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What Members Thought
Terrific account of a place and time; richly peopled and incidented; detailed, multi-faceted perspectives. What all historical fiction should aspire to.
A good book, but super long and difficult to read at times. The story is primarily about Jacob de Zoet, a clerk with the Dutch Trading Company. He and his crew are in Dejima, Japan in the late 1800s.
I found the first 20% or so of the beginning of the book to be a struggle to read. The dialogue skips from person to person very quickly, which I found difficult to understand who was saying what. After that, the dialogue became easier to read and the story set in.
The story is a complicated one inv ...more
I found the first 20% or so of the beginning of the book to be a struggle to read. The dialogue skips from person to person very quickly, which I found difficult to understand who was saying what. After that, the dialogue became easier to read and the story set in.
The story is a complicated one inv ...more
I loved this book! Shogun-era Japan is such a rich setting (and something I knew nothing about) and the characters and events are so smartly written. I particularly appreciated how many characters you get to know intimately. The trading port lackeys each tell their story and it really added to the overall tale. I would never have guessed the book would be as suspenseful as it was but it was a page-turner. It is easily my favorite book I've read this year and probably last, I cannot recommend it
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This is a tough book to review. On many levels it is very clever, and the writing is at times beautiful, but I did find it difficult to get back to. I found the minor characters' names confusing at times, which detracted from the story- this is more a criticism of myself than the author. I didn't enjoy it as much as his other works.
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The best thing about this book was learning a bit about the Dutch trading with Japan at the end of the 18th century and very beginning of the 19th. The story was more than a bit involved and required paying close attention.
The Dutch East Indies & Japan. A very interesting tale about these two entities at the beginning of the 1800's.
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Mar 22, 2012
Jessica
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
historical,
japan
Definitely a departure from Mitchell's usual post-modern style, but shines a light on a very interesting era of Dutch and Japanese history. It very much has that historical-potboiler feel, but still an excellent and enjoyable work.
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Dec 27, 2010
Gaijinmama
marked it as to-read
Jun 01, 2011
Anna
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Dec 12, 2011
Lindsay
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May 02, 2012
Dana Arbelaez
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Aug 14, 2012
Rachel
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Aug 10, 2013
Janna
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Jun 13, 2014
Rosemary
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Sep 07, 2014
Kate
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Apr 08, 2015
Jocelyn
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Nov 13, 2018
Ann
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Dec 12, 2021
Wanda
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