Book Description
In this second novel of the Bruce Medway series, our hero, a go-between and "fixer" for traders in steamy West Africa, smells trouble when a porn merchant asks him to deliver a video at a secret location. Things look up, though, when he's hired to act as minder to Ron Collins, a spoiled playboy looking for diamonds in the Ivory Coast. Medway thinks this could be the answer to his cashflow crisis. But when the video delivery leads to a shootout and the discovery of a mutilated body, he wants out. Obligations keep Medway fixed in the Ivory Coast and he is soon caught up in a terrifying cycle of violence. Unless he can get to the bottom of the mystery, Medway knows that for the savage killer out there in the African night, he is the next target.
Customer Reviews:
solid crime novel.......2006-11-27
Wilson seems happier with his West African locales than he does with Spain, where his novels get bogged down in scenery and slow paced character development. This novel moves with punch and direction, steering the reader through unusual locations, a post-colonial world of ruthless energy, sinking back into tribalism. well worth reading although it helps to start with the first novel and work up to this one.
Setting, and a Talent for Misdirection Serves this Book Well.......2005-07-31
"The Big Killing" is my first Robert Wilson book. It is the second in his series of mysteries featuring Bruce Medway, British expatriate living in the Ivory Coast. Since it was in the bargain book section, I went ahead and picked up the third and fourth books. However, I'm not so sure if that was a bit of a hasty decision in the end.
When we first meet Medway, he's a bit of a mess. Evidently, the events of the first book, "Instruments of Darkness" (which I have not read) have left him a disillusioned (although I doubt that he was ever "illusioned"), adrift in the Ivory Coast, broke, pining for his lost love, and waiting for his Syrian millionaire patron to give him something to do. In the meantime, the Liberian Civil War is raging, with one of its apparent casualties begin the Liberian VP, found with his innards ripped out by a killer simply dubbed "The Leopard".
Naturally, as is the case in such novels, Medway finds he has three jobs all at once. His Syrian millionaire friend wants him to check on the manager of his sheanut plantation. An old friend from England asks Medway to chaperone a young diamond merchant. And a repugnant pornographer asks Medway to deliver a package. These diverse plot-threads soon converge in a political tangle, as Medway maneuvers his way through the thoroughly corrupt world of West Africa.
The plot is quite brisk, if convoluted. Medway stumbles into ambushes, tangles with corrupt village police, dodges a massive kidnapping plot, all while the bodies pile up around him. Numerous characters enter the stage, although only a few actually seem to have any bearing on the overall novel. Wilson is very good at playing with the reader's perceptions and stereotypes, as some characters who seem as if they're going to be critical to the overall plot wind-up dead within a few pages of their introduction. Other characters who seem as if they are merely in the novel to provide background color actually prove extraordinarily relevant. This talent for misdirection serves Wilson well, as he keeps the reader enticed by the enigma of his novel as we try to figure what's going on with Medway.
It's fortunate that this novel is so plot-driven, because Medway is not a terribly strong character. While drawn from the writings of old school hard-boiled fiction, Medway feels as if he's lacking something. He never quite appears to be the moral White Knight Raymond Chandler's Phillip Marlowe is. Nor is ever the self-righteous tough guy who is willing to bloody his hands for justice like Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer. While he seems an okay guy, Medway seems to simply be going through the motions, playing tough-guy detective, tangling with cops, killers, and dames. While that's part of Wilson's intent early on, he never really gives Medway anything to strive for, beyond simple survival. Medway never really seems to care about the various people dying around him, but he seeks justice for them nonetheless. His code is perhaps too fuzzy to understand, and that might have been Wilson's goal, but Wilson did the character no favors by not letting him grow within the course of the book.
The real draw of this book (and I suspect the whole series) is the setting. West Africa is no paradise, and Wilson shows us this. It's corrupt and violent, with miles of distance between the haves and the have-nots. Despite the fact that it has been decades since the region has been under direct European Imperial rule, one of the central issues, Wilson reminds us, is that the Europeans never left. They come back, fulfill their own interests (be it diamonds, be it political instability), and then leave while West Africa is force to pick up the pieces. Moreover, Wilson also makes it clear that this situation exists because native born African elites benefit by it. But even more basically, Wilson evokes a place that is hot, humid, and depressed. Wilson's efforts to instill a sense of indignation in his reader is a success.
On the whole, I did like "The Big Killing," although not as much as I expected to when I flipped through it. That's a little unfair on my part, I suppose. Hopefully, with more realistic expectations, I can enjoy the rest of the Medway series.
Not Impressed........2004-01-27
I have heard and read much acclaim of Robert Wilson's novels, but "The Big Killing" left me unimpressed. The African atmosphere made a good starting point, but the story is pieced together haphazardly with characters floating into and out of the narrative without realistic explanation or credibility. At the novel's conclusion, I was left with more questions than answers. Wilson clearly possesses the story-telling tools; he simply needs to work on his plot development and characterizations. "The Big Killing" isn't bad, just disjointed. A little more time at the re-write desk would have helped!
A take-no-prisoners adventure.......2003-11-02
Edgy and brutal, Wilson's The Big Killing is a wild ride through the lawless territory of West Africa, where greed rules and bodies lie trampled in its wake like so much fertilizer. If possible, the Dark Continent has become even darker, as portrayed by Wilson, while the lush natural bounty and untapped resources are attacked by raptors with the power to plunder and destroy with impunity.
Diamonds are the source of intrigue, theft and murder, providing profit that allows the importation of weapons in an ongoing battle for tribal ascendance. There is a longstanding system of mass murder by one so-called "legitimate" government after another, backed by various interests to assert control over an area too rich to escape notice. The cost in lives hardly matters to these players, because this population is expendable and self-perpetuating. Scores of bodies accrue, a testament of man's inhumanity to man, the numbers so outrageous that they beg believability. Still the violence continues unabated.
Bruce Medway makes his living as a fixer, a man willing to do "bits of business, management, organization, negotiations, transactions and debt collection". He won't involve himself in anything criminal or domestic, finding such things too quickly out of control. When a stranger asks Medway to do a quick job, a drop, it will spell the end of Bruce's financial woes and allow him to pay off his current debt. Either from stubbornness or hubris, Medway agrees to get involved, even though his intuition is screaming a warning against this venture. This one bad decision begets a series of confrontations that are ever more complicated and violent, where one intention obscures another and things grow more dangerous by the hour. The bodies pile up as quickly as the introduction of nefarious characters with hidden agendas, while Medway hops from one brush with death to another, never quite able to catch his breath. His small islands of respite are the nightmare-riddled dreams of alcohol-induced sleep.
Wilson is a master craftsman, a talented storyteller who reads like Robert Stone, combining radical themes, blending a seamless plot that doesn't compromise or disappoint. From the decadent porn purveyors to diamond smugglers, arms merchants to corrupt police officials, Wilson creates a range of characters from thin air, sending them spiraling into the killing fields of a war-torn and criminalized Africa.
Against this dramatic and violent background, Wilson writes with a moral clarity of the intense struggle of a continent made dark by the interminable abuses of exploiters. This is political-mystery/fiction at its most powerful, pointing the reader toward awareness of the brutal reality that is Africa today, the indiscriminate use of power, the pillaging of natural resources and the political ascendancy of particular agendas. Once you start, be prepared to keep reading to the final pages. I did and when I was finished, Wilson gained another enthusiastic fan. Luan Gaines/ 2003.
Book Description
Fatal Deception juxtaposes the true story of one small town against the shocking scientific, political, and economic realities of this global problem. In Libby, Montana, vermiculite mining hurtled the town from abject poverty to prosperity. More than 16 million homes in the United States are insulated with Zonolite (a type of asbestos) from Libby. However, now Libby has asbestos poisoning rates 60 times higher than the average U.S. community. One third of the entire town has been diagnosed with asbestos poisoning or cancer. Bowker points out that there are 100 asbestos-like minerals contained in American products, and the EPA monitors only 6. The 3,000 products that contain asbestos include children's clothing, baby powder, and brakes for American cars. In this disturbing expos, Bowker reveals how big corporations are covering up the asbestos problem-and getting away with it. Fatal Deception includes an investigation into the profit and cash flow from the sale of asbestos, which experts believe exceeds that of even tobacco. It is estimated that if brought to justice, U.S. companies could pay billions of dollars in damages. He calls for justice for those who are already suffering and encourages future efforts to reduce exposure.
Customer Reviews:
Bowker is good........2007-02-13
Great and insightful book into an industry with a dark past. I work in the abatement industry and found this book fascinating.
It can happen to you - it may have already!.......2006-03-07
This book, along with "An Air That Kills", should be required reading for everyone. The asbestos epidemic is just starting to escalate, and this book explains why it has been allowed to do so. Think your government cares? Think again! I've been a nurse for 30 years, and I never saw a case of asbestos disease until recently. In 2002 I was diagnosed with asbestos cancer (mesothelioma) as were six others in my community. The other six are all dead now, and I wait for the reaper to take me. I got my lethal exposure from a single home renovation project 30 years ago. I was unaware that any structure built in the 50's, 60's, 70's or 80's is packed with asbestos. So I went from sanding drywall to losing a lung and my life. No exposure is safe - the EPA knew this a quarter of a century a go, yet they remained silent. If there's a scarier manifest about how expendable citizens are to the corporations and politicians, I've yet to encounter it. Read and beware, America!!
The writing leaves something to be desired........2004-04-21
The story told in this book is shocking and should be more widely known - unfortunately the writing in this book is disjointed and poorly organized. After a while, I became bored simply because there was no continuous thread in the book leading me forward - just an assemblage of anecdotes with no real cumulative effect. This is a shame because the story should be far more riveting than it is - and it would be, if told by a more skillful writer - for instance, if this book had been written by Jonathan Harr, author of "A Civil Action."
Warning: This Book May Be Hazardous to Your Blood Pressure........2003-06-02
Let me say right up front that I am a steadfast supporter of the free market. However, it serves neither the free market nor humanity when giant corporations are run by people who are no better than mass murderers. Exaggeration? Read this book and see if you still think so. I read "Fatal Deception" because a friend of mine and his wife acquired a vacation cabin in Libby, Montana a few years back. When newspaper reports began appearing about the widespread asbestos poisoning there, I asked if that was the same town. "Yep," he replied with a disgusted sigh. "We call it our own little Three Mile Island, Montana." (Fortunately, the relative who'd given them the cabin later demanded it back.)
The straightforward language, excellent pacing, and suspense-building structure of "Fatal Deception" make it a hard book to put down. Author Michael Bowker skillfully weaves heartwrenching victims' stories with damning excerpts from documents proving that for over sixty years the asbestos industry and the U.S. government concealed scientific evidence that would have prevented thousands of agonizing deaths. At least as far back as the 1930s, industry higher-ups knew that exposure to asbestos was extremely dangerous. Yet not only did they fail to warn their workers, they brazenly lied and assured them all that dust they were breathing and taking home on their clothes was harmless. Faced with growing medical evidence to the contrary, the asbestos companies conspired in a long-lasting cover-up that successfully hid the truth from the public so that asbestos workers and their families wouldn't discover the dangers to which they were exposing themselves. The industry had help in this cover-up, of course, from good old Uncle Sam.
"Fatal Deception" is not merely a sickening portrait of coldblooded corporate greed, but a wake-up call that vividly illustrates why the U.S. government will never behave with integrity until Americans stop electing politicians willing to prostitute themselves to whichever special-interest groups stick the most money down their pants. Angry? You bet I am. By the time you finish this book, you will be, too.
The information in this book surprised me........2003-03-19
This book caught my attention because my husband just died of mesothelioma. I wondered how he got it because he did not work around asbestos. I learned from the book that, contrary to my assumption, asbestos has not been banned because of the powerful influence of the asbestos industry on Congress. The book reported that many products contain asbestos - things like brake pads, floor tile, shingles, insulation that my husband came in contact with because he was a "do-it-yourselfer". And the book outraged me in describing how many companies that mined or manufactured asbestos products knew of the dangers to their employees and did nothing to protect them. The book was very informative and well documented and yet it was a real horror story of big business completely disregarding human life in the search for the almighty dollar.
Customer Reviews:
Well Written, but not History.......2007-10-03
The late James Welch is ranked among American Indian writers like N. Scott Momaday, Leslie Marmon Silko and Gerald Visenor. His skill as a writer is evident in KILLING CUSTER: THE BATTLE OF THE LITTLE BIGHORN AND THE FATE OF THE PLAINS INDIANS which was published in 1994.
Paul Stekler, a talented filmmaker from Massachusetts is listed as the co-author. He persuaded Welch to write a documentary about Custer and the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Stekler hoped to make a film about the battle from "the Indian point of view." Welch, a member of Montana's Blackfeet Tribe from Browning, was "the Indian."
In fact, Welch used to refer to himself that way. He eschewed phrases like "Native American" or "Amerindian" in favor of "Indian." I rather liked that about him.
Welch didn't know much about Custer, or the Battle of the Little Bighorn and he never seemed especially interested in them. He resolved that issue by writing another classical James Welch book. His works were being translated into French and most other European languages and he was even Knighted in France. Sir James was made a Chevalier de l' Ordre des Art et des Lettres of France in 2000.
I have always suspected that Sir James put one over on us unwashed commoners in KILLING CUSTER. The book is well written and, if you like Welch's literary style, you'll like this book. It does not, however, really describe either General Custer, his death, or the battle in which he fell.
So, if you actually want to know something about the General and the Battle, this is the wrong book. That doesn't make it a bad book, just a misleading one. I like KILLING CUSTER, but it impresses me more as another of Sir James' novels rather than a work of history.
Misses the Mark.......2007-08-06
If you have never read an account of the Sioux Wars and Custer's defeat at the Little Big Horn, you will probably enjoy this weak attempt at history. Very early in the book it will become obvious to the trained reader that the author is not well versed on this topic. To students and scholars of this event and time period, you will be very disappointed as there is nothing new in this volume, but much has been left out and slanted for the author's own agenda. For much more objective history I recommend The Custer Reader edited by Paul Hutton and Robert Utley, Centennial Campaign: The Sioux War of 1876, Custer's Luck by Edgar Stewart and for a solid biography on Custer, try Cavalier in Buckskin by Robert Utley.
For True Indian Perspective, Look Elsewhere.......2006-08-15
Unfortunately, this book misses the mark and is of little value. Some of the information on the making of the documentary might be of remote interest to those interested in such things but the author is too enmeshed in the politics of the present and therefore fails to shed light on the past. For that reason, this book will probably have more value many years from now as people look back at the politics of the battlefield in the 1990s but even with that, it is limited as it lacks objectivity. My hardback edition has nice maps on the inside covers and a nice layout of photographs but that is hardly a reason to buy this book.
For those interested in Indian primary source accounts on the Little Big Horn as a means of better understanding them and the battle, see the following:
W.A. Graham, THE CUSTER MYTH, a classic, no Custer library is complete without it.
Greg Michno, LAKOTA NOON, c. 1997, an excellent effort at bringing about a coherent synthesis of testimony and matching it to a plausible timeline of events. Testimony summarzied and augmented by an excellent narrative that keeps everything on track. Maps galore that are highly useful.
Walter Camp, CUSTER IN 76, contains his notes on various interviews he conducted with Indian as well as soldier survivors.
Richard Hardorff and his numerous and excellent books that contribute to our knowledge, especially CHEYENNE MEMORIES OF THE CUSTER FIGHT; LAKOTA RECOLLECTIONS OF THE CUSTER FIGHT; INDIAN VIEWS OF THE CUSTER FIGHT. With the recent placement of markers appproximating the places where Lakota and Cheyenne warriors fell, his book entitled HOKAHEY! INDIAN CASUALTIES OF THE CUSTER FIGHT is essential to have when visiting the battlefield.
Good effort, but..........2005-12-06
The author perhaps should confine his efforts to Blackfeet history ---rather than stretching to include them in a theatre in which they had no part.
If anything was interesting in this book, it would have to be how Custer continues to shape the identities of those who have agendas to push and paradigms to sell. Certainly, the historical perspective was biased to the point that it became just more stereotypical static.
Holding-up a Mirror --- and some don't like what they see.......2005-07-25
During WWII, they were called "Einsatzgruppen." Long a student of both WWII and 19th Century US history, the parallels in some respect stand-out clearly - and Custer buffs don't like it.
The authors present a compelling synposis of the "cleansing" of the native tribes from the northern plains. Especially interesting is the presentation of the subjugation of the Blackfeet nation in the years prior to the Army's (Sherman and Sheridan's War Dept.) on the Lakota, Cheyenne and Arapaho.
Custer was an instrument - a product of his time, but a willing instrument nonetheless. The shameful actions of this period can only be healed with honest accounting - and thats what the authors accomplish with this work.
The narative is highly readable, engaging, and written with a clarity and perspective of the Native peoples. Yes, it contains commentary - sometimes scathing. On the other had, I defy anyone to find a historical work on NAZI Germany in which such editorializing is absent.
Customer Reviews:
Kind of/Kind of not.......2007-10-11
Good characters, vivid Wall St./New York backdrop. Heroine quite naive in reading people, not picking up on clues, to be a brilliant connector oe people and positions. Perhaps better for those knowledgeable about financial workings.
Good news for mystery readers!.......2001-06-20
Thanks to the success of her newest series, featuring Olivia Brown (Free Love, Murder Me Now), the publishing world has rediscovered Annette Meyers and is reissuing her classing Wall St. series - the "Smith & Wetzon" books.
The Big Killing, the first in this series, and arguably the best, was first printed in 1989 and led the way for a view into the fast-paced, self indulgent world of wall street traders and the executives who "headhunt" them for New York firms. Meyers inserts her personal knowledge of Wall St. and couples it with her fascination and experience in musical theatre. Both Wall St. and Broadway are caricature settings for excessive behaviors, and you will find a lot of caricature characters in Meyers' series. Leading the way is Xenia Smith (a quote: "It's about money, it's always about money"), partner in executive search with Leslie Wetzon, a former Broadway dancer. Smith is amusing and always entertaining, with her series of rich paramours and her need to stick her nose into everyone's business, especially Wetzon's.
More finely drawn are the characters of Wetzon, Silvestri (think George Clooney in need of a shave) and Carlos Prince, who can literally jump off the pages of these books. New York city sights also play a starring role, and Meyers delights in refamiliarizing those of us no longer in the city with descriptions of local landmarks that make the books come alive. My favorite? Steven Sondheim's residence, at which Wetzon always pays homage by the tip of a beret.
The Big Killing starts off with a "bang", as Barry Stark, eager to jump to another firm, gets killed at the site of a clandestine meeting with Wetzon. Shocked by the incident, Wetzon gets drawn deeper and deeper into the mystery, which stays a mystery until the final pages of the novel. Readers will be moved by the need and the caring that is generated by the Wetzon-Silvestri relationship, no matter how many times Wetzon gets involved with another man.
Read the Big Killing, and then enjoy the rest of the series (starting with "Tender Death") as they are released again for new fans of this interesting author. Enjoy!
The Big Killing.......2001-06-05
Anette Meyers' description of characters is so colorful and complete that you can actually see the characters. She has an uncanny way of describing each situation and feelings that she makes you feel as though it were happening to you. "The Big Killing" is a story about the stock market, stock brokers, head hunters and murder. The twist and turns in the plot makes it difficult to put the book down. It's a story about strong willed women in a man's world. It makes you want to be like them when you grow up, even if you're over ninety. For the mystery lover, this is a must.
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THE BIG KILLING.
Manufacturer: Western Book Club
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ASIN: 0709001711 |
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Cereal Killers: How the Big Food Companies Are Killing Us--and What We Can Do About It
Al Watson
Manufacturer: Bronze Bow Publishing
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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 1932458344 |
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This book is a sober look at what Americans are eating, and how most cereals affect our biochemistry.
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An awfully big adventure: killing death in war stories for children.: An article from: Papers: Explorations into Children's Literature
Alison Halliday
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
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This digital document is an article from Papers: Explorations into Children's Literature, published by Thomson Gale on December 1, 2006. The length of the article is 4405 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: An awfully big adventure: killing death in war stories for children.
Author: Alison Halliday
Publication:
Papers: Explorations into Children's Literature (Magazine/Journal)
Date: December 1, 2006
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 16
Issue: 2
Page: 90(6)
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
When a solitary man stumbles upon a cache of photographs, sometimes—and only sometimes—he can sense the lives of the people in them. Sometimes he can find in their faces and in the way they hold themselves or the way they perform before the camera, the light trace of their story. Following just that path, acclaimed novelist Frederick Reuss has created a love story of historic proportions. Mohr: A Novel is about a man and wife whose life together is marked irreparably by a deeply troubled and world-testing era. With the sort of enthralling narrative step that always marks his work, Reuss allows their story to rise from a cache of photographs he uncovered in Germany—photographs from the 1920s and '30s of the exiled Jewish playwright and novelist Max Mohr; Käthe, the beautiful wife he left behind; and Eva, their daughter, who would live through it all but would never really understand what had happened. The interplay between Reuss's revealing prose and the real faces in nearly 50 photographs offers a reading experience that may be unprecedented in novels.
From the first paragraph and that first creased image, which Eva may have taken, of the Mohrs at their table in Germany just before Max walked away from their lives, this beautiful and powerful novel works as deeply on the reader as a family photo album.
Customer Reviews:
From Germany to Shanghai.......2006-07-15
Max Mohr was a German Jewish writer and doctor who left Germany for Shanghai in 1934 and died in Shanghai in 1937. This is a fictionalized account of his story, full of actual photographs that follow the plot as Mohr recounts his life in the German countryside where he lives on a farm with his wife, Kathe and daughter, Eva. It's an idyllic life but fraught with despair as Mohr's books are banned by the Nazis and he is forced to leave before the Holocaust starts. But he finds war in China as well when the Japanese attack and as a doctor he spends time treating casualties, and eventually becomes one himself when he dies from a heart attack, at least that's what we're told, but he may have been killed because he was Jewish. In China, he falls in love with a nurse and they travel to Japan for a holiday. Mohr actually stays upbeat throughout, always ready with a humorous comment for anyone he comes in contact with. He's not really concerned with his Jewishness although the trauma he experiences is something he reflects on and becomes part of his philosophy, which mixes upbeat humor with the emptiness of life in a cruel, cruel world. Kathe isn't Jewish and remains in Germany, tending the farm and living amicably, but constantly thinking about Mohr, reminiscing about their time together and wondering if they will ever see other again. The book combines the events of their lives with their perceptions of them, which are sometimes philosophical, sometimes bittersweet.
An original story of one man's most intimate struggle with himself and the family he leaves behind .......2006-06-10
Frederick Reuss' Mohr: A Novel is the engagingly entertaining tale of Jewish author, playwright, and medical doctor, Max Mohr and his decision to embark upon a voyage to the far shores of Shanghai. The journey presents many unforeseen difficulties resulting in the necessity for a series of relentless struggles. But Max is determined to leave his wife and family in order to distance himself from the ravages of war in Europe for what he perceive will be a quiet life in a beautiful China, all the while his expedition is unwittingly leading himself directly into the heart of a war in China Mohr is very highly recommended reading as an original story of one man's most intimate struggle with himself and the family he leaves behind for what turns out to be an unexpected future.
Curious Historical Novel.......2006-06-06
Though this novel is rich with historical depictions of Germany and China of the 30s there seems to be an enigmatic quality about events and motivations of the main characters. Their motivations and reactions or lack of reaction to intimate happenings in their lives leaves one quizzical and uneasy. Personally I felt a little estranged from the main characters which left me a little cold. From the historical perspective the book is fascinating and greatly worth reading. There is detailed insight to what was developing and unraveling inside Germany and China during this period.
super insightful historical novel.......2006-06-06
Jewish author Dr. Max Mohr, whose latest work The Diamond Heart had just been serialized, leaves his native Nazi Germany for war torn China. On the morning he is to depart from his home in the Tegernsee Valley, his weary wife Kathe is sad as if she knows something about her spouse's journey. She wonders why not some place closer like Prague unless they are to remain apart. Their young daughter Eva is excited as her father says his two women will join him soon, but though mom does not dissuade her otherwise she feels that is youthful foolishness. There he becomes a physician in Shanghai while his daughter waits word from him to join him and his wife waits for something else.
Though feeling more like a memoir narrative told in alternating chapters in China (Max's adventures) and Germany (the tales of Kathe and Eva) than a novel, biographical fiction readers will enjoy this interesting look at the highly regarded playwright. The story line is pieced together from family photographs that Frederick Reuss saw with approximately fifty included (part of why the book reads more like a memoir). This is a well written and fascinating period piece that enables readers to compare mid 1930s Germany and China with characters that seem so genuine that the audience can feel the pain of Kathe and the change from euphoria to doubter in Eve. Many readers will be disappointed that Mr. Reuss finally cannot explain why Mohr didn't take his family. Still this is a super insightful historical novel.
Harriet Klausner
"Smashing human connections is the easiest thing in the world to do.".......2006-05-16
Max Mohr was one of author Frederick Reuss's distant relatives, his grandfather's favorite uncle--a physician, friend of D. H. Lawrence, successful playwright, and novelist, who died mysteriously in Shanghai in 1937. Reuss has spent years searching archives for information about Mohr, whose writings were burned by the Nazis. He wants to know, especially, why Mohr left his wife and child, whom he apparently adored, in rural Wolfsgrub, Germany, and, in 1934, set out for China, alone. Using a cache of almost fifty family photographs to provide form for his novel, Reuss now reconstructs the engrossing story of Mohr and his wife Kathe, some of it from letters, much of it imagined.
The result is an insightful story of identity, as Mohr reveals who he is, who he was, and who he might have been. By alternating the setting and point of view between Mohr in Shanghai and his wife Kathe in Wolfsgrub, Reuss establishes dramatic contrasts between Kathe's rural farm life and Max's frantic urban life as he works as a physician during the Chinese civil war and China's battle against Japan. Gradually, the reader recognizes Mohr's inherent contradictions: his apolitical nature but his pragmatism about his future as a Jew in Germany; his naivete in traveling from China to Japan to climb Mount Fuji during Japan's war with China; his love for Kathe and his daughter even as he begins a new relationship; his determination to save lives in China during its war, while leaving his wife and half-Jewish daughter behind in Germany.
As time shifts back and forth, a full picture of Mohr evolves. Mohr recognizes that "he has no good choices...that no good can possibly come from any path he chooses to take," whether he stays in China, returns to his family, or moves elsewhere. "It is only the moment that is real. But it is also only the moment that passes." Ultimately, the reader realizes that the lives of Mohr and Kathe involve a "question of separate destinies, how to be together and apart at the same time."
In exceptionally clear, straightforward prose, Reuss creates an intimate portrait of Mohr and Kathe, while making thoughtful observations about life and human nature. Wartime Shanghai, with all its horror, is seen peripherally here--as it directly affects the life and thinking of Mohr--and when Mohr's story concludes in 1937, the reader is not surprised by the outcome. Ultimately, Mohr remains an enigma, a man who lived in the moment and who, like most of us, can never really be known. As author Reuss journeys into the past, he illustrates one of Kathe's observations about Mohr: "So much of who we are is also all that never was." Mary Whipple
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- Nilda Review
- an unpretentious and realistic story
- Nilda is for no doubt an excellent book.
- An engaging look at growing up Puerto Rican in New York
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Nilda;: A novel
Nicholasa Mohr
Manufacturer: Harper & Row
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
Children's Books | Subjects | Books | Baby-3 | Ages 4-8 | Ages 9-12 | Animals | Arts & Music | Books on Cassette | Books on CD | Authors & Illustrators, A-Z | Computers | Educational | History & Historical Fiction | Issues | Literature | Obsessions | People & Places | Popular Characters | Reference & Nonfiction | Religions | Science, Nature & How It Works | Series | Sports & Activities
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ASIN: 0060243317 |
Customer Reviews:
Nilda Review.......2002-03-28
Nilda, written by Nicholasa Mohr is set in the early 1940's. It details the life of a little Puerto Rican girl who lives in a poor neighborhood in New York City that she she calls the "Barrio". Nilda deals with many of life's problems including racism, death, relationships and many more. Race is a fairly large issue for Nilda. Nilda learns and matures greatly throughout this book. Travel through the life and eyes of Nilda as she tries to deal with her crazy family. Her family includes her step dad Emilio, her mother Lydia, her great Aunt Delia, her oldest brother Jimmy, Victor, Paul, and finally Frankie. Nilda is the youngest. Nicholasa's writingis very detailed without being overly specific. Nicholasa uses simple words and phrases to make the reader understand, yet the images she portrays are unbelievabe. The imagination of a young mind such as Nilda made this book a refreshing read that I thoroughly enjoyed. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who likes biographies.
an unpretentious and realistic story.......2001-09-13
Finally, I get to read a young adult coming-of-age book that doesn't pretend to be anything it isn't! It isn't a grandiose book of romance and drugs and wonder, with the teenager becoming a hero or tragic hero. It's just a simple story of a poor New York born Puerto Rican girl hitting her adolescence during WWII, a story of love, pain, fear, discrimination, poverty, abuse, narrow-minded immigrants, relationship problems, puberty, desire for upward mobility - but none of it told in the sensational or overly dramatic way of so many young adult books. It's simple, to the point, discreet. It reminds me of that statement some famous movie director said about another director: "He showed us more with a closed door than most directors do with an open zipper." It was a book I could enjoy. It didn't have a strong plot, but it had powerful flesh-and-blood character with hearts and desires. I would say that the main character struck me as depressed, and actually, you might say most or all of the people in the book - or perhaps the culture at the time - walked around in a cloud of low-level depression.
Although I gave the book five stars, it wasn't the kind of book that sets stars blazing in the sky. It was just a no-nonsense and no-frills portrayal of a time, a place, and a culture... I would whole-heartedly recommend it.
Nilda is for no doubt an excellent book........1999-08-01
The book Nilda was an excellent book that touched right through to me. The vivid descriptions of each and every scene in the book was very helpful to the reader to understand the book better and to feel that you are really inside the story. The way Nicholasa Mohr described the little Puerto Rican girl Nilda's feelings was very interesting, Nicolasa went straight to the little girl's heart and told everything. Overall, this is an exceptional story about hardship and discrimination that could be faced by everyday people.
An engaging look at growing up Puerto Rican in New York.......1998-12-09
N. Mohr's story of a young girl Puerto Rican girl growing up in New York, provides a poignant, often funny look at some of the issues faced by Boricuas living in the U.S. Issues such as race, religion, and machismo are all treated in the work. In fact, one of the distinguishing characteristics of this book is the manner in which such potentially sensitive issues are treated.
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Atlantis
Ulrich Mohr
Manufacturer: Longanesi
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
All German Books | German | Foreign Language Books | Specialty Stores | Books
ASIN: B000UE7MPC |
Product Description
Una nave da carico tozza e pacifica con due scialuppe bianche bene in vista, batte le rottr delle mercantili che trasportano viveri e combustibili alli inghilterra, divenuta un isola assediata durante l'ultimo confilitto mondiale.
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Guantanamo: A Novel
Dorothea Dieckmann
Manufacturer: Soft Skull Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Literary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1933368543 |
Book Description
At the beginning of the Afghan war, young Rashid, born in Hamburg to an Indian father and a German mother, travels to India to claim an inheritance. There, he befriends a young Afghan and continues his journey to Peshawar, where he ends up in the middle of an anti-American demonstration. He is arrested, handed over to the Americans, and taken to the notorious Guantanamo.
What ensues is a remarkable literary experiment, a novel based on meticulous research. In six scenes, it describes Rashid’s life at the camp. Sensitive yet utterly unsentimental, the novel explores the existential consequences of isolation, suppression, and uncertainty — paralyzing fear, psychotic delusions, manic identification with fellow prisoners, and ultimately, resignation. Written with fierce moral clarity and a remarkable economy of expression, Guantanamo functions as both a political statement and a fascinating examination of the prisoner/jailer relationship.
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Worlds Apart? Dualism and Transgression in Contemporary Female Dystopias (Critical Explorations in Science Fiction and Fantasy) (Critical Explorations in Science and Fantasy)
Dunja M. Mohr
Manufacturer: McFarland & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General | Classics | United States | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
20th Century | History & Criticism | United States | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
General | History & Criticism | United States | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Women | History & Criticism | United States | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
20th Century | British | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Women Writers & Feminist Theory | Books & Reading | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books | Classics | Comic | Contemporary | Literary
General | Criticism & Theory | History & Criticism | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
General | Women's Studies | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Women Writers | Women's Studies | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
History & Criticism | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
History & Criticism | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ASIN: 0786421428
Release Date: 2005-06-01 |
Product Description
Literary critics and scholars have written extensively on the demise of the utopian spirit in the modern novel. What has often been overlooked is the emergence of a new hybrid subgenre, particularly in science fiction and fantasy, which incorporates utopian strategies within the dystopian narrative, particularly in the feminist dystopias of the 1980s and 1990s. The author names this new subgenre transgressive utopian dystopias. Suzette Haden Elgin's Native Tongue trilogy, Suzy McKee Charna's Holdfast series, and Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale are thoroughly analyzed within the context of this this new subgenre of transgressive utopian dystopias. Analysis focuses particularly on how these works cover the interrelated categories of gender, race and class, along with their relationship to classic literary dualism and the dystopian narrative. Without completely dissolving the dualistic order, the feminist dystopias studied here contest the notions of unambiguity and authenticity that are generally part of the canon.
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Novel-ties
Brenda Holt McGee
Manufacturer: Learning Links
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
General | Education | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
General | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0006QKJCC |
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UC Untitled Nicholasa Mohr Novel
Nicholasa Mohr
Manufacturer: Viking Juvenile
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Children's Books | Subjects | Books | Baby-3 | Ages 4-8 | Ages 9-12 | Animals | Arts & Music | Books on Cassette | Books on CD | Authors & Illustrators, A-Z | Computers | Educational | History & Historical Fiction | Issues | Literature | Obsessions | People & Places | Popular Characters | Reference & Nonfiction | Religions | Science, Nature & How It Works | Series | Sports & Activities
ASIN: 0670862207 |
Books:
- The Blind Man of Seville
- The Cactus Club Killings
- The Cat Who Knew Shakespeare (Cat Who...)
- The Cradle Robbers (Mommy-Track Mysteries)
- The Equity Risk Premium: The Long-Run Future of the Stock Market
- The Grave Maurice
- The Grifters
- The Holy Thief: The Nineteenth Chronicle of Brother Cadfael
- The Jesus Creed: Loving God, Loving Others
- The Mask of Apollo: A Novel
Books Index
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