Rate this book

Der Geschmack Der Sehnsucht (2014)

by Kim Thúy(Favorite Author)

3.85 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

3888979285 (ISBN13: 9783888979286)

languge

English

genre

Historical Fiction

publisher

Antje Kunstmann

review 1: It is such a pleasure to read Kim Thúy's elegant and poetic prose, the images she conjures with her words are unlike any other author that I know. Every line of this novel creates a clear, sometimes breathtaking, picture in the reader's mind. With that said, this book was remarkably similar to "Ru" in pretty much every possible literary aspect. I think many readers will be surprised at how similar the two novels are. While I do love the style of her writing, I would have liked to have seen greater variations in the characters, their back-stories and conflicts in comparison to her last novel.3.5/5
review 2: How I Came to Read This Book: The publisher sent me a copy for review.The Plot: The story is told in a series of interconnected scenes or fragments. Eac... moreh 'chapter' if you will, is usually about a page long, and will usually directly tie into two or three more 'scenes' before moving into another part of Mãn's life. Her life, in a nutshell, involves growing up in Vietnam, being married off to a quiet, dutiful man in Canada, moving to Montreal, befriending a woman who (I believe) adopted a girl from Mãn's part of the world, and taking her hole-in-the-wall restaurant to a flourishing, fabulous business. Years into this surprisingly sturdy and steady life, Mãn meets a married man in France and the two have a passionate, if reckless affair - one that is ambiguously resolved (oxymoron much?) by the end, as Mãn faces up to what she'd lose by choosing this other 'man'. The Good & The Bad: Truthfully I don't have much to say about this one. Thuy is a skilled, poetic writer, but this sort of abstract, floaty storytelling isn't really my cup of tea. I prefer a more traditional format of novel, as I felt like I couldn't really sink my teeth in here. The fact the book is so short also contributes to that - how is one expected to really absorb this character's life in under 200 pages, especially where most pages are only a paragraph or two long? That being said, I didn't hate it or anything. For literary fiction, each section is very readable and interesting. The short scenes help. But to grasp the story as a whole and take much away - enh. The Bottom Line: A lovely voice, but a generic, overly broad story. Anything Memorable?: No. 60-Book Challenge?: Book #36 in 2014 less

Download links for: Der Geschmack der Sehnsucht

Advertising