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Wendy
Evening Is the Whole Day
This is an excellent, horrible book. It is wonderfully written and very engaging. The story is basically told in reverse; we know what happens but not necessarily why until the last few chapters. The plot and characters truly embody the idea of the "sins of the fathers." No one in the book is blameless and few are likable, and yet it is too engaging to put down. The disturbing issues of political climate, class issues and headline crimes in Malaysia are a backdrop for the even more unsettling relationships between husband and wife, lover and lover, parent and child, brother and sister, old and young, servant and
…more landowner. The book does end with some hope and is well worth the read! There were times when I was revolted and disgusted, but I kept on reading. (less)It took me about 90 very slowly read pages to get into this book. I had trouble keeping the characters straight. However, after making a list of each, who they were, etc., I finally got into the novel. I totally loved her descriptions and began to feel as though I were in Malaysia, a country of which I know little. I enjoyed Samarasan's style of back-tracking which I found was never confusing. My one real criticism was her continual use of Malay words with no given translations. Overall, I enjoyed the book and would not hesitate to recommend it to my book club. I look forward to reading her next novel.
Anita
Nothing Matters
This book was interesting in that it gives an intimate picture about the culture and history of Malaysia, a country of which I know little. Her descriptions of everyday life are beautiful and really capture the moment in time. However, I found that there was too much detail which was unnecessary and somewhat boring. I was also put off by use of foreign words that were not explained. Also I couldn't relate with the characters and didn't really care what happened to them.
Kate
Evening Is the Whole Day
Reading this novel was enjoyable and frustrating at the same time. The author had magical and poetic moments but much of the novel was seeped in extraneous detail that did not relate to, or help the story. It shows the true side of human nature but failed to acknowledge my belief that every person has "good" in them. Without that balance, the characters had no appeal or reason for me to care about them. I believe this author shows promise as a writer but I was a bit disappointed with this novel.
Joan
Evening Is The Whole Day
I was so looking forward to this first novel from an award winning new author. Her picturesque descriptions are a pleasure to read. My book is full of underlinings of wonderful phrases. My senior English teacher (high school) loved "sparkling words and flowering phrases". She would have loved this book, which is a good example of introductory creative writing. The story got lost in the beautiful language. I kept reading so I could enjoy the next descriptive passage.
I have never met such a disfunctional family. Not one redeeming feature was exhibited from any of them. I did feel sorry for Chellam, but her
…more character was always hiding in the shadows, so I never got to really know her. It took several chapters to get the characters straight because their names were so similar.
It sounds like I hated the book, but that is not the case. The words and phrases were enchanting. The story was disappointing. (less)I was really looking forward to reading this book. The setting, Malaysia, would be a new one for me but unfortunately the book didn't grab me as much as I hoped.
While there are many passages with beautiful descriptions of the land, city, etc. sometimes I felt like that was actually not helping the plot move forward. I kept wanting to get on with the story. And, with regards to the characters I only felt like I got to know Aasha. So, all in all I was a bit disappointed with the novel.
Shirley
Evening is the Whole Day
In many cases the settings are pure poetry. However, I found the plot slow to develop, the characters without much appeal and words used, especially regarding food or clothing, that had no translation. A glossary would be helpful. I would recommend this book to anyone familiar with or studying Malaysan culture and history.
Joanne
Not a Compelling Beginning....
I just couldn't get into this book, perhaps because it requires more time than I was willing to give. The first chapter just wasn't compelling enough to continue. Sorry but I really didn't like this one at all.
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