Rishi

A decent novel with some compelling characters and an interesting historical backdrop. The prose workmanlike.. adequate but plodding at times. The first half of the book is considerably stronger than the second. The writing, dialogue and character development suffer from impatience as the plot comes to a conclusion. Eve's wartime story and character is much more compelling and believable than Charlie's. In fact, the book would have been much better if it focussed solely on Eve. The romantic storyline was somewhat flat and glib. I also felt that the story deserved a more sophisticated conclusion. The subject matter has so much depth, and it just felt a little inadequate to end it in such a Hollywood/ TV series way.

Whitehead can't seem to decide if he wants to write a novel or an essay. When he focuses on the novel, the results are salutary. The prose is rich and descriptive and powerfully depicts the horrific injustice taking place. But Whitehead can't seem to help adding a didactic element to the prose that doesn't mesh with the protagonist. Whitehead wanted to say something, and shoehorned it into Coras thoughts in a clumsy and obtuse way. We know the thoughts are Whiteheads, not Coras. The same message could have been delivered more deftly and better integrated with the protagonists character, or through other mechanisms. Furthermore, the railroad theme is interesting, but wasn't deployed as effectively as it could have been.

The first 40% of the novel superb , but things start to unravel from North Carolina onward.

Probably 3.5 stars. In many ways a fascinating book with a lot going on and a lot to think about. The first 2/3 of the Nov were brilliant. The last third seemed to lose a little direction, with some storylines that didn't seem to fit in the larger narrative, while the central storyline seemed somewhat unconvincing... Solomon's choices seemed contrary to his personality and upbringing.. Perhaps there is more to it that people in the community would understand, but the exposition was quite vague. I also thought that, given the central role of women in the epic, thier characters (with the exception of Sunja) seemed under developed.

Firstly I have to give respect to anyone who attempts to write a book of this scope and scale and I think it is an admirable attempt. My issue with the book was that he seems to spend a lot of real estate on somewhat esoteric subject matter. While it might be interesting to learn a lot about French film history or the inner workings of the radical left movement in Italy, it seems like a poor trade-off given the monumental events taking place. It also makes the narrative disjointed. The other thing that got my goat was his characterisation of Britains withdrawal from India as relatively orderly (I'm paraphrasing). This is a ridiculous assertion about one of the most bloody, painful and chaotic events in world history. I think I understand what he was getting at but this level of flippancy is a bit much. Overall, it's decent but suffers from many distractions.