as i recall, this was both entertaining and thought-provoking. long book, but worth its while.

"dealing - amongst other things - with friendship, love, war, three cultures and three generations, one brown mouse, and the tricky way the past has of coming back and biting you on the ankle, it is a life-affirming, riotous must-read of a book."

the book has been taken to a bc-meeting today. a semi-controlled release.

Finally I managed to read this book. This just isn't my type of book. There were bits that I liked but there were a lot of boring parts, too. I usually like long books, but this just seemed endless. I will not read this book again.

Will be given to chirel at the coming bookcrossing meeting.

At our very first meeting two months ago there were two copies of this book and I didn't get either of them. After all this waiting (I had almost forgotten about the book), I got it. Now I only need to find time to read it.

The book is going to niisku after I've read it. (Please don't hold your breath, it might take some time.)

***

January 21, 2004

I loved this book.

I love stories that have no real beginning and no real ending. Stories of families and fate. Zadie Smith has an inspiring style. The book is funny and touching. All the characters seem to come alive.

The funny thing is that when I started reading this in November, it was almost impossible for me to read it. I put it aside for a while and started again in Janyary, and devoured the book. If there's something I didn't like in this books it's the use of dialects and such. I'm not that used to jamaican way of speaking english, so it was sometimes difficult to understand the dialogues. It took me a long time to figure some things out. And I kept wondering how on earth anyone is to translate this book. But the story was great.

This will remain among my personal classics.

I got the book from Chirel at our BC-meeting today. From what I've heard, this should be good. I'll let you know if I agree...