tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5944570901299649958.post6436404573130794567..comments2023-10-29T16:02:17.355+00:00Comments on Historical Tapestry: The Persimmon Tree by Bryce CourtenayMarghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13508430635744720721noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5944570901299649958.post-26388030413412357612011-06-30T18:27:06.032+01:002011-06-30T18:27:06.032+01:00Although I loved his other books such as Power of ...Although I loved his other books such as Power of One and Tandia. This book has been a real let down. Don't get me wrong, there were some brilliant segments framed by rich history. But come on!!! I can't help but think there's a theme in his books whereby the hero is loved by all women and found to be irresistible. Did the fact that he cheated on Anna right before they were supposed to meet up and didn't feel even slightly bad about it seem inconsistent with his whole good natured butterfly collector character? I really doubt it. <br /><br />Its definitely plausible to love many people at the same time, but anna survived the war and kept her virginity in tact after everything that happened? Pft... basically I believed the relationships that they both had with other people but not with each other.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5944570901299649958.post-51281489722616288252010-05-03T20:23:04.882+01:002010-05-03T20:23:04.882+01:00I really had trouble keeping this book in my hands...I really had trouble keeping this book in my hands. I picked it up a few times, read a bit, rolled my eyes and put it down. In the end the historical part of it caught me up and I read it. Having read other Bryce books, I find them all variations on the same theme and it gets old. I really have trouble with a 70 something man writing about teenage sexual awakening and experince. Something just not right and downright creepy here. Entertaining read but far from literature.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5944570901299649958.post-5722674960079927042009-09-13T07:02:01.314+01:002009-09-13T07:02:01.314+01:00Wonderful book! Some reviewers here have a problem...Wonderful book! Some reviewers here have a problem seeing this as a love story, but I think it is. The problem I think they're having is that the definition of love evolves during the story along with Nick's evolution from boy to man. Love transitions from idealized puppy love to the awed emotions of a young man for his first lover to the lustful hormone-driven love for women who enter his life and finally to the love story we thought it would be. The book is less a story about that love than the progression of the man toward being able to offer that love. And Anna's story is absolutely heartbreaking and riveting. Courtney brilliantly uses the brutality, inhumanity, and, conversely, the immense humanity of the South Pacific theater of WWII to cast obstacles in front of his characters. He deviates from the story at times to offer some unneeded details, but I don't mind learning about butterflies, Dutch colonial history or Japanese kindaku practices; it's not like I'm paying to read by the word. I'd take the negative reviews here with a grain of salt, read the book for yourself, and make your own decision.Jeffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17990709894853983518noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5944570901299649958.post-71797166852255116882009-05-29T06:32:14.823+01:002009-05-29T06:32:14.823+01:00I absolutely agree that this book is a hit for me....I absolutely agree that this book is a hit for me. I find it interesting that while most of the criticism of the book is of the second part being in third person, it is actually the part I enjoyed the most. I do have to mention I find the description as a love story is believable from Anna's perspective but as I woman, if this is a love story for Nick - I have no hope in the male species!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5944570901299649958.post-18529369004945096492008-02-17T07:06:00.000+00:002008-02-17T07:06:00.000+00:00I absoultely loved the book. I found it very engag...I absoultely loved the book. I found it very engaging and i could not put it down. The historical reference was interesting and insightful. It dealt with sound facts aswell. Im glad Mr. Courtenay decided to write a love story, at the age of 74 i assure you. you finally get it :) . I loved all the characters in the book. Thoroughly enjoyed it after all "god created sleep so we can lay down our sadness for a little while each night, otherwise we humans would find the burden of sorrow we carry to heavy to bear" p.282. I feel that like sleep all of Mr Courtenay's books have the same affect on me, they allow me to escape into a world where i realise, that there a worse off people than me . SO ThankyouAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5944570901299649958.post-68312587284009857442008-01-01T07:37:00.000+00:002008-01-01T07:37:00.000+00:00Historical part was interesting,but clunky and ove...Historical part was interesting,but clunky and overexplained.Some severe editing may have helped.Nicks character is cringeworthy and unlikable.Anna's just plain unlikely.A bit yech and lame all up.I could'nt finish it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5944570901299649958.post-58375400637299237002007-12-20T03:45:00.000+00:002007-12-20T03:45:00.000+00:00another book to add to the category of submissive ...another book to add to the category of submissive asian woman fetish, enforces stereotypes of both Asian men and womenAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5944570901299649958.post-73508236735070738952007-12-20T03:42:00.000+00:002007-12-20T03:42:00.000+00:00Really crap book, typical stroy read it before, th...Really crap book, typical stroy read it before, this old man (courtney) sucks ballsAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com