Journal Entry 1 by Shan80 from Sunshine Coast, Queensland Australia on Friday, August 07, 2009

In 1942 Charlotte Gray, a young Scottish woman, heads for occupied France on a dual mission - officially to run a simple errand for a British special ops group (a mission that could get her killed, mind you), and unofficially to search for her lover, a pilot who's missing in action.

I'm pretty sure I saw the movie and thought it was BORING (I can't even really remember it), but I thought I'd give the book a go since it's so critically acclaimed. Having read it now, I think if I was going to score it wholly on literary merit I'd give it a 9 - if I was going to go on how much I enjoyed it, probably a 5 (which is why I've gone somewhere in the middle there).

The character Charlotte is so bloody annoying you just want to bash her over the head with something. Plus she's a loose cannon - she goes maverick in France and does her own thing, not really cool when you're supposed to be on a special ops mission. However, there's an excellent sub-plot involving two Jewish boys in the town where Charlotte is based - Charlotte helps hide them when their parents are carted off by the Nazis.

It's hard to say much more without giving away the ending. However, using a remarkably simple device, the author ties together the wildly disparate fates of the two boys, Charlotte, and her missing pilot right at the end in a way that left me feeling quite gutted. 

Journal Entry 2 by goodthinkingmax from Sydney, New South Wales Australia on Tuesday, August 11, 2009

This is in my hands now, picked up at a lovely Bookcrossers' lunch at Long Reef. I don't think I will read it as I have seen the movie but I did recently enjoy reading my first book by Sebastian Faulks, Birdsong. I will see if another Bookcrosser would like to read this. 

Journal Entry 3 by tqd from Sydney, New South Wales Australia on Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Picked up at bookdrinks tonight on the basis of really good recommendations for his other book, Birdsong. (Yes, this is how my mind works.) Thanks goodthinkingmax! 

Journal Entry 4 by tqd at Crown Hotel, Elizabeth St in Sydney CBD, New South Wales Australia on Tuesday, September 08, 2009

Released 2 yrs ago (9/8/2009 UTC) at Crown Hotel, Elizabeth St in Sydney CBD, New South Wales Australia

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

Returning to meetup (bookdrinks!) tonight, unread, I am sorry to say. (So many books, so little time...)

Happy hunting/reading! 

Journal Entry 5 by tycho-brahe from Sydney, New South Wales Australia on Tuesday, September 08, 2009

To be read. 

Journal Entry 6 by tycho-brahe from Sydney, New South Wales Australia on Thursday, September 17, 2009

I read this fairly quickly, I loved it.
Well "harrowing" may a better description, definitely engaging.
I haven't see the movie, I will look out for it now.

This may be one of the first WWII narratives I've read with a
focus on the personal. (I've seen plenty in film and documentary, and
certainly read plenty of more objective material on the war.)

So I knew it was horrible, but Charlotte Gary helped me feel how horrible it was.
Although without giving anything away, not everything you feel could go wrong
does. So overall the book is optimistic.

I finished the book and was almost immediately listening to an NPR (www.npr.org)
podcast about anti Roma (Gipsy) violence in Hungary, with an interviews with a representative
of a right wing (neo nazi) party who didn't like the Roma because they were "too poor" and
didn't like the Jews because they were "too rich", plus a simple but "complete" consipracy theory
about why they weren't responsible for the violence. (So not just an old problem.)