The Ginger Tree
Registered by rem_SGW-360761 on 2/24/2009
8 journalers for this copy...
Going to a winner of my "Win Something and Do Something in Return" Contest! Enjoy!
This book was waiting for me when I returned home from my trip. Thanks!!
From the book jacket..."Betrothed to a military attache in Peking, twenty-year-old Mary MacKenzie sets sail for China with a frugal trousseau and a suffocating chaperone. But Mary, a young Scotswoman, is lively, curious, unspoiled. The year is 1903, and it will not be long before she scandalizes the British in Peking by falling into an adulterous affair with a young Japanese nobleman. Her odyssey begins in earnest when she is torn from her small daughter and turned out of the European community. How she survives in an ancient Eastern culture that barely tolerates women, much less Westerners, is the story of The Ginger Tree, a compelling novel that spans more than forty tumultuous years in the Far East--including two world wars and the cataclysmic Tokyo earthquake of 1923."
My thoughts...the story is told through letters and journal entries all written by Mary. I really cared for Mary. She may have been young and naive when she first arrived in Peking but she uses her smarts and strength to rise above all her adversities.
My thoughts...the story is told through letters and journal entries all written by Mary. I really cared for Mary. She may have been young and naive when she first arrived in Peking but she uses her smarts and strength to rise above all her adversities.
I decided to make a bookring with this book. The rules are pretty basic.
1. Journal when you receive the book.
2. Journal your thoughts after you read the book.
3. Pm the next person on the list for their address then journal when you mail the book. Media mail is fine.Please try to move the book on within a month. If you will be keeping it longer (life happens), please journal or pm me so that I know where the book is. Please be considerate of the people on the list after you who are still waiting to read this book.
4. Enjoy the book!
Participant mailing order:
1. carelaisa - Canada
2. megami-no-ushi - Canada
3. bananabrianna - Canada - asked to be skipped
4. minesayn - OH
5. Secretariat - CA
6. Aberpeter - WA -- book is here
1. Journal when you receive the book.
2. Journal your thoughts after you read the book.
3. Pm the next person on the list for their address then journal when you mail the book. Media mail is fine.Please try to move the book on within a month. If you will be keeping it longer (life happens), please journal or pm me so that I know where the book is. Please be considerate of the people on the list after you who are still waiting to read this book.
4. Enjoy the book!
Participant mailing order:
1. carelaisa - Canada
2. megami-no-ushi - Canada
3. bananabrianna - Canada - asked to be skipped
4. minesayn - OH
5. Secretariat - CA
6. Aberpeter - WA -- book is here
Journal Entry 5 by dabercro at BOOKRING, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- Canada on Friday, November 12, 2010
Released 13 yrs ago (11/12/2010 UTC) at BOOKRING, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- Canada
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
Sending to carelaisa in Quebec, Canada
got the book today!
looks like an interesting read... which I will get to this weekend, as I'm currently reading another book :)
thanks dabercro to sending the book my way :)
looks like an interesting read... which I will get to this weekend, as I'm currently reading another book :)
thanks dabercro to sending the book my way :)
Finally read it...
It’s a really good story, a nice historical atmosphere; the beginning is a bit slow though. The most interesting part is Mary’s life in Japan. Here, the use of letters and intimate journals to narrate fits perfectly well the story; it actually makes it more real. A good book that deserves to be read!
As for today, dec 13th, it's on its way to megami-no-ushi. It should get there just before Christmas but who knows with the postal system these days...
It’s a really good story, a nice historical atmosphere; the beginning is a bit slow though. The most interesting part is Mary’s life in Japan. Here, the use of letters and intimate journals to narrate fits perfectly well the story; it actually makes it more real. A good book that deserves to be read!
As for today, dec 13th, it's on its way to megami-no-ushi. It should get there just before Christmas but who knows with the postal system these days...
This came in the mail today with perfect timing as I just finished my book today at lunch! Hopefully the christmas rush will be over soon and I can get it travelling again soon!
Journal Entry 9 by megami-no-ushi at Bookring/Bookray, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- Canada on Monday, January 3, 2011
Released 13 yrs ago (12/31/2010 UTC) at Bookring/Bookray, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- Canada
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
Whoops, I forgot to journal this on New Years eve when this went out in the post at lunchtime. Bananabrianna asked to be skipped when I PMed her so I've sent it on to minesayn.
I really enjoyed this book and how the heroine always found a way to pick herself up and keep going, even through years of hardship and aching loss. I'm not sure I could have handled what she went through.
I thought the observation about "the most helpless thing in a man's world is a woman heavy with a child she's not supposed to have." (from memory so perhaps not 100% accurate) to be really poignant. I also found the ending to be really bittersweet.
I really enjoyed this book and how the heroine always found a way to pick herself up and keep going, even through years of hardship and aching loss. I'm not sure I could have handled what she went through.
I thought the observation about "the most helpless thing in a man's world is a woman heavy with a child she's not supposed to have." (from memory so perhaps not 100% accurate) to be really poignant. I also found the ending to be really bittersweet.
Just a update: the envelope was ripped in transit and the book lost. I've started a claim with the post office so will be able to get a new copy of the book but this will likely take a couple of weeks.
update 2: the claim went through so a new copy of the book is being shipped to Minesayn who will use the same BCID to label the replacement book. it won't be the same cover though...
Received via amazon.com from megami-no-ushi to replace the original that was destroyed in transit! Will read and pass on--thanks to dabercro for starting this ring, and megami-no-ushi for getting the replacement.
This is a novel about a woman from Scotland who travels to China to marry a man, but ends up in an affair with a Japanese man. Abandoned by her community, she travels to Japan and lives for the next forty years (through 2 World Wars and earthquakes and heartbreak). Well worth reading and learning about Japanese culture in the early 1900s.
Thanks dabercro for giving me the chance to read it...sorry it took so long!
Thanks dabercro for giving me the chance to read it...sorry it took so long!
On its way via media mail to Carlsbad...the book ring continues! (sorry to have taken so long, but thanks for the chance to read it).
Arrived safe and sound. I'm fascinated by the bio of the author. He was born to missionaries in Tokyo, lived there until going to college in Scotland, joins the Scots military, and during WWII is imprisoned in a Japanese camp where, frankly, he would have been a great deal of help to his fellow prisoners because he must have known the language and certainly would have known Japanese culture, something most of them knew nothing about. I wonder whether his knowledge made him a favorite of the guards or perhaps they hated him for it. Very interesting.
Anyway, I'll get to this as soon as possible. It's behind 4 others, but I should still get to it within the month. Thanks to dabercro for starting this.
Anyway, I'll get to this as soon as possible. It's behind 4 others, but I should still get to it within the month. Thanks to dabercro for starting this.
Generally I like epistolary novels. However, for some reason this book didn't resonate with me. Wynd has a nice writing style and I enjoyed seeing the world at the turn of the 20th Century in China, but I never really connected with the character and abandoned it in favor of books I enjoyed more.
On its way to Aberpeter today.
On its way to Aberpeter today.
I finished this book a while ago and never journaled it.
Even though I thought the overall story of Mary Mackenzie was a great tale to be told, I never really connected with her character and had a hard time focusing on her story. It was difficult to empathize with her character and to really care what path her life took.
Even though I thought the overall story of Mary Mackenzie was a great tale to be told, I never really connected with her character and had a hard time focusing on her story. It was difficult to empathize with her character and to really care what path her life took.
Adding to waternixie's wrap-it-up bookbox
From the wrap-it-up book box. Looks good.
