Picador Modern Classics The Great Fire, (Paperback)

from whirled

Shirley Hazzard and her late husband were friends with Graham Greene, and I can see shades of the latter's work in The Great Fire. I don't mean to suggest Hazzard's style is derivative, merely that she shares his talent for describing characters thrown into chaotic situations overseas. For me the...

from BlackSheepDances

The further I distance myself from this novel the more I dislike it. I read it fairly eagerly, as the story was intriguing and the setting, post WWII Asia, was fascinating. I initially reviewed it favorably, but whenever I think back, I realize how unrealistic it was. In summary, a British war he...

from LisaMorr

Beautifully written novel about a soldier after WWII. A decorated veteran, Aldred Leith 'walked' across China in the two years after the war to document a China that would be forever changed by the Chinese Civil War. He then arrives in Japan to survey the aftermath of Hiroshima, where he meets an...

from eronston

This novel takes place after the conclusion of the Second World War. The protagonist (who was a minor hero in the British army) has just spent two years traveling around China, gathering data to write a book. He comes to Japan after his journey and meets Ben and Helen, two Austrailian youths (the...

from Gary10

Slow building, elegantly written taole of a British solider in Japan following World War II. Turns into a love story between the soldier and a young girl displaced by the War. Ultimately satisfying and very well written.