- Paperback: 272 pages
- Publisher: Picador; Trade Paperback edition (7 Feb 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0330412345
- ISBN-13: 978-0330412346
- Product Dimensions: 21.1 x 13 x 2.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 3,791,251 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Review
A House by the River is the second novel from Sid Smith, the winner of the 2001 Whitbread First Novel Award. Like Something like a House, this new novel is set in China, a country never visited by the author. It tells the story of missionaries John and Grace Gerrard, who are sent to a primitive fishing settlement on the banks of a mighty river where boats are more precious than any dwelling and loneliness poisons the heart. The conflict between East and West is portrayed as a clash between the ancient Chinese Gods served by shaman Jivu Lanu and the river people and the Christian God served by the Gerrards. Smith mixes thrilling action and absorbing ideas as Grace provokes a murderous conspiracy and John is claimed by China's ancient Gods - events that are nearly fatal for both of them.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Good Book Guide
...an ambitious, accomplished and quite wonderful novel.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I have to agree with a couple of the criticisms made in reviews for Sid Smith's other novel Something Like a House. The prose and plot are good but I'm sorry it does not at all convey a sense of being in China. It is very brave to write not just one but two novels set in a country that one gathers the novelist has not visited. I feel that the story could have taken place anywhere.
Being Chinese myself, although British, I found this book did not live up to my expectations because it lacks a sense of realism and a Chinese 'flavour'
Being Chinese myself, although British, I found this book did not live up to my expectations because it lacks a sense of realism and a Chinese 'flavour'
Format:Paperback
I picked this book off the library shelf in a moment of sponteneity and started out expecting a story with depth that also taught me something of the tribes and history of China, however the novel felt fragmented and moved sluggishly and at times I felt a bit like the Tax Collector bored. This would be one to read for book club with a view to generating a discussion but I would probably say the characters were vague and unconnected the deepest thing was the river. For me an opportunity has been missed.
5 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
A fascinating and fast-moving adventure story set in the China of 100 years ago. On the banks of a treacherous mountain river, two Westerners confront raw nature and the even rawer locals. There's absorbing insights into a little known way of life and plenty of white-knuckle action to keep the adrenalin flowing. Another entertaining and insightful book from this Whitbread winning author.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
A disappointment
All in all, this isn't a bad book. It's well written and it does have its moments. However, I'd read the first chapter in the free Spring into Picador book and was quite... Read more
Published on 14 April 2003
Exciting -- and intelligent
You don't often come across a book that manages to engage both heart and head, but this novel brilliantly achieves precisely that. Read more
Published on 9 Mar 2003 by John Ashton
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