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In Michigan's upper peninsula, a dangerous rescue effort draws the ears and eyes of the entire country. A two-and-a-half-year-old girl has fallen down a mine shaft--"the only sound is an astonished tiny intake of breath from Ursula as she goes down, like a penny into the slot of a bank, disappeared, gone." It is as if all hope for life on the planet is bound up in the rescue of this little girl, the first and only child of a young woman of Finnish extraction and her Chinese-American husband. One TV viewer following the action notes that the Wong family lives in a decrepit mobile home and wonders why all this time and money is being "wasted on that half-breed trailer-trash kid." In response, the novel takes a breathtaking leap back in time to visit Ursula's most remarkable ancestors: a third-century-B.C. Chinese alchemist; an orphaned playmate of a seventeenth-century Swedish queen; Professor Alabaster Wong, a Chautauqua troupe lecturer (on exotic Chinese topics) traveling the Midwest at the end of the nineteenth century; her great-great-grandfather Jake Maki, who died at twenty-nine in a Michigan iron mine cave-in; and others whose richness and history are contained in the induplicable DNA of just one person--little Ursula Wong. Ursula's story echoes those of her ancestors, many of whom so narrowly escaped not being born that her very existence--like ours--comes to seem a miracle. Ambitious and accomplished, Ursula, Under is, most of all, wonderfully entertaining--a daring saga of culture, history, and heredity.… (plus d'informations)
I don’t remember why I put this on my TBR list, though I suspect it was a recommendation from my local indie bookseller back in 2004. Having finally read it, I wonder why I kept it on the list for so long.
The basic story line is that a two-year-old child, Ursula Wong, falls into an abandoned mine while on a holiday with her parents in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. While her parents wait for the rescue teams to organize and arrive at the remote location, and for the painstaking preparations they need to make to shore up the mine before attempting to go after the child, the author goes back in time to give us Ursula’s ancestry. The story line moves back and forth in time from the drama unfolding in Michigan to the 3rd century BC where we meet a Chinese alchemist, to 17th-century Europe, to Ursula’s great-grandfather who died in a mine collapse. Some of these stories were fascinating, others failed to capture my attention.
Hill does have some strikingly original and beautifully written passages in the book. And those fed my love of literary fiction and kept me turning pages, hoping for more of this. But, it was a slog to get through. It took me over a month to finish it, because I kept putting it aside for other books that required less brain power to enjoy. (I did have a number of other things on my plate which kept me from doing much reading, so it’s not entirely the book’s fault.)
So, while I appreciate the message that each of us owes much to our varied ancestry, the novel seemed bogged down by the complex structure and timeframe Hill chose for delivering her message. ( )
Best novel I've read in a very long time. Absolutely captivating. Wonderful, original premise. Will recommend to many of my thinking reading friends. ( )
I really enjoyed reading this book and wonder why it isn't a more well known. It really makes you appreciate and wonder about one's ancestors and the histories that are part of each life whether known or unknown. ( )
Wonderful book, excellent writing and very well structured. I recommend this to everyone especially if you like books by David Mitchell or Audrey Niffenegger. ( )
This book is really the story of a little girl who falls into an abandoned mineshaft. But then the author goes into telling stories of the girl's ancestors. The whole thing combines to make you feel like you're lucky to be who you are. What if your grandmother had never met your grandfather? That kind of thing. But it's really a big, wonderful book that sort of makes you appreciate life. ( )
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▾Descriptions de livres
In Michigan's upper peninsula, a dangerous rescue effort draws the ears and eyes of the entire country. A two-and-a-half-year-old girl has fallen down a mine shaft--"the only sound is an astonished tiny intake of breath from Ursula as she goes down, like a penny into the slot of a bank, disappeared, gone." It is as if all hope for life on the planet is bound up in the rescue of this little girl, the first and only child of a young woman of Finnish extraction and her Chinese-American husband. One TV viewer following the action notes that the Wong family lives in a decrepit mobile home and wonders why all this time and money is being "wasted on that half-breed trailer-trash kid." In response, the novel takes a breathtaking leap back in time to visit Ursula's most remarkable ancestors: a third-century-B.C. Chinese alchemist; an orphaned playmate of a seventeenth-century Swedish queen; Professor Alabaster Wong, a Chautauqua troupe lecturer (on exotic Chinese topics) traveling the Midwest at the end of the nineteenth century; her great-great-grandfather Jake Maki, who died at twenty-nine in a Michigan iron mine cave-in; and others whose richness and history are contained in the induplicable DNA of just one person--little Ursula Wong. Ursula's story echoes those of her ancestors, many of whom so narrowly escaped not being born that her very existence--like ours--comes to seem a miracle. Ambitious and accomplished, Ursula, Under is, most of all, wonderfully entertaining--a daring saga of culture, history, and heredity.
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(3.69)
2
The basic story line is that a two-year-old child, Ursula Wong, falls into an abandoned mine while on a holiday with her parents in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. While her parents wait for the rescue teams to organize and arrive at the remote location, and for the painstaking preparations they need to make to shore up the mine before attempting to go after the child, the author goes back in time to give us Ursula’s ancestry. The story line moves back and forth in time from the drama unfolding in Michigan to the 3rd century BC where we meet a Chinese alchemist, to 17th-century Europe, to Ursula’s great-grandfather who died in a mine collapse. Some of these stories were fascinating, others failed to capture my attention.
Hill does have some strikingly original and beautifully written passages in the book. And those fed my love of literary fiction and kept me turning pages, hoping for more of this. But, it was a slog to get through. It took me over a month to finish it, because I kept putting it aside for other books that required less brain power to enjoy. (I did have a number of other things on my plate which kept me from doing much reading, so it’s not entirely the book’s fault.)
So, while I appreciate the message that each of us owes much to our varied ancestry, the novel seemed bogged down by the complex structure and timeframe Hill chose for delivering her message. (