Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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68 of 73 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Great story, patchy prose, 18 Dec 2008
This book has floated a lot of boats mainly, I suspect, because the story is so powerful. Emotive, provocative and challenging, this is a tragic human tale with much contemporary relevance, and I'm glad I managed to fight my way through the frequently ungainly prose and clunking dialogue to the fine conclusion.
At times this novel read like an early draft, not a finished work. Many sentences made me recoil and try to mentally reorganise them. (Interestingly, the first chapter was the best written. And the last too. An editor's prioritising at work here?) Some sections were very cliche-prone, others too purple. Chapter 8, for example: "I remember the exact day when England became me, when its contours cleaved to the curves of my own body, when its inclinations became my own." This is nauseating guff, and the passage gets worse, straining for literary merit, missing by a mile.
The Other Hand could, I think, make a powerful film, if offered to a screenwriter with more of a gift for natural sounding speech. The conversation between Sarah and Andrew on the Nigerian beach is typically tin-eared, beginning: "Listen to that surf, Andrew. It's so unbelievably peaceful here." "I'm still a bit scared, frankly. We should go back inside the hotel compound." (Something bad about to happen then?)
Alternating the story-telling between Sarah and Little Bee was generally effective, but about halfway through it could probably have been dispensed with altogether as a narrative device. I felt that Cleave was tying himself in expositional knots once the two characters were actually under the same roof.
If I found much to criticise, my hostility to the writing style was no doubt increased by the sensational reviews associated with the promotion of this book. These rather oddly stressed how funny the book was, despite the heavy subject matter. Not much made me laugh though.
I must repeat that this is a great story, full of unexpected turns, and it will definitely stay with me. I await the inevtable film with interest.
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17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
the flaws don't spoil an otherwise great book, 6 Jul 2009
NB. spoilers in this review!
I think the main flaw with this book has nothing to do with the story itself but the marketing techiques employed by the publishers. As other reviewers have mentioned, the blur could basically be summarised as: 'This book is sooo amazing we could not possibly do it justice in a blurb and you must buy it to find out' and it is precisely this which has led to the the negativity surrounding the book. It cannot possibly live up to hype like this. Any flaws (and all books have them) are grossly amplified in the reader's mind simply because of the arrogance of the back cover. This is only made worse by the gushing letter from the editor.
Take the letter away and stick a normal blurb on the back and what you are left with is a flawed, but rather wonderful, novel.
I don't like criticising good novels but in order to give a balanced review I will get the few faults out of the way first.
- the beach scene. Although compelling reading, this scene is destroyed by the lack of logic. It screams 'plot device', with the characters being pushed along a certain course of action by the author - a course of action they would definitely not take. If the killers were so desperate to get rid of witnesses to their crime - so much so to track them down over such a long period - they would not have let Little Bee live simply because of the actions of a stranger. This wouldn't matter greatly if the scene wasn't so crucial to the entire story.
- the ending. Awful, awful. Not only are we left hanging after following Little Bee for so long, but again there is a comprehensive lack of logic. Why why WHY would Sarah bring Charlie to a country she knows first hand to be extremely dangerous? Especially after coming so close to losing him. Which leads me onto my next point...
- Charlie. I'm sure he's a very realistic kid but the incorrect grammar/batman obsession becomes very irritating. The incorrect grammar can be hinted at occasionally for humour. Less is more.
Right, onto the good points (and they really are very good):
- the characterisation. Contrary to other reviewers, I thought this was excellent: the characters were sympathetic enough for us to care, flawed enought to be realistic. Except for the incidents mentioned above, I thought their actions were very realistic and consistent with their internal logic.
- the insight into a refugee's life. I have always been very sympathetic to assylum seekers, but this intensified my feelings. Everyone ought to read this book and then see if they are so judgmental of immigrants.
- the language. Contrary to virtually every other reviewer, I thought the language was beautiful and simple.
- the humour. Considering the subject matter, this novel is surpisingly witty and this helps to balance the rather grim scenes.
In summary, this book is compelling, moving, tragic, horrific, touching and funny. It is flawed like all novels, but please don't allowed the irritating marketing to ruin your perception of this beautiful story.
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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
It doesn't add up, 12 May 2009
I have very mixed feelings about "The Other Hand". Like other reviewers, I found the gushing "Foreword" by Chris Cleave's editor very annoying. Anything that starts with "Dear Reader, You don't know me..." would normally guarantee my giving the book a wide berth. But the hard-backed copy I have was "passed on" to me by a relative, so I thought I would give it the benefit of the doubt. Although Nanny Publisher has told us not to spill the beans, I'm afraid I may have let the odd little spoiler into the review below.
The cover and design of the book is bewildering, given the general subject matter and tone. The silhouettes of the parrot (for Little Bee) and the squirrel (for Sarah) at the start of the chapters are almost twee (although these would be lovely in a children's book).I found it disconcerting for these to head chapters full of some pretty violent and gory scenes, as well as crude language.
The writing is patchy. There are some moments of intelligent, inventive writing, but sometimes the author seems too desperate in his search for a new viewpoint or a new metaphor. One example that I found unintentionally hilarious was where Sarah is about to embark on an affair. She stares at the carpet tiles in her (imminent) future lover's office:
"I can still see them now, with hyper-real clarity, every minute grey acrylic fibre of them, gleaming in the fluorescent light, coarse and glossy and tightly curled, lascivious, obscene, the grey pubic fuzz of an ageing administrative body." Come on...carpet tiles?
The book's strengths are in its theme and the characterisation of Little Bee. The early chapters, which introduce Little Bee's viewpoint on England and her release from the detention centre with an intriguing and entertaining group of fellow refugees, are super and really live up to the "compelling/stunning" reviews.
However, from the pivotal beach scene onwards, everything seems to fall apart. I began to lose interest, particularly in Sarah and her two highly-flawed men because their motives and reactions to events seemed increasingly unbelievable and unlikely. Having suffered the scare of nearly losing her child, would Sarah really have taken him along to a troubled and dangerous country?
Overall, the book is worth reading as it tackles an interesting issue and the opening chapters are superb. But it is let down by not being thought-through enough and from the appalling hype of the publishers.
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