dilan11's review against another edition
3.0
I agree with many reviewers that this is a part of history (the Pacific area during WW ii) that has been neglected in fiction so for that alone this book was unique.
On top of that Murray writes beautifully. Sentence by sentence is stunning.
However, I just couldn't follow many of the stories. I don't think that this was poor narrative skills on the part of Murray but simply an overload of carnage. Virtually every story recounts such atrocities, even though with beautiful language, that my mind just shut down.
So really my rating is four stars for beautiful writing and two stars for the ability to hold my interest.
I will give this one another go because Murray is quite the writer and deserves a second read. I can't say I am looking forward to it.
On top of that Murray writes beautifully. Sentence by sentence is stunning.
However, I just couldn't follow many of the stories. I don't think that this was poor narrative skills on the part of Murray but simply an overload of carnage. Virtually every story recounts such atrocities, even though with beautiful language, that my mind just shut down.
So really my rating is four stars for beautiful writing and two stars for the ability to hold my interest.
I will give this one another go because Murray is quite the writer and deserves a second read. I can't say I am looking forward to it.
bowierowie's review
4.0
I enjoyed and learned a lot from this collection. I was particularly impressed with Murray's use of research within her fiction. She made the Pacific come alive for me in a way I haven't experienced before, and she created wholly memorable characters. Most specifically, I will always remember little Trinidad, Jose, and Mrs. Garcia from the first story. They're the kind of characters that I will find myself thinking of a year from now and will have to try to remember where I know them from. Also, last week Sabina came to the fiction class we read this collection in because she won an award at our University, and she is one of the funniest and most genuine authors I have ever met in person. I'm really looking forward to reading more of her work!
More...