Flesh by Khanh Ha
Pages: 368
Publisher: Black Heron
Pub date: June 15th 2012
Synopsis:
The setting is Tonkin (northern Vietnam) at the turn of the 20th century. A boy, Tai, witnesses the beheading of his father, a notorious bandit, and sets out to recover his head and then to find the man who betrayed his father to the authorities. On this quest, Tai's entire world will shift. FLESH takes the reader into dark and delightful places in the human condition, places where allies are not always your friends, true love hurts, and your worst enemy may bring you the most comfort. In that emotionally harrowing world, Tai must learn to deal with new responsibilities in his life while at the same time acknowledge his bond, and his resemblance, to a man he barely knew-his father. Through this story of revenge is woven a another story, one of love, but love purchased with the blood of murders Tai commits. A coming-of-age story, but also a love story, the sensuality of the author's writing style belies the sometimes brutal world he depicts.
The setting is Tonkin (northern Vietnam) at the turn of the 20th century. A boy, Tai, witnesses the beheading of his father, a notorious bandit, and sets out to recover his head and then to find the man who betrayed his father to the authorities. On this quest, Tai's entire world will shift. FLESH takes the reader into dark and delightful places in the human condition, places where allies are not always your friends, true love hurts, and your worst enemy may bring you the most comfort. In that emotionally harrowing world, Tai must learn to deal with new responsibilities in his life while at the same time acknowledge his bond, and his resemblance, to a man he barely knew-his father. Through this story of revenge is woven a another story, one of love, but love purchased with the blood of murders Tai commits. A coming-of-age story, but also a love story, the sensuality of the author's writing style belies the sometimes brutal world he depicts.
Review:
A copy was provided by the author for a honest review.
A come to age of story set in Vietnam mixed with reality and love. Not everything is going well for Tai. He sees his father being beheaded and soon after his brother is dead, because of smallpox. From the first two chapters i was sucked in by Khanh Ha's writing but soon after i began to lose my interest. The book was mixed with third person and first person narrative. Although i did love seeing through different people's POVs it was confusing. While, i didn't love the writing i enjoyed the plot. It was fresh, unique and original.
Overall, Flesh was a pleasant read. It was unique and refreshing read.
Find Flesh on: Goodreads/ Shelfari/ Amazon/ Barnes & Noble.
About the author:
Khanh Ha was born in Hue, the former capital of Vietnam. During his teen years he began writing short stories which won him several awards in the Vietnamese adolescent magazines. He graduated from Ohio University with a bachelor’s degree in Journalism. He is at work on a new novel. Connect with Khanh on his website, blog, Facebook, GoodReads, or Twitter.
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I haven't heard of this before. The plot does sound interesting, but I'm sorry you didn't enjoy the writing! I hate being overly confused by a book. Great review, Sangita. :)
ReplyDeleteLove the review! Thanks for telling us both what you liked and didn't like.
ReplyDeleteI love books that are written from different POVs but I'm gutted that it became confusing. :( Thanks for the review!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds unique. I hadn't heard of it before but I love multiple perspectives.
ReplyDeleteI had some of the same difficulties as you. I loved the idea of the plot and I think with a new editor this book could be fabulous.
ReplyDeleteOoooh, I just love Asian settings! I'm sorry you didn't like this one that much though. But really, I am very much interested :3
ReplyDeleteGreat review! Thanks for telling us both what you enjoyed and didn't enjoy and thanks for joining us on this tour! When you have a moment will you please cross-post your review to Amazon and GoodReads?
ReplyDeleteEm :-D
Great review. Thanks for telling us what you liked and didn't like about the book. I'll start reading soon and am really looking forward to it! When you have a moment, will you please cross-post to Amazon and GoodReads?
ReplyDeleteThanks,
Em :-D