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4.12 AVERAGE
4.12 AVERAGE
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I think I ran across this book on a list of best LGBT fiction. I don't know if it really fits into that category. There is a gay-themed subplot, but when I read the acknowledgments in the back of the book, it said something about that plot line coming from a previously published story. It works, but not really necessary.
This is a great novel. Set in Malaysia in both the late 50s and a few decades later, it is told in flashback form by a woman who survived a WWII Japanese work camp to become a leading Malaysian judge. The complicated colonial history of Malaysia serves as the background for the myriad connections and clashes among Dutch, Chinese, English, Japanese and Malay characters. It is first and foremost a love story (or two, or three). Without giving too much away, there is much in here about Japanese gardens and all they can represent. While reading this book I happened to visit a Japanese garden and taste my first Malaysian food.
Eng is a good writer who can spin a tale slowly while keeping it compelling. I want to read more by him.
This is a great novel. Set in Malaysia in both the late 50s and a few decades later, it is told in flashback form by a woman who survived a WWII Japanese work camp to become a leading Malaysian judge. The complicated colonial history of Malaysia serves as the background for the myriad connections and clashes among Dutch, Chinese, English, Japanese and Malay characters. It is first and foremost a love story (or two, or three). Without giving too much away, there is much in here about Japanese gardens and all they can represent. While reading this book I happened to visit a Japanese garden and taste my first Malaysian food.
Eng is a good writer who can spin a tale slowly while keeping it compelling. I want to read more by him.
A beautiful book which revolves around the initially hesitant relationship between a Chinese-Malay woman who suffered brutally at the hands of the Japanese while interned in a wartime prison camp and the former head gardener of Japan’s Emperor. Both, as well as the supporting characters have complex pasts. The setting is magnificent, the Cameron Highlands of Malaya with descriptions so rich, it immediately transported me there through all senses. So much culture and history unfolds - Malaya’s war history and its subsequent transition into independence; the importance to the Japanese of their gardens, artwork and literature; British colonial rule in both Malaya and South Africa. Almost a 5 star read. The only issue was that the transition from past to present and back again was sometimes very abrupt, often not even at chapter end, simply a new paragraph. On these occasions it took me a little while to overcome confusion as to which point in their stories I was at. But a very worthwhile read.
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This story of the creation of a Japanese garden in the highlands of Malaya, as an act of meditation and a memorial after the traumatic events that affected one of their prisoners during the second world war, is complex and multi-layered. Although it is slow paced and not particularly gripping, I found as the book progressed, I increasingly looked forward to the gradual unfolding of the lives of the characters from different sides of the conflict. A book to take your time over and savour I think, full of mysteries and mist like the garden itself...
The writing is stunning and the story is compelling. It took me a bit to settle in, but once I did... the words just carried me away.
A story of loss, love, and memory.
I highly recommend!
A story of loss, love, and memory.
I highly recommend!
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes