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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Harrowing Read,
By
This review is from: A Perfect Night to Go to China (Hardcover)
I picked this book up on a whim, intrigued by the title and encouraged by the fact that it got the Governor General's award. It's true the title has little to do with the book, but once I started reading, I couldn't stop. (It's not a very long book; it only takes about 1.5 hours to read, but it is so harrowing it feels longer.).
The author takes us into the mind of a person suffering the tortures of hell - the loss of his child through his own fault. It was the kind of mistake anyone could make (like "I'll leave him alone for 15 minutes while I run and get milk, he'll be OK" - except it wasn't milk, it was a trip to the neighbourhood bar to ogle a girl bad, so there can be no rationalizing, only self-loathing.) I liked the fact that the main character was a superficial, unappealing guy. I liked the fact that he was short with his son putting him to bed, because he was so tired himself. That's real life. I liked the fact that after his son's disappearance he flips through his diary and it isn't filled with remembrances of his son, only with the remembrance that it was written when his son was there and is filled with inanity. His wife hates him after the disappearance and conveys this in the most bitter, true sentences "Don't call; I can't stand the disappointment when it's you." If he had been a nice guy the story probably would have turned maudlin. It didn't. The story, however gruelling, was not a bit sentimental. The scenes where he hears his son whispering to him, leading him, where he has dreams so vivid they're hard to tell from reality, were all compellingly rendered. Thank God I haven't been through this but it felt true to me. When I finished the book I cried, not out of sadness but at the horror of it all, and then brought my 3-year-old into my bed where I could feel she was safe. Unlike Fiona, I would never recommend this book to someone who has lost a child. I wouldn't even recommend it to half the people I know who have a child; they worry enough already. In my opinion, this book is a tour de force, as the author makes a horror that most of us can't imagine invade every detail of life in a real and terrible way.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An intriguing read,
By fiona (Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: A Perfect Night to Go to China (Hardcover)
A Perfect Night to go to China was an interesting book that compelled me - because, as soon as I got into the first couple of pages, I thought, "Whoa." And curiosity sunk in. Roman, the protagonist, makes the biggest mistake of his life one night. He leaves his little boy alone for fifteen minutes to stroll into a bar. When he gets back, his son Simon is gone. At this point, the reader can sense Roman's mental and physical descent. He becomes obsessed with finding his son, believing that his son is communicating with him. Whenever he sleeps, he slips into a world, seemingly of the dead. He sees his mother there and, even, Simon. At these times he visits Simon, holds him close, tells him he misses him. I'll have to admit it was heart-breaking to read this book. You really get a sense of what it's like, losing a child. How it becomes the centre of your world. Everything seems trivial to that one big gap in your life. And what shocks Roman is that, at times, he momentarily forgets about Simon. For example, when he sees a menacing dog. He is surprised, shocked, maybe even a little disappointed in himself, that he could, even for a moment, forget about his son. A Perfect Night to go to China was a clear and easy read. It isn't even 200 pages, and I found that I breezed through it. Gilmour's writing is accessible. I love the way he uses similes - you can always picture his images and he doesn't use obscure words like some authors do. His dialogue is also very striking. The title still strikes me as a bit of a mystery - I can see why he named his title that, but I am just wondering, Why China? All in all, A Perfect Night to go to China is recommended. I'd recommend it especially to parents who have suffered the loss of a child, although that isn't a requirement. I am only 17 years old and I found this book intriguing. It is different, and that's what makes it original.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent,
By Jim "Jim" (Toronto) - See all my reviews
This review is from: A Perfect Night to Go to China (Hardcover)
I normally do not write reviews, although I do read a very large number of books each year. I am writing this review to hopefully offset the lower ratings given by others. This book, if any, deserves a higher average rating.
The book was astounding. Fabulous writing style, compelling narrative, and expresses and elicits more emotion in less than 200 pages than many other classics of much longer length. Reading the book jacket I thought the story sounded depressing, and initially, after I started reading, I thought that the book was going to be like many other Can-lit books - gloomy, moody and dull. The story was definitely sad, but not depressing. It has a very realistic quality to it and such an excellent writing style that you simply get carried along with the narration. Once I had started it, I could not put it down. I certainly understand that not all of us will enjoy the same books, but the two people that gave this book only one star puzzle me beyond words. Jim
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