D Th Th itibaren Kawagoe, Mie District, Mie Prefecture, Japonya
Takes place in S. Africa - that was probably the most fascinating element of this story. It wasn't one I thought I'd like from reading the description but it is extremely well written and meaningful. I guess I like personal stories because all the books I've rated highly are about the growth of one specific person. There is a movie of this story but the movie is much more one dimensional than the book. The movie focuses mainly on apartheid itself, while the characters were secondary. In the book the focus is on the lives of the characters within the context of apartheid - I think this gives the story a depth that can't be created without knowing the thoughts of those characters. Even if you've already seen the movie you would probably find the book to be very different.
It seems the masses have it right. This book is just too much! It's an entire series worth of action and characters not-too-skillfully jammed into one book. I wanted to stop, but my need to finish what I started compelled me onwards. And I'm sad. I listened to this book. 14 discs! It became background noise. Painful background noise. The parade of characters and names was too much. It suffered for want of a better editor, publisher, or author. I can't actually say for sure which. What I can say, however, is that the 'books' in this book really should have been separate. The story really was good, but underdeveloped (if that's even possible in this beastly book). I thought in the first disc or two, oh wow, this could be a real winner. And it kept going and going and getting deeper until it ended up in oblivion.
This book has stuck with me more than any other that I have read in my adult life. What a feat for a writer to think up such a crazy idea for a story and make it seem real.
What a period piece! Sally is a dance hostess who finally comes into her fortune. Dance hostessing/taxi dancing has fallen by the wayside as careers go. I met a woman in NYC who went undercover as a taxi dancer to write an expose. Wodehouse also gives us a view of putting together a theatrical venture in the 1920s, what with the talentless beauties who get lead roles by sleeping with the producer - that doesn't happen anymore! Imagine that it only took $5,000 to put on a show!