- Paperback
- Publisher: Henry Holt
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0805055347
- ISBN-13: 978-0805055344
- Product Dimensions: 20.8 x 14 x 2.5 cm
- Shipping Weight: 476 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,667,104 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
John Spurling, Sunday Times - London
"C. S. Godshalk is not only Sarawak's Garca Mrquez, she is also the memsahib's Conrad." (John Spurling, Sunday Times (London))
Richard Eder, Los Angeles Times Book Review
"A spectacular book and at times a superb one."
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fascinating look at the failure of a long bright dream,
By Jen Stelling (Cohoes, NY) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Kalimantaan (Paperback)
This rich, reflective novel tells the story of a hard-headed Englishman's establishment of a private raj in Borneo. Plot summary: In spite of antihero Gideon Barr's misplaced attention to detail, the kingdom survives attacks by pirates, headhunters, cholera and the weather, and even Barr's tragic marriage, only to finally be undone by revolution and misplaced trust. Details of plot and place are wonderful here, but what really stands out is the characterization and the tensions of the many private and public relationships in this kingdom. More tension: the tropical environment consistently resists "civilization" or even comprehension from its European residents. Kalimantaan doesn't put characters with modern sensibilities in front of a quaint backdrop; it's a "historical" novel only in the sense that it interrogates history and historiography.
5.0 out of 5 stars
kalimantaan,
By Hunter Anne Holt "huntoo" (Tampa, Florida) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Kalimantaan (Paperback)
great book. challenging, reminding me of when i was attempting to read my father's _tales of washington irving_ when i was in 2nd grade. at first, i was finding my feet, getting the jist of _kalimantaan_, and then i found myself immersed. piercing insight into flawed humans in relationships in a 19th c. exotic setting. very real characters, horrific death scenes (not written in order to make us squirm, fortunately--and originally), and exact portrayals of love in many, many forms. a broad, swashbuckling adventure story, and those involved are tragic, memorable, and deeply affecting in their humanity.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Sadly Inaccessible,
By A Customer
This review is from: Kalimantaan (Paperback)
Before you begin reading this book, realize it isn't quite a novel; it's more a combination history and novel, but not in the usual "historical novel" sense. It briefly involves many real life characters, jumps from vignette to vignette about them, involves totally different groups of people over a large span of years, and confuses with frequent dangling pronouns which don't clearly refer to one person or another. The other reviewers obviously fall into 2 camps. I believe that the great divide between them is a matter of whether the reader could get over the hurdle presented by the book's basic inaccessibility. Rather than 3 stars, I would have liked to give it 5 for beauty of imagery, especially for bringing this exotic locale to life, but one star for story. The book has been listed as a New York Notable etc.--several lists. I believe it received these kudos because it presents a new slant on how to present historical fiction, as described above. But characters aren't cohesive and don't come to life in a three-dimensional way. The joy of the read is all setting. Finding any cohesive tale here is hard work--note that Amazon.com sells a "reader's guide" to Kalimantaan. I don't know what to make of the fact that such an obviously talented writer did not present a cohesive story. Just a failing when writing a first book? Self-conscious writing? Poor editing? I only know I was very eager to start this book, and am bitterly disappointed. To me, the book is the equivalent of a beautiful body without a skeleton.
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