Customer Reviews

Strawberry Fields

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

it doesn't matter much to me
Let me take you down, 'cos I'm going to Strawberry Fields

I approached Marina Lewycka's "Strawberry Fields" with a mixture of excitement and apprehension. Lewycka's first novel, A Short History of Tractors in Ukranian, was a first-rate farce, a brilliant book. Second novels are challenging, both for the author and for the reader. The author is challenged to live up to the promise of her first work. The reader is challenged by virtue of his own heightened expectation and anticipation that the second work will match the qualities of the first novel. Happily, Lewycka was up to the task and "Strawberry Fields" was a funny, satisfying book to read.

The title refers to the strawberry fields found in Kent, England which during the summer are populated by migrant agricultural workers from Eastern Europe, Africa, and Asia. The story opens with the arrival of a new worker, Irina, in a strawberry field in Kent, England. Irina is a young girl straight off the bus from Kiev. She is teamed up with a motley group of workers from Poland (Yola, Tomasz, and Marta), Ukraine (Andriy), Malawi (Emanuel), and China (known to the crew only as Chinese Girls One and Two). The field has two trailers for the crew to sleep in - one for the women and one for the men. (The book's title in the UK is "Two Caravans).

Life for migrant agricultural workers in England is no picnic but Irina and her fellow workers form a familial bond - one that is quirky and dysfunctional but very touching and well-drawn. A minor dispute with the field's farmer evolves into something close to a full-blown riot and the next thing you know Irina and her gang flee their trailers and embark on an adventure that takes them from Kent to a horrid chicken processing plant to London and Sheffield and points north. It isn't hard to think of Strawberry Fields as a contemporary Canterbury Tales - as played with an Eastern European accent and influenced by the comic sensibility of Monty Python. This is not to compare Lewycka to Chaucer by any means. But each character has a tale to tell (including a mongrel dog they pick up along the way - and Lewycka does a great job translating dog talk into English!) and their tales are funny and moving.

I cannot say that Strawberry Fields is a better book than Tractors in Ukrainian. They are both excellent but they are different in many respects though. Where Tractors focused on one family, specifically two sisters, Strawberry Fields has a much bigger cast. There were a couple of instances where the book lost some of its narrative power because it was diffused among too many characters. That said, Strawberry Fields manages to combine humor and whimsy in telling a story that could easily pass for tragedy. That is not an easy line to walk but Lewycka does so with skill and grace. The book's dedication "[t]o the Morecambe Bay Cockle-pickers" an accident where 21 migrant workers from China were drowned in the north of England indicates that Lewycka is well aware of the plight of Britain's invisible laborers.

All in all, I was very happy with Strawberry Fields. It was tragedy played as farce and when that is done well, as it was here, it can have a very powerful effect. Highly recommended. L. Fleisig

Following her success after the first novel, A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian, Lewycka treats her readers to yet another delightful story - this time about Eastern European immigrants picking strawberries, and then some. The plot draws you in, and the reader is kept continuously engaged as each of the characters - Andriy, Irina, Yola, Tomasz, Emanuel, Dog and others - narrates the story from their personal point of view.

The novel's strengths are numerous. Take for example its characters who are very diverse and at times completely incompatible. Thus Yola (from Zdroj, Lonely Planet Poland) cannot stand Tomasz who is trying his best to impress her through his off-key singing; stealing the underwear does not help poor "Tomek" either. Irina, a history professor's daughter from Kiev (Kyiv), Ukraine dismisses the attention of Andriy, the hard-working son of a miner from Donetsk, in eastern Ukraine. That she's from the "Orange" camp and he's from the "Blue and White" ( Ukraine's Orange Revolution) makes the relationship even more charged. The characters' nationalities range from Ukrainians and Poles to Malawians and Chinese, from Romanians and Slovaks to Bulgarians and Moldovans, and others.

Another strength of Lewycka's writing is her unique style. Those who read "A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian" will immediately recognize the wide usage of accents and cultural humor (e.g. "little flovver", "beetroot-brain"). An occasional foreign word such as "mzungu" and "smetana" may send the reader in the arms of a search engine or a dictionary, but these are rare enough to make the novel a pleasure to read, and not a guide on foreign languages.

Yet, using a fun and "fictional" although informed by reality setting, Lewycka is able to touch on broader issues such as modern immigration, animal treatment, economic hardship ("...one day they were all comrades, next day some were millionaires..." - Andriy, pg. 96), commodization of women, first love and the loss of innocence ("I wanted it to be perfect, like Natasha and Pierre..." - Irina, pg. 287), and the human desire to seek solace and reconciliation. These make "Strawberry Fields" relevant to audiences beyond the U.K.

The few criticisms I have are minor, and certainly arguable. When Irina is speaking of "Maidan Square" (pg. 16), she is referring to the Independence Square, a focal point of the 2004 Orange Revolution. Since "Maidan" in Ukrainian means "Square," Irina in effect says "Square Square," but then perhaps this is done on purpose, as Irina's English is not perfect. "Ujjas!" (pg. 93) may have been made more pronounceable as "Uzhas!" Lastly, after consulting a couple of native speakers, "robot" does not mean "work" in Russian (pg. 199); instead, "rabota" seems to be the proper word.

Overall, "Strawberry Fields" by Marina Lewycka is a splendid second novel, which will make you laugh, empathize, detest, and root for your favorites. Relish the journey.

Before I read this book I was told it was "very funny". That is not true according to my understanding of fun. However it changes something fundamental within you and changes your outlook on humanity, as pertaining to the large picture of life, and illegal immigrants regarding to a narrower view. The book gives good insight into the lives of people who look for a better life in the west with a naive belief in its riches and benevolence while being not so terrifying, depressing and violent that one is depressed for a week after reading.

I have never take the time to write a review on Amazon.com before but I feel compelled to do so after finishing this book, Strawberry Fields. Rarely have I laughed out loud reading a book as often as I did this time, even during some of the disgusting episodes involving the chicken industry (not sure I will ever eat chicken again!) The characters in this book, presented to the reader in their own voices (thoughts) represented immigrants from the Ukraine, Malawi, China and Poland. I felt that the characters voices rang true, especially those of Irina and Andriy, the love interests. And I enjoyed the way the very serious topic (the effects of globalization) was woven into this very entertaining and action-filled adventure. I can imagine a movie made from this book. Wonder if there are any plans to do so.

Once again, Lewychka has written an enjoyable book with details that will feed your imagination and sense of humor at times, as well as a sense of confusion at the naivete of some the characters featured. I found myself wondering if it was through true life experience that Lewychka met such types of people who would blindly follow and believe. It made me very involved in the lives of the characters. I enjoyed this as much as her previous book, but in a different way, mainly I think due to the fact that it was a different topic and the style of writing was not as straight forward to me.

I have read both of her books, and both are very good. Strawberry Fields is a modern version of Steinbeck's "Grapes of Wrath" about farmworkers (mainly eastern European) in the UK. There are surprises throughout. The only think to be careful of are the sometimes quick transitions. If you don't watch out, it is easy to get lost. But all in all a great read.

I purchased this novel under an alternative title of Two Caravans... just checked the other reviews for Strawberry Fields and the synopses prove it's definitely the same novel.

I was really looking forward to reading this novel, having thoroughly enjoyed Marina Lewycka's first, but was disappointed by the lack of control of character types and development she has in this second novel, which results in frustratingly stereotyped and unconvincing portrayals of voice and characterisation of the African and Asian characters. This is such a shame as the subject matter is topical and of genuine social importance and interest. Perhaps the author bit off more than she could chew by representing such a range of cultures without having a full grasp of their backgrounds. A worthy but not completely successful novel.

I purchased Two Caravans, which is the same book under a different title. Having enjoyed A SHORT HISTORY OF TRACTOR IN UKRAINIAN, I was looking forward to reading a book set in the strawberry fields of Kent.

The concept had potential, following the lives of the immigrant strawberry pickers, and their reasons for arriving in England, etc. However, the book seemed somewhat lacking.

I did not find any of the humor that was present in Short History of Tractors, and the characters were hard to like. I think I was supposed to feel bad for their working conditions and feel for their plight, however, I found each of their flaws too distracting to really care for them. The narration, in broken English, was also a distraction.

It was pretty implausible that they kept running into the same groups of people across the country, and, in the end, the story just seemed to stop. We never learned what happened to the various strawberry workers who left the main group throughout the book, and I was left with a feeling of blah...

Laugh out loud hilarious. Really helps if you know a bit about England to read her books. Will make you think about how hard life is for immigrants and the sacrifices they make to try and have a better life. The characters are very developed and colorful. Hoping for a movie!

I've never read a book on the lives of illegal immigrants, but I thought this was great (I'm an immigrant myself...not illegal though ;). I never knew how hard it can be for illegal immigrants to work in foreign countries.
I liked everything about it. It had this dark humor about it and sometimes it was really sad. It's just so true, everything about it. I love how you can read the point of views from all the characters (including the dog!)...how they perceive the people, the culture, new things they have never encountered before. You get into their heads and hear their thoughts. I really couldn't put it down. There were some parts that were totally unpredictable and surprised me. You feel like you are an illegal immigrant yourself and share their struggles.
I highly recommend this book.