's review against another edition
medium-paced
3.0
This is a very readable piece of historical fiction, but it also comes across, sometimes, as an awkward mix of subjects. Half of the novel is a look at the effects of Dutch colonialism and the sugar industry during Suriname in the 1700s, primarily through the lens of slave labour, and the examples are horrific. A quick look at the Wikipedia history of Suriname indicates that the treatment of slaves at this place and time was among the very worst, and it's not a pleasant read. It is, however, enormously sympathetic to the community of escaped slaves that started an uprising - a very successful uprising, at that - and that's a part of history that I'm not at all familiar with and would like to learn more about.
The other half of the novel is straight soap opera. It focuses on two Jewish step-sisters, one of whom is a cast-iron bitch and the other who might as well be one of Dicken's ministering angels of the home. There's even a love triangle between the two sisters and the latter's husband, and all I'm left with is a general feeling of weary disgust, because two of these people are awful and one is utterly spineless. I guess that this selfish behaviour is meant to illustrate how slave-owning can warp the moral behaviour of slave-owners in every single aspect of their life, but these people are not the victims here. Furthermore, tonally it could sometimes be jarring to go from the serious historical novel to the soap opera of staring through keyholes and throwing tantrums because the latest bout of adultery is going poorly. Am I really supposed to feel sorrow for, or interest in, Sarith's romantic and family woes after she's had someone whipped to death? Because I don't. Bitch.
The other half of the novel is straight soap opera. It focuses on two Jewish step-sisters, one of whom is a cast-iron bitch and the other who might as well be one of Dicken's ministering angels of the home. There's even a love triangle between the two sisters and the latter's husband, and all I'm left with is a general feeling of weary disgust, because two of these people are awful and one is utterly spineless. I guess that this selfish behaviour is meant to illustrate how slave-owning can warp the moral behaviour of slave-owners in every single aspect of their life, but these people are not the victims here. Furthermore, tonally it could sometimes be jarring to go from the serious historical novel to the soap opera of staring through keyholes and throwing tantrums because the latest bout of adultery is going poorly. Am I really supposed to feel sorrow for, or interest in, Sarith's romantic and family woes after she's had someone whipped to death? Because I don't. Bitch.
dreamingofmynextbook's review against another edition
4.0
ahhh, ik vind het zo lastig om hier een beoordeling aan te geven. Ik had een vreselijke hekel aan Sarith, maar alles rondom de geschiedenis en situatie van koloniaal Suriname en de behandeling van de tot slaaf gemaakten was 10/10+ geschreven.
suzanne_between_pages's review against another edition
4.0
De verfilming van Hoe duur was de suiker had al veel indruk op mij gemaakt, maar het boek vond ik nog beter. Realistischer.
Een eenvoudige en zeer leesbare weergave van een stuk geschiedenis over Suriname waarvan iedereen kennis zou moeten hebben om de discussies die vandaag de dag spelen rondom het slavernijverleden, in een breder perspectief te kunnen plaatsen.
Naast een duidelijke uiteenzetting vanuit verschillende invalshoeken, van hoe het er op de plantages aan toe ging in de jaren 1765-1779 loopt er ook een mooie verhaallijn door het boek wat gaat over familiebanden. Twee stiefzusjes (Sarith en Elza) spelen de hoofdrol. Twee zusjes, maar zo verschillend qua karakter en opvattingen. Hoe de onderlingen verhoudingen en relaties zich ontwikkelen geeft Cynthia McLeod heel mooi weer. Dat maakt het verhaal ook wel weer heel recent en actueel.
Deze historische roman staat op veel leeslijsten van middelbare scholen in Nederland. Ik kan alleen maar zeggen dat ik hoop dat dit boek daar nog heel lang op zal blijven staan. Een must-read!!
Een eenvoudige en zeer leesbare weergave van een stuk geschiedenis over Suriname waarvan iedereen kennis zou moeten hebben om de discussies die vandaag de dag spelen rondom het slavernijverleden, in een breder perspectief te kunnen plaatsen.
Naast een duidelijke uiteenzetting vanuit verschillende invalshoeken, van hoe het er op de plantages aan toe ging in de jaren 1765-1779 loopt er ook een mooie verhaallijn door het boek wat gaat over familiebanden. Twee stiefzusjes (Sarith en Elza) spelen de hoofdrol. Twee zusjes, maar zo verschillend qua karakter en opvattingen. Hoe de onderlingen verhoudingen en relaties zich ontwikkelen geeft Cynthia McLeod heel mooi weer. Dat maakt het verhaal ook wel weer heel recent en actueel.
Deze historische roman staat op veel leeslijsten van middelbare scholen in Nederland. Ik kan alleen maar zeggen dat ik hoop dat dit boek daar nog heel lang op zal blijven staan. Een must-read!!
henriettels's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
lillianirene's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0