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A review by jdukuray
Fragrant Harbor by John Lanchester
3.0
John Lanchester is one of my favorite writers and this book is beautifully written in parts. It is also ambitious in structure: the greater part follows the career of Tom, an expat hotelier in Hong Kong from the 30s through the war and into the 1960s. This is framed by some present day action, mostly concerning the business interests of Tom's grandson. The long center section is interesting and Tom is a convincing character. I cannot say the same for the framing sections at the beginning and end of the novel, which were much less interesting and even opaque to me.
Lanchester's more recent novel, Capital, is much better and I would recommend highly. Lanchester writes on economics and I love his lucid and involving nonfiction pieces many of which appear in LRB. To the extent I understand credit default swaps, I owe entirely to his great book called IOU: Why Everyone Owes Everyone and No One Can Pay.
Lanchester's more recent novel, Capital, is much better and I would recommend highly. Lanchester writes on economics and I love his lucid and involving nonfiction pieces many of which appear in LRB. To the extent I understand credit default swaps, I owe entirely to his great book called IOU: Why Everyone Owes Everyone and No One Can Pay.