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beastreader's review against another edition
4.0
I can not tell you what really drew me to want to check this book out. This is not my typical reading but I am always looking for new authors to me. Right away I knew that I was holding a winner when I started reading this book. All of the lovely characters. I liked the way that all of their stories intertwined so smoothly into one another’s. Their stories were very personal and thus it helped to draw me into the book.
I can not really name a favorite as I liked all of the people in this book. Because there was such an easy flow between the different time periods it made reading this book a breeze. I think what also made me like this book was that it was mixed with true life. We who have never been to another country or were raised in America can forget the harsh reality that others have to endure when we are not faced with these situations. This is why I thought that Sahar did a good job of incorporating the truth into this book. I could see this book being made into a movie. Children of the Jacaranda Tree is a heart-wrenching, memorizing book! It is a worthy investment that you should pick up and read.
I can not really name a favorite as I liked all of the people in this book. Because there was such an easy flow between the different time periods it made reading this book a breeze. I think what also made me like this book was that it was mixed with true life. We who have never been to another country or were raised in America can forget the harsh reality that others have to endure when we are not faced with these situations. This is why I thought that Sahar did a good job of incorporating the truth into this book. I could see this book being made into a movie. Children of the Jacaranda Tree is a heart-wrenching, memorizing book! It is a worthy investment that you should pick up and read.
kruppam's review against another edition
5.0
Prima dragoste pare mereu sortită eșecului.
Poate doar parfumul florilor de jacaranda îți va aduce puțină pace...
Poate doar parfumul florilor de jacaranda îți va aduce puțină pace...
granbeck's review against another edition
3.0
This book was pretty great, and the descriptions of the many events taking place in a divided Tehran, Iran, horrifyingly real. The language was colourful yet easily understood and the stories of the people were devastatingly moving. I definitely recommend giving this a read; the only thing I found lacking was that there were many perspectives, characters and time lapses that were involved, which was somewhat confusing and I found myself many times going back to past parts of the book to check facts and make sure that I understood everything correctly.
audaciaray's review against another edition
4.0
Huge, historical things happen in this book about children and parents in Iran from 1983 to 2011. And yet, it has a slow pace to it because the huge things that happen happen largely outside of the detailed scenes in the book. The history of oppressive regimes and rebellions are the back drop, but it's essentially a character study. Really compelling interwoven stories, though you don't exactly get to know any one character with depth, there's a depth to the characters considered as a whole.
harrisgrace's review against another edition
5.0
i read this for a class on political imprisonment and the author actually came to speak to us about it and her personal family history!! so cool
teresa_r's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.25
Siento cierta culpabilidad por darle una baja nota a este libro. La idea que plantea es preciosa: seguimos las historias de diferentes personas que participaron en las revueltas de Irán en la década de 1980 y de sus descendientes a lo largo de los 2000s. Poco a poco descubrimos cómo sus vidas están entrelazadas y, lo más importante, cómo la cárcel ha definido las experiencias vitales de las dos generaciones que protagonizan la obra de Delijani. La esperanza y la frustración se dan la mano y moldean la vida de unos iraníes que viven, ya sea como partícipes o como espectadores que se han visto forzados a migrar, las esperanzas que promete el cambio, su fracaso y las consecuencias que éste tiene.
Y pese a esta premisa, el libro acaba resultando flojo. El ritmo se hace excesivamente lento y las ideas no acaban de desarrollarse del todo. Hay demasiados personajes y sus historias son demasiado cortas, por lo que cuesta recordar cómo se vinculan entre ellos y, lo más triste dado la dureza de lo que se relata, al final no he conectado con ninguno de los personajes.
Y pese a esta premisa, el libro acaba resultando flojo. El ritmo se hace excesivamente lento y las ideas no acaban de desarrollarse del todo. Hay demasiados personajes y sus historias son demasiado cortas, por lo que cuesta recordar cómo se vinculan entre ellos y, lo más triste dado la dureza de lo que se relata, al final no he conectado con ninguno de los personajes.
mohogany225's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This was such an emotional, and eye-opening read! It did seem to jump around amongst the characters a bit too much for me, but this book was a lovely read!
This book is set in Iran, starting after the revolution and moves through time to present day. It centres on a neighbourhood where many families had people arrested and sent to Evin Prison as political prisoners, and follows both the family members inside the prison, and the families left outside. Once some of the adults are released from the prison, the families struggle with finding some sort of normalcy as they all deal with their time in prison.
This was an incredible story to get to read, and I found it very emotional at times. The strength of the women who had to look after the children that were left when their parents were arrested, then to return them once they were released years later, is incredible. There are a lot of characters to keep track of, and with the jump in time, I can get tricky keeping everyone straight. But this was so interesting a story that it was easy to put in that effort.
This book is set in Iran, starting after the revolution and moves through time to present day. It centres on a neighbourhood where many families had people arrested and sent to Evin Prison as political prisoners, and follows both the family members inside the prison, and the families left outside. Once some of the adults are released from the prison, the families struggle with finding some sort of normalcy as they all deal with their time in prison.
This was an incredible story to get to read, and I found it very emotional at times. The strength of the women who had to look after the children that were left when their parents were arrested, then to return them once they were released years later, is incredible. There are a lot of characters to keep track of, and with the jump in time, I can get tricky keeping everyone straight. But this was so interesting a story that it was easy to put in that effort.
tine1789's review against another edition
3.0
3.5
Dit boek trok mijn aandacht ten eerste door die prachtige cover en ten tweede door het lovende citaat van Khaled Hosseini. Het verhaal zelf wordt niet chronologisch verteld en switcht voortdurend tussen een groot aantal personages. Dit maakte het wat moeilijk om te volgen. Ook stoorde de schrijfstijl me. Delijani gebruikt heel veel vergelijkingen en weinig voegwoorden, waardoor sommige stukken wat "overdreven" geschreven waren en sommige wat "droog". Hierdoor dwaalde mijn aandacht soms af.
Tegelijk heb ik heel wat goede dingen te zeggen: het verhaal heeft wel vaart, vooral in het begin zitten er spannende stukken. Daarnaast is het ook heel aangrijpend: Delijani heeft het gebaseerd op de ervaringen van haar eigen familie en die authenticiteit is duidelijk merkbaar als je verhaal leest. Ik moet eerlijk zeggen dat ik een keer met mijn mond open heb gezeten En hoewel de schrijfstijl me soms stoorde, heb ik ook een paar heel mooie zinnen gelezen in dit boek.
Het is een vrij kort boek (278 bladzijdes) en je komt over elk personage wel iets te weten. Ondanks dat er geen tijd was om welk personage dan ook volledig uit te diepen, heeft Delijani een mooi gevarieerde cast van karakters gecreëerd.
Dit boek trok mijn aandacht ten eerste door die prachtige cover en ten tweede door het lovende citaat van Khaled Hosseini. Het verhaal zelf wordt niet chronologisch verteld en switcht voortdurend tussen een groot aantal personages. Dit maakte het wat moeilijk om te volgen. Ook stoorde de schrijfstijl me. Delijani gebruikt heel veel vergelijkingen en weinig voegwoorden, waardoor sommige stukken wat "overdreven" geschreven waren en sommige wat "droog". Hierdoor dwaalde mijn aandacht soms af.
Tegelijk heb ik heel wat goede dingen te zeggen: het verhaal heeft wel vaart, vooral in het begin zitten er spannende stukken. Daarnaast is het ook heel aangrijpend: Delijani heeft het gebaseerd op de ervaringen van haar eigen familie en die authenticiteit is duidelijk merkbaar als je verhaal leest. Ik moet eerlijk zeggen dat ik een keer met mijn mond open heb gezeten
Spoiler
Ik had wel een voorgevoel over Behrouz' dood, maar tegelijk hoopte ik nog dat hij het op de een of andere manier zou overleven. Hij werd heel abrupt uit zijn cel gehaald en opgehangen, en hierdoor was ik toch geschokt. Ik vind dat Delijani die scène heel goed heeft geschreven en dat ze de verwarde gevoelens van het moment heel goed heeft overgebracht.Het is een vrij kort boek (278 bladzijdes) en je komt over elk personage wel iets te weten. Ondanks dat er geen tijd was om welk personage dan ook volledig uit te diepen, heeft Delijani een mooi gevarieerde cast van karakters gecreëerd.
lauralh05's review against another edition
3.0
This was alright, a quick read. I liked several of the characters and found myself wanting to know more about them. I feel like they could have been a bit more fleshed out, or the book slightly longer. It seemed that I would just get to know a character and the author would move on, keeping you always on the outskirts.