Monday, August 18, 2008

The Distant Land of My Father by Bo Caldwell

This was the 2008 book choice of Silicon Valley Reads, a program that promotes literacy and community by encouraging residents to all read and discuss the same book. My university also chose this book as the Winter 2008 Book of the Quarter. Well, all of the author readings and discussion groups on this book are long over, so I'm a bit late in reading it, but I finally read it.

This is a fictional memoir of a white family living in pre-World War II Shanghai. When the Japanese take over, the narrator and her mother flee to Los Angeles, but the father stays behind thinking that he'll be safe. The story switches between Shanghai and Los Angeles as the family deals with separation, war, betrayal, and heartache.

I found this story to be engrossing, but there were some gaps in the story that made me think, "Huh?" These gaps were distracting and kept the story from being fully believable and cohesive. The reconciliation at the end seemed a bit too sugary and unrealistic. I did appreciate the descriptions of Shanghai and what life might have looked like under Japanese-occupation and later, the Communist government. Overall, a pretty good read, but not a book that I'll re-read or need to keep in my personal library.

I do look forward to seeing what the 2009 Silicon Valley Reads selection will be. I like that whole idea of lots of people reading the same book. =D

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