Justin Hill (1)Critiques

There novel worked well to carry on the feeling of the first film. I can't speak to its place related to the original pentology and something in me is a little torn on a book of a movie of a book. Still, it may not have had Ang Lee's level of depth and layering, and it relies too heavily on the combat, but it felt a part of the whole. If this were unconnected from anything I imagine one less star would be above.

"The dreams we all had which sparkled for a short while in the hot sun of Eritrea"
By sally tarbox on 11 December 2017
Format: Kindle Edition
Justin Hill went out to Eritrea as a volunteer aid worker in 1996. The country had just emerged from thirty years of conflict with neighbouring Ethiopia, and Hill writes of the aftermath: the damaged buildings but far more importantly a damaged people. Countless deaths; people with horrifying tales to tell; and a sense of malaise as the long fought-for and dreamed-of independent Eritrea fails to materialise.
As former fighters get the top jobs, there remains a sense that conflict is something to aspire to; warfare remains a glorious state.
Hill's account concludes with his evacuation as war starts to break out anew...
Having read two accounts of Eritrea in the 30s by Italian doctor/ administrator Alberto Denti di Pirajno (qv), which portrayed a rather magical place, it was sad to read Hill's contrasting its time as an Italian colony with the country today:

"The Italian aristocrat Duke Denti di Pirajno had reported lions here in the 1930s; and I saw a village called Elephant Water- but all the big game was long gone. The war had seen to that; when soldiers weren't killing each other they turned their guns on the wildlife around them. They'd left the land barren: dust and stones, devastated by a virulent plague of human beings."

A beautiful country but a seemingly hopeless situation.
B/w photos.

This book is sometimes categorized as 'historical fiction', but that's still not quite accurate. The book is a fictional account of a historical Tang Dynasty (618-906 CE) poetess (Yu Xuanji) whom we know only vaguely through a handful of poems, a reference to a book of her works and diaries (now lost), and a historical reference to her death 12 years after she was executed. It is, however, a beautifully written story woven around the main themes of her poetry--the betrayals of life, love, beauty, families, society. In this respect, it does crystallize some of the most important aspects of the period--the dynasty's obsession with romanticism and refinement, village life, city life, peasant lives, aristocratic careers and interests, the roles and duties of wives and concubines. The book includes several of the poetess' actual poetry as translated by the author, who was inspired to write this novel while translating her poems.

Perhaps the best category to capture its genre is fiction 'inspired by history'. As the author notes, "this novel started as a collection of translations of Yu Xuanji's poems, which formed the skeleton on which the rest of the book has grown" (p. 438).

It's a light read, a book I would categorize as "summer reading". Read it for entertainment for it is entertaining, but if you're looking for insights into Tang Chinese history or society, your time is better spent elsewhere.

If however, you're looking for a story about betrayals, this book will not disappoint.

Great writing - superficial research

A bend in the Yellow River is a memoir of the author's year, teaching English in the small town of Yuncheng in Shanxi Province, China. Aged just 21 year, Justin Hill arrived in China in 1993, as a volunteer with the VSO. The small town to which Mario and he were assigned lies at a distance of 16 hours by train from Beijing, in the southernmost tip of Shanxi Province.

In 1993, Chinese people in such a remote place had barely been exposed to foreigners, and the local population and the foreigners observe each other as exotica. The memoir, divided according to the seasons, describes every aspect of life as a foreign teacher in China. It forms a quaint portrait of life in China in the early 1990s.

A bend in the Yellow River was Justin Hill's first book. He has subsequently written various other books, including a novel and collection of short stories. Leaving China, he moved to Africa, to teach English in Eritrea.

A nicely written and paced novel, rich with drama and intrigue and which begins at the start of a momentous period for what was beginning to become England. The 11th Century.

If '11th Century' says nothing to you - 1066 was the second half of the 11th Century. Better?

But that's not just for fun, because this is actually a novel set in England of the early 11th Century, a century of invasions, clearly. Vikings are banging on Englands door every few years, they invade and conquer a couple of times, then there's the pesky Normans, here just waiting and watching. In Normandy.

Beginning at the start of the century and concentrating on the situation in England - and wider afield sometimes - this is a story taking place before the momentous events of later on. Pre-Conquest happenings seem to have been non the less momentous as those later on, by the sounds of it. And as I found here, obviously benefit greatly from a little illumination, context and background.

But it's not just a history lesson, though it is clearly well researched, and not just fleshing out the bare bones of history. Wikipedia could have told me that (and I did have to check a couple of times, to see if the characters were who I thought they were). Here, Justin Hill's writing really brings the period to life, the landscape, the people, the politics, the prevalent mentality of the period. Fully formed and thoroughly immersed, I think you might say it is and one becomes.

We follow, at the start of the book, one Wulfnoth, who seems to have become an Anglicised ex-Viking invader. Then for the majority of the novel, his son Godwin guides the story through the period. And if you add a '-son' to his name, as was the habit in those days, if you know anything at all of the period, you'll understand the significance of the person Justin Hill is writing about. Whilst they are the embodiment of a people becoming 'English', they are also Viking invaders of the first wave. Now fighting against new Viking invaders, to form an new land, their land, 'England'.

So this is the situation in England before the Norman conquest of 1066, that James Aitcheson and James Wilde are currently writing so evocatively about the after effects of. Where James Aitcheson's stories of the Norman knight 'Tancred' show the invaders' side and James Wilde's 'Hereward' series is about the guerrilla war of English resistance to the conquerors, this is a much more relaxed, panoramic view of the the events leading up to the conquest. As I say, there is drama and intrigue, politicking (and later, action) aplenty. And it is all handled with a confident, fluidic surety by Justin Hill. I think this is his first foray into the Historical Novel field, though you'd never know it. You can tell he had great fun writing this one, that's clear from some lovely descriptive passages that are almost lyrical and must have felt lovely when just written. The book has in parts, an almost dream-like feel to it. You can feel him looking back into history, trying to see into the mists, attempting to make sense of and see what is forming. Then there come passages and events clear, sharp and bright. And heart-pounding action, of course. Best I can sum it up as.

Interestingly, if he's got his research right and I can only presume he has, this is an England being formed by and fought over, by what we would think of as boys, young men at best. Godwin is barely 19 at the end of this, Knut is I think a little younger, and all the other main characters, Ethelred apart, are very young men.

If there was one quibble I had, it was the lack of meaningful action (by which I mean, fighting) in the first half. I saw somewhere he was writing a trilogy and even with having to follow historical events pretty closely (by which I mean that if there weren't any battles, you can hardly write about them, can you?), there could have been a bit more mayhem at the start, even if you are largely setting up for a trilogy. The front cover illustration (of the paperback version I have) is also a bit non-descript. Not gonna be leaping off the shelves with that one.

Oh yeah, if I might recommend one thing to the author/publisher; it would be to change the photo of Justin Hill in the back cover (of the paperback version I have). To something more 'read my book, you'll really enjoy it'- like. Rather than the current 'read my book - or I'll break yer legs!'

Enjoyable though.

Account of working in Eritrea after independence. Conveys beauty of Asmara, and impact of civil war on the people met by (British) expat. Quick read (with pictures!).

3.5 stars

After Godwin’s father falls out with Alderman Eadric, he is held as hostage at King Ethelred’s court. The king’s son Edmund saves his life and they become friends. Godwin rises from being the second son to be the king’s right-hand man. They have the same vision of England and Godwin stays loyal to him even when things go from bad to worse.

I’m having some troubles writing this review but I’m not sure why is that.

To say this was action packed is an understatement. There was battle after battle and while I do like battles it really took the center stage when someone dies it’s told in great detail. The problem is that I didn’t get to really know the characters besides Godwin or what they were thinking. Lot of back-slapping and other manly activities but I kept missing for something else. I did like Kendra who first nursed Godwin’s father in the end and became Godwin’s mistress after that. But I would have liked to know what happened to her later on.

I know this gives the idea that I hated the book but I did enjoy it. It just had the action as the main point instead of historical things. I liked Godwin and Edmund but Knut was just like a spoiled brat. Haven’t read many books about this era and some of the characters were so different from what I’ve thought them to be.

Struggled to get into this book, but came back to it when revisiting a Chinese period. Good as a holiday read, but not mest enough otherwise. Prinicipal character was unengaging, like Harry Potter in the hormonal phase.

I thought this was well written, but at times I found it a little ponderous and sometimes lacking the passion proclaimed on the cover. Having recently read Ryan Lavelle's biography of King Ethelred, I was a bit disappointed with the wholly negative and one sided depiction of his reign as a complete disaster offered here, which overlooks the successful repulsion of lesser Viking incursions earlier in the reign. The novel ended well, though, and I will read the inevitable later novels in the series. The author evokes the sense of a time period well. Godwin comes over well and Kendra was an attractive character.

I was a little annoyed by some aspects that contradicted the known facts, e.g. Ethelred's mother lives until 1013 here when she is believed to have died around the turn of the millennium. Okay, historical records are scant for this era, but had she lived and plotted an extra 15 years or so, there would be some trace in the historical record. The future King Edward (the Confessor) was a few years older here than generally believed. Finally, I couldn't help noticing a discrepancy - Edmund's wife Ealdgyth is small and dark on page 228 and fair haired on page 368. 4/5

Well.
That was depressing.

This book is a work of fiction that focuses on a group of people 10 years after the 1989 disaster. I thought it was a quick read and very good. It shows the effect on a couple of people that were involved in the student movement and some of the older people that were loosing everything now that the government isn't providing all the jobs and housing, etc. Overall I came away with the feeling that although things are better than before the communist...better doesn't mean good. Recommend.