Marina Lewycka Two Caravans

[Mouse]

I haven't read A Short History .. but I know it was very popular with

Reading Groups. I read Two Caravans in about five days, as I found it

an easy read. Although the novel was presented through multiple

narratives, it had a straight forward plot. At first I wondered what

the significance of many of the episodes were - the trip to the old

people's home, the visit to the protesters camp - and I decided they

all had something in common. They were all people outside of society;

whether through choice or not. This gave them a connection with the

migrants.

 

Living in Dover I found the depiction of the area very amusing..

"people sullen, with tight faces".. but not entirely accurate - I

would say it is not apparent that there are a lot of immigrants in

Dover and there is certainly not any begging. We have many migrant

workers coming into the library and using email to talk with their

families back home. The book certainly made me think more about the

conditions in which they live and work, and how our food arrives in

the supermarkets. Even if we buy British, it appears that we cannot

avoid the exploitation of workers. I found the piece about the chicken

farm very upsetting, wincing at the descriptions of the overfed

animals too packed in to move.

 

The only negative comment I have to make is about the monosyllabic

first person narrative in CAPITALS of the dog. I don't think this

viewpoint was necessary at all and really detracted from the rest of

the story.

[Barblue]

Having just finished this book I have to agree with what Mouse says about it. I was especially interested in your take, Mouse, on the emphasis being on those peoples on the margins of society. I hadn't really connected to that one, but it is so true.

 

I liked the multiple points of view. I loved the way Lewycka used language as constant unreliable narrators, even for Dog. I found this made me work more as a reader at getting to grips with what was actually going on. I like that about books.

 

I didn't like the chicken farm setting; it was so upsetting and ghastly I almost had to stop reading the book - and I am off chicken for life now! I am aware that it was trying to be funny, but somehow the humour by-passed me most of the time. One or two bits were amusing, but for the most part it fell flat.

 

Having lived in Kent for a period of about 14 years, albeit some time ago, it was interesting and intriguing to follow the excursions of the caravan and the various people. I am still trying to work out how anyone could tow a caravan through the very narrow streets of Canterbury and for that matter through the streets of London - and manage to park somewhere in the centre on waste ground!?

 

An interesting read for the most part, but I'm not sure I will be reading the Tractors in Ukrainian one.

[Ruth]

I read A Short History... last year, and was distinctly underwhelmed by it.

[Seraphina]

I borrowed this from my mum who had abandoned it about a fifth of the way through. I actually really enjoyed it, although I didn't like the dog perspective either Mouse. I felt it was unnecessary, although at the end it sort of made sense...it would have been a lot less effective had we not had the dog point of view.

 

The only criticism I had was that Vulk (is that the right name?) kept finding the girl (I can't remember her name) very easily...it seemed a little too coincidental to me.

[katrina]

The book was full of coincidences, it was amazing how they only met about 2 English people. Having said that I did enjoy it, and it made me laugh several times. The chicken farm was awful, every time I eat chicken I feel wrong

[Minxminnie]

I'm just about finished this. I've read it very quickly, which often means I don't enjoy a book as much, but I'm enjoying a lot about it. (It reminds me a lot of The Road Home by Rose Tremain, in subject matter and angle and viewpoint if not in style.)

And I love Dog's viewpoint. It annoyed me at first, but now I just love it ... I AM DOG. Hee hee.