baekhyjn's review
3.0
It doesn’t live up to its cryptic blurb, but it is well written and touching all the same.
shahrun's review
4.0
Wow. This book touched me and got me thinking about my own attitudes to thw subjects discussed in this book. I don't want to give anything too much away, because like it says on the back of the book, "The magic is in how it unfolds."
bumble_abi's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I don't think this book merits its cryptic marketing - it's a somewhat sensationalised story about a Nigerian refugee and the British magazine editor she follows to England. It explores the UK's asylum system and asks questions about our responsibilities towards one another. Those things aren't spoilers, they could put them on the cover and the book would still be worth picking up.
The Other Hand is good but not the world-shaking secret literary bomb the blurb would have you believe - and I think that marketing is to its detriment because it sets up expectations the novel has no hope of ever being equal to.
I will admit I read this one somewhat cynically, after reading the first chapter, in the first person voice of a Nigerian refugee, and then googling Chris Cleave to discover that he is very much an Oxford educated British white man. My first instinct is that this is not a story an Oxford educated British white man has a right to profit off, and that is evidenced by how much better realised the chapters from Sarah's perspective (the upper-middle class white British magazine editor) were compared to those from Little Bee's.
I do however think the novel ends up exploring this very conundrum pretty successfully, examining the power of story and what each person is allowed to say, and how easily they get other people to listen to them, so I'm giving Cleave the benefit of the doubt. The afterword in which he cites his sources is evidence of a heart in the right place anyway.
I really enjoyed the nuance of Sarah's chapters. The white liberal guilt she feels, the vice-like grip of her comfortable life and the selfishness that inspires, those things felt really compelling, really dimensional. I didn't love the parallels drawn between the freedom of an extramarital affair and the 'freedom' of literally fleeing violence stowed away in the cargo hold of a tea ship, but perhaps I'm reading more into that than Cleave intended. Little Bee's voice rounds out the narrative but she's far less developed philosophically and emotionally. Cleave sort of gets away with this by making her a teenager, and there are a few moments of genuine wit, but it veers a little close to noble savage territory for my taste. I dunno. I feel like there's a good story in here but there were a few things that got in the way of me really giving myself over to it. And Charlie's speech really grated on me - Cleave claims he takes the speech patterns from his own 4 year old but I have a hard time believing that's true.
The Other Hand is good but not the world-shaking secret literary bomb the blurb would have you believe - and I think that marketing is to its detriment because it sets up expectations the novel has no hope of ever being equal to.
I will admit I read this one somewhat cynically, after reading the first chapter, in the first person voice of a Nigerian refugee, and then googling Chris Cleave to discover that he is very much an Oxford educated British white man. My first instinct is that this is not a story an Oxford educated British white man has a right to profit off, and that is evidenced by how much better realised the chapters from Sarah's perspective (the upper-middle class white British magazine editor) were compared to those from Little Bee's.
I do however think the novel ends up exploring this very conundrum pretty successfully, examining the power of story and what each person is allowed to say, and how easily they get other people to listen to them, so I'm giving Cleave the benefit of the doubt. The afterword in which he cites his sources is evidence of a heart in the right place anyway.
I really enjoyed the nuance of Sarah's chapters. The white liberal guilt she feels, the vice-like grip of her comfortable life and the selfishness that inspires, those things felt really compelling, really dimensional. I didn't love the parallels drawn between the freedom of an extramarital affair and the 'freedom' of literally fleeing violence stowed away in the cargo hold of a tea ship, but perhaps I'm reading more into that than Cleave intended. Little Bee's voice rounds out the narrative but she's far less developed philosophically and emotionally. Cleave sort of gets away with this by making her a teenager, and there are a few moments of genuine wit, but it veers a little close to noble savage territory for my taste. I dunno. I feel like there's a good story in here but there were a few things that got in the way of me really giving myself over to it. And Charlie's speech really grated on me - Cleave claims he takes the speech patterns from his own 4 year old but I have a hard time believing that's true.
bloodruby29's review against another edition
5.0
I read this book like ten years ago when I was a middle-schoolers. Living as a socially confined South-East Asian preteen I was, I had hardly any understanding of the colonialism and racial disparity issue in the western part of the globe, hence this book came and sent an electrifying jolt into my tepid soul. I was horrified.
This is one of those stories that, once acknowledged, become seared into our brain and consume us to the point where it's all you can think about in the proceeding days. When I finally could pull up a constructive apprehension about the subject, I cannot be more grateful for the author who enraptured me with this hypnotic story that was so raw, subversive, and undulating that it became brutal in its honesty.
This is one of those stories that, once acknowledged, become seared into our brain and consume us to the point where it's all you can think about in the proceeding days. When I finally could pull up a constructive apprehension about the subject, I cannot be more grateful for the author who enraptured me with this hypnotic story that was so raw, subversive, and undulating that it became brutal in its honesty.
mollyjordan's review against another edition
4.0
So haunting and eloquently told. Be prepared to see humanity at its worst and best forms with heartbreak in almost every chapter.
booktwitcher23's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
aramsamsam's review against another edition
3.0
Kratzt immer wieder am Rand der Melodramatik und geht auch darüber hinaus. Trotzdem lesenswert.
s_pranathi03's review
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
adarossiwrites's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0