Reviews

Foreign Correspondence by Geraldine Brooks

ashesmann's review against another edition

3.0

Not what I was expecting. Geraldine Brooks tells us the story of her life, guided by her letters to her pen pals. Some are sad, but I love that the ones who ended up living a simple life are the ones highlighted as really living.

smartipants8's review against another edition

3.0

I would have liked more details on her transition to being a war correspondent although the pen pal theme resonated with me and my desire as a young girl to travel the world.

kiwialexa's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted reflective relaxing sad slow-paced

3.0

jessieweaver's review against another edition

5.0

I’ve now read all of Brooks’ books except for Nine Parts of Desire … and I have loved every one. This one is a memoir of Brooks’ growing-up years, told through pen-pal letters and friendships with kids all over the world. As an adult, Brooks found the letters and took it upon herself to find all of her lost pen-pals. As with all of her books, this one is well-researched and documented, vivid, and makes me long to see, smell, and taste each part of the world she describes.

slammy90's review against another edition

3.0

Il libro è davvero interessante, le descrizioni dell'Australia mi hanno affascinato e spesso ho "invidiato" Geraldine per la sua vita.. Però niente, l'ho trovato pesante come un macigno pur essendo molto breve, ho fatto una fatica enorme!

giovannnaz's review against another edition

4.0

I really enjoyed this--reading the first part with Brooks growing up in Sydney, dreaming of an exciting bigger world, and then the second part in which she meets her pen pals about 25 years later, finds out who they really are (as opposed to who she made them out to be when she was young and corresponding with them). The chapter in Israel fascinated me--

gillianalice's review against another edition

4.0

I'm not usually one for memoirs, but I've always had a soft spot for anything involving letter writing. This was wistful and lovely, and it's making me want to pick up a pen again.

mrshendricks's review against another edition

4.0

This caught my eye because like Brooks, my initial endeavors into understanding the world outside the US (in Brooks' case, Australia) came through pen pals. My first pen pals were from Tanzania, Argentina and Iran. That was in the late 70's and early 80's. Those correspondences dwindled when I went to college. But I picked up some new pen pals in the early 2000's and again enjoyed learning about other places through pen pal correspondence. Now that snail mail is used much less for staying in touch, I only have one person outside the US that I still correspond with via snail mail. She's in the Netherlands.

Brooks came on my radar earlier this year when I chose to read her book "March" which was one of the best books I've read in a while.

canadianbookworm's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

https://cdnbookworm.blogspot.com/2020/12/foreign-correspondence.html

allisonthurman's review against another edition

4.0

I picked this up because I, too, had a number of pen pals as a kid. Unlike me, Brooks tracked all of hers down. This memoir weaves in tales of Brooks' childhood and travels with discovery of her father's past and her penpal's fates. Heartening and melancholy in turn and a quick, compelling read.