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Two Caravans

3.45 of 5 stars 3.45 · rating details · 2,704 ratings · 351 reviews

Also published as Strawberry Fields.

The bestselling author of A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian is back with an "effervescent comedy" (The New Yorker)

The follow up to her hugely popular first novel presents a Canterbury Tales inspired picaresque that is also a biting satire of economic exploitation. When a ragtag international crew of migrant workers is forced to...more

Paperback, 320 pages

Published October 4th 2007 by Fig Tree (first published 2007)

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A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka

Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Writing

47th out of 69 books — 6 voters

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Jun 10, 2008 Rebecca rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a respectable follow-up from her first book, A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian. I don't know why I'd describe it as light, when it involves prostitution, minimum wage, exploitation of 'unskilled' workers, not to mention the battery chicken farm episode which has put me off eating poultry for at least the next week. The East European accents may grate after a while, and some of the charming illegal immigrant workers are bordering on stereotypes, as are the pantomime baddies. But th...more

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Jul 12, 2008 Talya rated it 3 of 5 stars

This story explores the experiences of a random group of Eastern European immigrant workers in the UK. It very cleverly captures the changes that have occurred in the UK over the last 5 years since Europe started expanding into the East. I also like the way the book is written in the voice of all of the characters involved (except for the dog which is just plain stupid). I was thoroughly confused by all of the comments that covered the book from the press about how it was "hilarious", "the funni...more

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Apr 26, 2010 Joanna rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Magnificent! Utterly charming, relentlessly thought-provoking, delightfully fashioned. The story of a rag-tag company of immigrant strawberry pickers is told via a kaleidescope of tale-tellers. Each character, including a mythically perfect dog named Dog, has a distinctive voice and a strong world view. Each character is flawed, but each takes a turn narrating and showing the reader the world as he or she sees it. It is a world full of happiness and beauty much loved, side by side with horrific...more

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Jan 21, 2010 Anna rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-to-make-you-laugh, my-favourite-books, set-in-london, books-to-make-you-think

I think Lewycka is incredible - she manages to write a novel about illegal immigrants, prostitution, exploitation, battery farming chickens... and make it funny without ever diminishing the horror - in fact it's because it's fun that we don't turn away or stop reading because it's unbearable.

I thought the characters were wonderful and varied and the scenes more likely to win people over than a mass of outraged journalism or cold statistics. And the characters just go on living - the humour does...more

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Dec 30, 2008 Andika rated it 4 of 5 stars

Buku ini bercerita tentang sekelompok pekerja imigran yang bekerja di perkebunan stroberi di Inggris. Mereka berasal dari berbagai macam benua. Tokoh utamanya, Andriy dan Irina, berasal dari Ukraina. Juga imigran dari Polandia, negara yang kini sudah bergabung dengan Uni Eropa sehingga status imigrannya legal, Tomas, Marta, dan Yola. Ada Emanuel dari Malawi. Dua gadis beretnis Cina, yang satu dari Cina dan yang lainnya dari Malaysia. Mereka semua masing-masing datang ke Inggris dengan harapannya...more Buku ini bercerita tentang sekelompok pekerja imigran yang bekerja di perkebunan stroberi di Inggris. Mereka berasal dari berbagai macam benua. Tokoh utamanya, Andriy dan Irina, berasal dari Ukraina. Juga imigran dari Polandia, negara yang kini sudah bergabung dengan Uni Eropa sehingga status imigrannya legal, Tomas, Marta, dan Yola. Ada Emanuel dari Malawi. Dua gadis beretnis Cina, yang satu dari Cina dan yang lainnya dari Malaysia. Mereka semua masing-masing datang ke Inggris dengan harapannya masing-masing yang sebetulnya tidak jauh berbeda: mencari kehidupan yang lebih baik.

Selain kelucuannya, yang telah menjadi trademark Lewycka sejak A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian, yang menarik dari Two Caravans adalah bagaimana sudut pandang yang digunakan menggerakkan alur cerita. Paling tidak ada empat sudut pandang yang saya temukan dalam buku ini. Pertama, sudut pandang orang ketiga untuk menceritakan perasaan dan latar belakang Andriy, the polish, para gadis Cina, dan karakter pendukung lainnya. Kedua, sudut pandang orang pertama dengan Irina sebagai narator. (Irina adalah si bourgeois schoolgirl yang baik tetapi menilai segala sesuatunya dari tingkat keberbudayaan menganggap dirinya lebih berbudaya dari orang-orang di sekitarnya.) Ketiga, sudut pandang orang pertama dengan anjing bernama Dog sebagai naratornya. Narasi dari Dog cukup menghibur karena ditulis dengan huruf kapital, dicetak tebal, dan pilihan kata yang lucu. Keempat, sudut pandang orang pertama oleh pemuda bersuara merdu, Emanuel. Narasi Emanuel sangat personal dan hangat karena berupa surat yang ia kirimkan untuk kakak perempuannya.

Meskipun menggunakan pendekatan komedi, Two Caravans menyentuh tema-tema serius. Dapat dikatakan novel ini lebih Eastern Promises, dari Short History of Tractors. Tema yang disentuh mencakup kehidupan imigran di Eropa Barat, kondisi kerja dan tempat tinggal para imigran, human trafficking, revolusi Oranye di Ukraina, sampai gadis-gadis dari Eropa Timur yang menjadi pekerja seks. Walaupun demi fokus cerita, tema-tema tersebut tidak mendapatkan porsi yang sama. Dan tentu saja ada storyline yang lebih ringan, seperti kisah cinta Andriy-Irina, lalu kenangan Irina atas kehidupan di Ukraina: bagaimana ayahnya yang seorang dosen politik meninggalkan ibunya untuk menjalin cinta dengan mahasiswinya.

Sebetulnya sudah tiga minggu lebih saya memiliki Two Caravans. Sebetulnya novel berbahasa Inggris setebal 310 halaman ini cukup mudah untuk dibaca. Hanya saja tiga minggu belakangan saya diserang perasaan gloomy, gejala tiphus, UAS, dan tugas sehingga saya on and off dalam membaca Two Caravans. Saya juga merasa beruntung dapat membaca novel ini ketika sedang mengambil mata kuliah Hubungan Internasional di Eropa. Kelas kami kebanyakan membahas Uni Eropa dan kegagalan organisasi regional di negara-negara Eropa Timur. Sedikit banyak saya jadi mendapat contoh konkret bagaimana Uni Eropa berimplikasi pada warga negara anggotanya. Novel ini juga memberikan porsi yang cukup, kalau tidak bisa dibilang sedikit, tentang pergolakan politik dan sosial di Ukraina. Bagaimana Irina, yang mendukung kapitalisme ekonomi, sindir-sindiran dengan Andriy, anak pekerja pertambangan yang mendukung integrasi ekonomi Ukraina dengan Rusia. 'Mong-omong Two Caravans menjadi short-listed nominator Orwell Prize 2008, sebuah penghargaan di Inggris bagi karya-karya sastra yang berhasil memuat kandungan politis tanpa menurunkan nilai sastranya.(less)

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Dec 20, 2008 Stephanie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: immigrant-lit

Like the strawberries that bring together its disparate characters, Marina Lewycka's Two Caravans is both sweet and tart, with a persistant aftertaste that rather unsettles the stomach even as it leaves you hungry for more.
The 61-year-old Briton of Ukranian heritage scored a runaway hit with her first novel, A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian (2005). About two sisters who struggle to free their senile Ukrainian immigrant father from the clutches of a gold-digging compatriot, it won the Bo...more Like the strawberries that bring together its disparate characters, Marina Lewycka's Two Caravans is both sweet and tart, with a persistant aftertaste that rather unsettles the stomach even as it leaves you hungry for more.
The 61-year-old Briton of Ukranian heritage scored a runaway hit with her first novel, A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian (2005). About two sisters who struggle to free their senile Ukrainian immigrant father from the clutches of a gold-digging compatriot, it won the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize and was shortlisted for the Orange Prize.
Eastern European immigrants and their quest for a better life are again at the heart of her second novel. The book opens with the arrival of 19-year-old Irina at a verdant strawberry field in Kent during the height of summer. She joins four other women and four men as seasonal agricultural workers, picking the berries during the day and sleeping in the on-site caravans -- one for men, one for women -- at night.
The pampered would-be novelist daughter of a professor from Ukarine's capital Kiev is looking for an adventure before she starts university. Her rather romaticised version of England and its inhabitants is largely based on the sexy Mr Brown character in her Let's Talk English book.
"Please don't think I'm one of those awful Ukrainian girls who come to England to ensnare a husband. I'm not. But if love should happen to come my way, OK, my heart is open and ready," she says.
But instead of a bowler-hatted Englishman, she finds an assembly of members from Third World nations. First, there is 25-year-old Andriy, a former miner from Ukraine's poverty-striken Donbas, who is looking for a new way to make a living after witnessing his father die in a mining accident. Although countrymen, Irina's and Andriy's backgrounds are so different that they might never had met back home.
Then there are the Poles. Haughty Yola works the fields and sleeps with the farmer on the side to get money to support her retarded son back home. Her ultra-religious niece Marta does the cooking, while Tomascz is the would-be Bob Dyan with smelly feet and a romantic heart.
Rounding up this motely crew is Emanuel from Malawi, who has come to England in seatch of his long-lost sister, the huckster Vitaly from Moldavia, and two Chinese girls who are referred to by the rest as Chinese Girl One and Chinese Girl Two, apparently because no one can pronounce their names.
Though the work can be laborious and the farmer retains most of their pay for "living expenses", their life is idyllic compared to what happens after they are banished from the field as not-so-innocent bystanders to a marital spat.
Trundling off in the farmer's landrover with a caravan in tow, the multi-national contingent soon acquires a preternaturally clever and loyal dog as they lurch to Dover, London and then Sheffield, with a trip to Peterborough to meet the protagonist of A Short History for good measure.
Lewyncka is rightly celebrated for her black humour, which was what made her debut such a riveting, juicy read. Her descriptions of the Poles' expreineces at a chicken processing plant would give Fast Food Nation's Eric Scholessner a run for his money, and the phrase "playing the bagpipes" will never sound the same again.
However, a weakness that marred Lewynca's first novel recurrs here, which is a tendency to overindulge the "cute" factor of mangled English. While it is funny and suitable that Emmanuel confuses "Marta" with "martyr", the dropped determiners and muddled tenses that plague the speech of the Chinese girls gets tedious and even offensive after a while.
A major misstep was in giving the dog his own voice. Appearing entirely in capital letters and without punctuation, it results in silly sentences like "I AM DOG I AM WET DOG I RUN I PLAY IN WATER WOOF SPLASH".
Still, this does not detract from the strength of the book, which is Lewynka's unflinching look at the underbelly of immigrant society. This is a book about hope. Not the against-all-odds, triumph-of-the-human-spirit kind of hope, but an altogether more desperate variety, the kind that compells people to leave their homes and look for a better life somewhere else.
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Dec 20, 2008 Sharm Alagaratnam rated it 3 of 5 stars

This year's women-only (authors, not readers) Orange Fiction Prize, was awarded to Rose Tremain for her book The Road Home. The overall theme seems similar to that of the book I finished last night, Two Caravans by Marina Lewycka, on the experiences of Eastern European immigrants in Britain. I have a feeling that Tremain's book will be a lot less funny than Lewycka's, as the latter is really a fantastically jolly romp through the misery of minimum wage jobs and exploitative employers.

It would be...more

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Mar 18, 2012 Elimaus rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Two Caravans is the third book I’ve read by the author and sadly, my second disappointing read. I wholly enjoyed her first offering, but since then I haven’t been able to relate to the characters at all. Yeah, they’re interesting and all, but I’m just not that into them. The over-excited quotes on the cover don't help either. Yes, it's amusing, but 'hilarious'? Not really.

Here, the author has totally lost the warmth of the original characters. You can feel that they aren’t written from the autho...more

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Feb 14, 2012 Steven Langdon rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: super

As I am in the midst of writing a second novel, I wondered how Marina Lewycka would handle her second novel, "Strawberry Fields," after her wryly successful depiction of Ukrainian immigration to the UK, "A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian." Would she revisit the same themes and again probe the pathos and humour of family life? Or would she move in new directions?

There are certainly echoes of "A Short History" in this new book. Two of the main characters are Ukrainian, both are immigrants i...more As I am in the midst of writing a second novel, I wondered how Marina Lewycka would handle her second novel, "Strawberry Fields," after her wryly successful depiction of Ukrainian immigration to the UK, "A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian." Would she revisit the same themes and again probe the pathos and humour of family life? Or would she move in new directions?

There are certainly echoes of "A Short History" in this new book. Two of the main characters are Ukrainian, both are immigrants in the UK, and there are family-related episodes in this novel that recall her first book. Plus the author's sharp-edged writing is as flowing and strong in both novels.

But, overall, this novel is a dramatic and exciting change. Lewycka sets this book in the insecure, marginalized and exploited human crucible of modern globalization labour shifts, capturing all the uncertainties and insecurities of men and women trying to find income and work in an alien environment in which crooks and fast operators prey on them -- taking advantage of their lack of legal status to give them the worst of jobs for the lowest of possible incomes. This very harsh and contemporary world is portrayed vividly. This all makes for superb social commentary, with a real human face.

But on another level, this is a "road" novel, moving with a diverse and somehow nurturing group of strawberry pickers across a swath of England, experiencing unusual adventures, protecting each other and surviving in their harsh world. The author recounts all this with a tone lighter than its subject would suggest and a compassion for all in the band of adventurers. There are different "voices" associated with various of the characters, too, giving varied perspectives to the novel that add to its appeal (even a blunt and believable voice given to one crucial character, the Dog!) At the heart of the story is a tender yet comic love story involving an arrogant young 19 year old woman from Kiev, and a self-punishing dour miner from Eastern Ukraine, both trying to escape the past -- or else rewrite it. But there are other indelible characters as well -- an 18 year old from Malawi tormented by his Catholic training and his sex drive -- a Polish woman in her thirties looking for love and money -- two Chinese women escaping the constraints of their respective countries (Malaysia and China) -- and Vulk, the transplanted and terrifying crook who tries to keep them all under control.

Somehow, Lewycka makes this picaresque story work, with its combination of heartfelt critique and touching humour. "Strawberry Fields" is a fine accomplishment.(less)

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Jul 12, 2011 Suzierussell rated it 3 of 5 stars

Educated and quite sensible people from less solvent economies come to the UK for seasonal work as strawberry pickers to earn much more than at their professions back home. They expect to find a pastoral idyll, but instead they are exploited as cheap labour, and the naive girls run a high risk of being tricked into sex-slavery.

I enjoyed the first two thirds of the book, not the last. The deftly described scene-setting drew me in. But half way through the book 5 of them disappear off-stage. I fe...more

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May 31, 2011 Sarah rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: novel

Who knew that a book about the plight of migrant farm workers could be so funny? Apparently if I had read Lewycka's first novel A Short History of Tractors in Urkrainian, I would have had an idea.

The books covers the story of a team of strawberry pickers on a British farm. The story switches around to show each character's point of view and it was neat how each character had a very distinctive voice. There's Irina, the idealistic Ukrainian girl who's here to work her way across Britain before s...more

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Mar 20, 2010 Sally rated it 5 of 5 stars

Recommended to Sally by: Elaine Yates

I am happy to identify myself as a new fan of Marina Lewycka and her wonderful novel Strawberry Fields (published under the title Two Caravans in England). I read this book with fellow members of Extreme Readers, and have enjoyed revisiting the book's introductory chapters over the last few days to notice new details about characters I fell in love with, and to savor the nuances of a story that is gripping and vital. Marina Lewycka manages to tell a simultaneously well-crafted and amusing and he...more I am happy to identify myself as a new fan of Marina Lewycka and her wonderful novel Strawberry Fields (published under the title Two Caravans in England). I read this book with fellow members of Extreme Readers, and have enjoyed revisiting the book's introductory chapters over the last few days to notice new details about characters I fell in love with, and to savor the nuances of a story that is gripping and vital. Marina Lewycka manages to tell a simultaneously well-crafted and amusing and heartfelt story that I'd sum up as "wise."

Strawberry Fields introduces us to a unique assortment of migrant workers who have come to England (specifically the strawberry fields of Kent) from all over the world for adventure and opportunity, and encounter, on the one hand, exploitation and danger, and on the other, friendship and love. Young Irina and Andriy come from opposite spectrums of advantage/disadvantage in the Ukraine. Privileged Irina seeks an opportunity to improve her English before entering the university, while working-class Andriy hopes to get a fresh start in life following a tragic personal loss, and reconnect with a girl he became smitten with when he visited Sheffield as a young boy with his father during an international convention of miners. Yola and Tomasz, in their mid-40s, have made their separate ways to England from Poland, and are alternately trying to earn extra money to support their families, or pursuing a life of music and romantic idealism. Marta is Yola's niece who balances religious fervor with a knack for cooking scrumptious meals from meager food sources. Emmanuel, a devoted Christian from Malawi, has come to England to reunite with his sister and a young British boy he befriended in Malawi. Two Chinese girls, simply identified as Chinese Girl One and Chinese Girl Two, have come to England in search of educational opportunities. Vitaly is from the historically war-torn area of Moldova (where fighting has occured most recently in an ethnically complicated battle for Romanian independence from Russia), and after years of hard physical labor that led nowhere, is taking a cynical path towards economic gain. And finally, there's Dog - who eventually steals the show in a stunning act of heroism. If this sounds complicated, it is -- at least at first. There are still more characters that play important or superficial roles in the book. Don't be intimidated. I read about a third of the book before the characters solidified in my mind (hence, I re-read the beginning to pick up on details that were lost to me on the first round).

This is a book about love, parents and their relationship to their children (Lewycka deftly captures both sides of the 19-year-old daughter/middle-aged mother's relationship), growing up, and following your dreams, no matter how old you are. It's also about the side effects of a global economy, the wide-ranging circumstances that lead people to seek work outside of their countries of origin, and the vulnerabilities of migrant workers. (The book was shortlisted for the Orwell prize, which recognizes political writing for its artistic and literary merit.)

Lewycka wraps up the story with the truism: "There's a special sadness at the end of a journey. For it's only when you get to your destination that you discover the road doesn't end here after all." I hated to see this book end, but I'm glad to have discovered a wonderful writer, and look forward to future journeys with Marina Lewycka.

P.S. English majors who have studied The Canterbury Tales will enjoy understanding the academic framework for the novel. A word of warning - the scenes from a chicken farm are not for the weak-hearted. (less)

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Feb 07, 2010 Gill rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: other-places, other-times

I enjoyed her "Short history of Tractors" probably because my family has links with the Ukraine, and many migrants both to and from the UK, so that parts of the dialogue, the attitudes and the problems resonated with me.
Many of the reviews here seemed to criticise that book for not dealing with the present immigrant wave from the Eastern European countries, so that in this book Lewycka seems to have tried to address all those current problems from EE thugs, exploitation in illegal immigration,...more I enjoyed her "Short history of Tractors" probably because my family has links with the Ukraine, and many migrants both to and from the UK, so that parts of the dialogue, the attitudes and the problems resonated with me.
Many of the reviews here seemed to criticise that book for not dealing with the present immigrant wave from the Eastern European countries, so that in this book Lewycka seems to have tried to address all those current problems from EE thugs, exploitation in illegal immigration, pay below minimum wage, inflationary compulsory prices for living and food and forced addiction and prostitution. It doesn't sound very optimistic for the theme of a humorous light easy-to-read book does it?
Somehow though the author manages to keep a light and humorous note all the way through the story and that is both its strength and its weakness. The jokey style makes it easy to read on - but equally it bathes the whole story in a mist of unreality, so that the suspension of disbelief necessary in most novels to allow for the chance and coincidences being so neat, is difficult to sustain.
Are there any parts of the book where the varied and numerous work opportunities presenting themselves to the characters are NOT the concern of the original agency that employed them? Also the love story that unfolds is a bit sacchariney for my liking.
There are parts of the story that will inevitably shock the reader, but somehow I can't imagine any decision made on the strength of changed attitudes from reading this story to last much beyond the week in which the book is read. The humour and the unrelentingly uncaring attitude of all the employers makes it all too easy to believe that the premises are unreal and can be totally disregarded. In other words the story draws superficial caricatures rather than painting people about whom we really care.
Lewycka has a real feel for prose, with some lovely cameos of dawn, sunset, a clearing in a wood etc., but she does not, to my mind, fully exploit her ability as a writer to make the people convincing. I also could have done with a list of dramatis personae at times. There are quite a number of characters initially, any or all of whom may prove to be central to the story, and the main story does not necessarily follow the ones whom one finds most engaging. This has caused many people to complain of dropped threads and unfinished stories. That does not irritate me because life is seldom neat and conclusive, but I do feel that overall Lewycka has missed an opportunity here by being a bit too frivolous in her approach.
(less)

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Jan 12, 2011 Shannon rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I am not going to lie. This book caught my eye simply because of the title. Well, that sounded stupid, isn't that how a lot of books catch people's eyes? OK, well this title caught my eye because I am a huge Beatles fan. Now, this book has absolutely nothing to do with the Beatles, but on first review it still looked interesting.

The short version: told from many different perspectives, Strawberry Fields is the story of a group of immigrants from Europe and Africa who find themselves picking stra...more

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Jan 30, 2013 Ape rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: england

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. It's been a good few years since I read the Ukrainian History of Tractors book, which I really enjoyed. And finally I have come around to this book which has been sitting on my shelf for a few years now...

I enjoyed it, hard to say whether more or less than her first book as it's been so many years between reading the books, although possibly this one slightly less as it had so many mini plots with all the different characters, which abruptly ended as each character left the main group until ther...more It's been a good few years since I read the Ukrainian History of Tractors book, which I really enjoyed. And finally I have come around to this book which has been sitting on my shelf for a few years now...

I enjoyed it, hard to say whether more or less than her first book as it's been so many years between reading the books, although possibly this one slightly less as it had so many mini plots with all the different characters, which abruptly ended as each character left the main group until there were only two left. And the way Vulk - this slimey eastern European gangster type who was wanting to sell Irina into the human traffick industry - kept repetitively turning up like a bad penny was possibily a bit much. If illegal immigrints are treated so cheaply, and they're just disposable flesh, why was he so obsessed with this girl? On the other hand the blossoming relationship between Irina and Andriy was quite sweet.

I think the biggest thing for me about this book was not so much the plot or the characters but what it's about - the treatment of the legal and illegal work force that comes to the UK. It's disgusting the way they are taken advantage of, with business owners making a fortune out of them. And the "expenses" they charged for food and housing was phenonmeal - and all they got was crap food and cramped over-populated doss-house like accomodation. Not that it's just the Brits (or nationals of whatever rich country these people are coming to) that are abusing them - it's also their own countrymen, who are gangsters like Vulk, and that other lad from Moldova who went into the recruitment agency, getting people jobs where his agency took a large cut of their earnings for fees etc; and then knowingly selling those two Chinese girls into the sex trade in Holland, but telling them they were getting really good child minding jobs. This throw-away culture of human beings is just awful.

Another aspect is the food production. Strawberry pickers being paid low wages etc is bad enough, but when you think about how the chickens are raised, and then processed through the factory.... it all makes you wish you could be self-sufficient. At least then you'd know where your food came from and under what circumstances. (less)

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Nov 11, 2009 Ali rated it 4 of 5 stars

I thought this was an hilarious and often thought provoking read. The way in which people and chickens are treated is terrible, and makes this a rather darker story than A history of tractors in Ukrainian. A collection of economic migrants meet in a strawberry field somewhere in Kent, and are housed in the two caravans of the title. What follows is an often hilarious road trip, after a bit of trouble with the farmer and his wife, Andriy, (the Ukrainian) Tomasz, Yola, Marta,(the poles) Emmanuel,...more

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Mar 26, 2013 Perrin Pring rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

First, let me say, that despite what the cover of Two Caravans says, this book is not hilarious, nor is it funny. In fact, it is mostly sad and depressing. I can see that Two Caravans tries to be funny, but it fails for four major reasons.

One: The characters are rather flat and cliched.
Two: The subject matter isn't funny.
Three: It is trying way too hard - the dog's dialogue, I didn't even read it.
Four: Any book that explains, in detail, the killing of chickens (and other animals) isn't funny. It...more

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Jan 17, 2012 Pythia rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: letture-leggere, biblioteca, preferiti, sorpresa

Ultimamente leggo libri bellissimi quanto tristi: questo in particolare mi ha colpito molto per la leggerezza e allo stesso tempo la profondità con cui tratta un tema difficile come quello dello sfruttamento dei lavoratori stagionali.

Irina arriva in Inghilterra dall'Ucraina, dopo un viaggio infinito in pullman: il suo sogno è quello di migliorare il suo inglese scolastico e di conoscere dal vero il Paese che ha imparato ad amare sui libri. Finisce a raccogliere fragole presso un fattore viscido...more

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Nov 20, 2012 Amorfna rated it 2 of 5 stars

Dve zvezdice, na jedvite jade.
Ne znam odakle bih krenula...čitam komentare o tome kako je knjiga nenormalno duhovita, kako je ljude nasmejala do suza, kako je šarmantna, kako je...gledam i ne shvatam.
Postoje knjige koje pišu o smešnim temama..i nije potrebno biti posebno vešt pisac da bi se izazvala pozitivna reakcija kod ljudi.
Postoje i knjige koje se bave ozbiljnijim temama i tu je potrebno mnogo umešnosti i stila kako bi se izvuklo na površ ono komično.
Ovo je knjiga o ilegalnim radnicima, pro...more Dve zvezdice, na jedvite jade.
Ne znam odakle bih krenula...čitam komentare o tome kako je knjiga nenormalno duhovita, kako je ljude nasmejala do suza, kako je šarmantna, kako je...gledam i ne shvatam.
Postoje knjige koje pišu o smešnim temama..i nije potrebno biti posebno vešt pisac da bi se izazvala pozitivna reakcija kod ljudi.
Postoje i knjige koje se bave ozbiljnijim temama i tu je potrebno mnogo umešnosti i stila kako bi se izvuklo na površ ono komično.
Ovo je knjiga o ilegalnim radnicima, prostituciji, trgovini ljudima i svoj ljudskoj bezdušnosti .
Pokušavam da shvatim kako to može biti smešno?
Da li knjiga poseduje određene komične situacije – Da. Da li je na momente zabavna – da.
Da li je smešna do bola? – Ne

Ovo je knjiga koja se bavi vrlo ozbiljnim temama na vrlo površan i lak način...Bez šarma, bez mnogo topline...
Dakle ovo nije smešna knjiga ali nije ni poučna a nije baš ni kvalitetna analiza gore navedenih društvenih fenomena a još manje je konstruktivna kritika tih problema.
Pa šta je onda? Instant roman. Ljubavni roman začinjen podvođenjem maloletnica i eksploatisanjem jeftine radne snage. Oh so much fun.
Imamo polje jagoda u idiličnim seoskim krajolicima Engleske. I imamo berače jagoda, sirotane iz sirotanskih zemalja koji dolaze u Englesku u želji da zarade novac, da pobegnu iz bede, da vide sveta.
Dobro, pa to ne zvuči loše. Ima materijala za dobar roman, ne?
Likovi su prazni ,hladni i na momente stereotipni do granica da knjiga zaista postaje smešna.
Imamo ovde Irinu i Andrija, mlade Ukrajince. On je Princ na belom konju ovog romana, dete rudara, težak život, patriotske ideje – ona je iz Kijeva,mlada i nadobudna .Ona je na korak od pakla, on je na jedvite jade spašava a onda ona ,umesto da ode kući na sigurno, provede ostatak knjige maštajući o njegovim jakim mišicama i zlaćanim maljama. I to sve u tri nedelje.
Imamo Tomaša, sredovečnog Poljaka, wannabe Bob Dilana kom smrde noge, ironično možda jedinog karaktera u knjizi iz kojeg isijava nešto malo ljudskosti i topline i koji zapravo pokazuje određeni stepen raznovrsnosti karaktera.
Vitalij,sumnjiv momčić iz Moldavije te Marta i Jola, rođakinje iz Poljske, prva galamdžija, druga pobožna.
Imamo dve Kineskinje koje niko ne razlikuje ( ? ) i koje, za razliku od ostalih junaka koji dobijaju srećan kraj ( recimo) bivaju hladnokrvno i bez mnogo emocija otpisane već pre sredine romana . Hej haj Kineskinje baj baj.
Imamo Emanuela, pobožnog malca iz Afrike koji razmišlja i zvuči kao Starvin' Marvin iz South Parka.
I da, imamo psa koji bi bio simpatičan da takođe nema svoje monologe i to pisane konstantnim caps lockom i bez ijednog znaka interpunkcije. Kad mu je već stavljala ljudski jezik u opis karaktera, mogla mu je dati i pokoji znak interpunkcije..čisto da ne iritira toliko.
Evo u čemu je najveća mana ove knjige. Dobra je – sve dok ne razmišljate o njoj. Pokušajte da je analizirate i videćete koliko je šuplja i koliko površno eksploatiše vrlo ozbiljne teme. Pa ako se ne iznervirate, svaka čast. Ja što više razmišljam o ovoj knjizi, to me više ljuti...
Stajem dok joj nisam smanjila ocenu. Ne mogu u ovoj recenziji dočarati glupost ove knjige jer bih otkrila pola radnje..a to ipak nemam srca da uradim.
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Jun 23, 2010 Lorenzo rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: british, 2010-readings

On writing about "Two Caravans" I have an ambivalent feeling to put into proper words. Oh well, I will get by.

On the one hand, I really enjoyed the book as an entertaining and even enlightening reading, but on the other there are some things that bothered me. Overall, I have to say how the positive sides of the novel overcomed the negative ones although in the very first pages it was the opposite.

Let's start with the pros.
"Two Caravans" is a pretty unique novel written in a rather original styl...more

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Feb 28, 2010 Cindy rated it 2 of 5 stars

The title is Strawberry Fields in the US edition. I pulled it from the used bookstore shelves because of the graphics, which reminded me of Lois Lensky's Strawberry Girl from my youth. Very good so far; the story of immigrant workers picking strawberries in England.

Halfway through and abandoning ship. Again, it could be my fever, but this is a weird combination of lots of characters I like trying to make their way in England, but they're rooked and hurt at every turn. They exult over the lovely...more

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Mar 18, 2012 Cate rated it 3 of 5 stars

I liked this. I think it is a stronger story and more interestingly written & structured than the History of Tractors book (read in Spain, 2006, but that's a complete aside). Sure, this is whimisical with migrant workers picking strawberries in Kent, living in caravans: but there's a dark undercurrent to the tale. Exploitation, poor working conditions, Eastern Euro cultures struggling to part from the communist past but taking with them the worst excesses of capitalism. I saw the book as ver...more

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Sep 16, 2009 Veronica rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, mooched

I enjoyed this more than Lewycka's first novel, A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian. It seemed surer and more accomplished, with a broader and more believable cast of characters (though stereotypes were still in evidence), resulting in a better balance of black humour and horror. Again the jacket blurb misleadingly says it's "hilarious"; again she has a deeper purpose than just making you laugh.

Telling parts of it from the point of view of a dog was a mistake, but luckily there wasn't too...more

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Feb 12, 2012 Alan Wood rated it 2 of 5 stars

I read ‘Caravans’ and ‘A History of Tractors..’, basically because I’d run out of reading material and they were on my partners bookshelf, so had no real point of reference or expectations.

First the good points - it gives a fascinating insight into the exploitation of migrant workers and the intensive farming industry that makes you grimace at times.

The bad points - I don’t know why, but I just don’t get on with Marina Lewycka’s writing style. There’s too many characters, too many points of vi...more

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Aug 06, 2011 Jayne Charles rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

What an unconventional book this was – told mainly in the third person but with two characters (one of them a dog) afforded a first-person narrative, all of this spliced in with the rest of the text, so the POV was constantly switching around. Also the way most of the characters were jettisoned along the way like contestants in a TV talent show, until just the two finalists remained.

I didn’t think I was going to get on with it at first – so many characters, so many nationalities, and a sequence...more

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May 15, 2013 Mom rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Strawberry Fields is an often hysterical novel of the misadventures of a group of recent immigrants to England. The characters came to England with fantasies of a wonderful life in the West only to encounter the real world, full of poverty, brutality and villainy. Fortunately for us all, Lewycka sprinkles the novel with bits of hope and a large measure of affection for her characters. One finishes the novel with new appreciation for the hardships migrants face, with heightened political awarenes...more

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May 08, 2010 Agnes rated it 5 of 5 stars

Hilarious tale showing just what happens when one culture meets another.

This has Ukranian meeting English as well as Polish, Malawian, Russian.

Desire for change, increased income, and opportunity to learn a new culture motivates most of the characters, but ambition prevails as some characters use others to make their fortunes. It also shows how some will stop at nothing to advance their own personal goals.

The language mistakes were worth reading the book. Emmanuel had a most wonderous grasp of t...more

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Jan 01, 2010 Gerald Sinstadt rated it 2 of 5 stars

The curse of the second novel. A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian was deservedly a best-seller, short-listed for all the best literary prizes. Casting around for a sequel can't have been easy. Marina Lewycka chooses to stay with eastern European immigrants in England, but fails to deliver the narrative cohesion that Peterborough and its close-knit family environment provided for the earlier book.

Two Caravans is close to being an untidy mess. Too many themes, too many ill-defined character...more

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Oct 19, 2011 Vj Krishnan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Two Caravans has all the interesting characters and amusing ongoings as A Brief History of Tractors in Ukraine. However, unlike the latter, it lacked a certain quality that would have assisted in finding the plot endearing. Perhaps the story itself feels too optimistic at times and slightly detached from reality in certain places, but it definitely did voice out uncomfortable truths in other parts.

I particularly enjoyed reading about one of the strawberry pickers, Chinese Girl Number Two (from M...more

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Jan 12, 2010 Rhiannon rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book is terrific. It is surprisingly funny while also heart-wrenching and utterly disgusting. One of my favorite parts of it is her use of the first person narrative from the point of view of a wild dog that befriends the members of the caravan. It will make you laugh and might also move you to tears--if nothing else, it will get you thinking about your relationship to others.

Lewycka seems to have really done her homework on the working conditions of migrant workers in England, and it is no...more

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About Marina Lewycka

Marina Lewycka is a British novelist of Ukrainian origin, currently living in Sheffield, England.

Lewycka was born in a refugee camp in Kiel, Germany after World War II. Her family then moved to England where she now lives. She was educated at Keele University and works as a lecturer in media studies at Sheffield Hallam University.

In addition to her fiction, Lewycka has written a number of books gi...more

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Quotes from Two Caravans. Marina L...

“A man needs enough...no less, no more. ” — 6 people liked it

“With a feeling of despondency so intense that it was almost pleasurable, he got out his guitar.
So this was to be his condition now.What was he but a fragment of broken churned-up
humanity washed up on this faraway shore? This was where his journey had brought him....
There mus be a song in this...” — 1 person liked it

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