Comments on things mean a lot: Postcards From No Man’s Land by Aidan Chambers

I was tickled to see you reviewing two of my very,...

2012-01-28T20:21:50.457Z

I was tickled to see you reviewing two of my very, very favorite--and such different sorts--of books in a row! The Prestige must have made quite a strange chaser after Postcards From No Man's Land.

I came back to this post wondering if (and kind of expecting) you'd have got comments by a bunch of longtime fans of this book by now. Huh. Like you, I'm surprised there aren't other blog reviews, and I'm baffled as to why U.S. publishers have been so slow to take up Chambers' books! So far I've got my hands on three. Postcards is the best, but the Toll Bridge is really good too. All I can think is that maybe U.S. editors fear American teens will be scared off by the not-strictly-contemporaneous setting of Chambers' YA characters, which means two potentially "distancing" layers of history: both by the no-personal-information-devices and not-much-internet recent history, and by that sense of generational history that gives his stories such emotional depth!

"The books, the authors who matter the most a...

2012-01-23T03:03:14.497Z

"The books, the authors who matter the most are those who speak to me and speak for me all those things about life I most need to hear as the confession of myself" – wow. Your review, plus this quote, just won me over. Have to get my hands on this one!

Ahhh, this sounds perfect! Although I have read nu...

2012-01-22T20:50:38.935Z

Ahhh, this sounds perfect! Although I have read numerous books set in the Netherlands during the war (I have this *thing* against the setting because it's such an endless story when you're in high school in almost every class). But this sounds interesting despite the familiarity of the setting, exactly because it sounds like such a fresh approach, and not something that is a 100% centred on it. Definitely going on my wishlist. Thank you for reviewing it!

I skipped over your review right down here to the ...

2012-01-22T10:40:42.227Z

I skipped over your review right down here to the comments - because this one is on my bookshelf and you've prompted me to move it up the TBR list. Once i'm done I'll come back and compare notes :)

I've had this one on my shelf for forever, bec...

2012-01-21T05:06:37.465Z

I've had this one on my shelf for forever, because it's a Printz winner. And your lovely review has convinced me that I need to dust it off and read it.

This sounds interesting. I am going to add it to m...

2012-01-20T05:15:14.384Z

This sounds interesting. I am going to add it to my wish list. :)

I have read at least one other book with polyamory...

2012-01-20T04:25:14.527Z

I have read at least one other book with polyamory, but for the life of me I can't remember what it was.

Then there's always The Bachelor, of course. :P

This is most definitely going on my wish list!!!!!...

2012-01-20T03:17:52.835Z

This is most definitely going on my wish list!!!!! And I still think the cartwheel vlog should exist.... :)

OMG--this sounds so fucking good!!! And now I'...

2012-01-19T23:36:50.780Z

OMG--this sounds so fucking good!!! And now I'm feeling a bit annoyed with myself for having already packed it up. :( (Not that I'll likely even finish all the books I have started before we move, but I'm irked that I now don't have the option, you know.)

Ummm...do you really think it's nice to renege on your promises like that? Maybe to make it up to us, you could just do a regular old vlog with no cartwheels involved??? *begs profusely* *then sadly accepts defeat*

I have read Fledgling - good remembering about the...

2012-01-19T22:27:30.798Z

I have read Fledgling - good remembering about the relationships in that.

The city of Amsterdam almost as a character of its...

2012-01-19T21:58:26.132Z

The city of Amsterdam almost as a character of its own sounds totally intriguing.

My library is actually going to have a visiting exhibition from the Anne Frank House next month!The exhibition will through the story of Anne Frank touch the subjects of discrimination, prejudice and human rights from WWII to today. I'm really looking forward to seeing the exhibition! Here's a link to some info, if you want to take a look: http://tinyurl.com/8yh6dfo

I've not had good luck with novels that have i...

2012-01-19T19:46:38.758Z

I've not had good luck with novels that have interconnected plot lines that are decades apart. This book seems to break the mold of the others I have read in that both story lines are equally enjoyable and viable and not just a gimmick that the writer used. I'm adding this to my list.

I admit I'm starting to get bored with dual ti...

2012-01-19T19:37:14.697Z

I admit I'm starting to get bored with dual time frame novels, but that's just because I've read so many of them recently. It sounds like the structure works very well in this book though. And I agree that it's good to read about different aspects of WW2 that aren't covered in fiction very often.

I love Aidan Chambers and I'm so glad I have t...

2012-01-19T18:55:31.581Z

I love Aidan Chambers and I'm so glad I have this on my TBR. It sounds fantastic. I also agree with Amy @ Turn the Page's comment: This is All was my first Chambers book and it's huuuge, but it's really good and is one of my favourite books ever.

2012-01-19T18:54:43.656Z

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you know I think I might have this book. I'll ...

2012-01-19T17:41:07.929Z

you know I think I might have this book. I'll have to check. Your review makes me really curious about it though! And I like this narrative structure too...I mean not always but often.

Argh. That should have been "many good REASON...

2012-01-19T17:23:16.784Z

Argh. That should have been "many good REASONS".

Amanda: Private cartwheels are definitely being co...

2012-01-19T16:54:43.458Z

Amanda: Private cartwheels are definitely being considered :P

Amy: I read almost too much of it for a few years, but not so much in recent times. I liked this one for the unique angle.

Amy: Not yet - this was my first time reading Chambers, but I definitely want to read more of his work.

Jodie: Rant away :D I'm sure you have many good readings for having gotten tired of this structure. I've been lucky so far, I guess, since my experiences with it have been mostly good ones. I should add that I wrote most of this review before reading Jemisin, so I wasn't thinking of her when I said "only novel I can think of". I'm excited that there will be more of that in the second book :D Hm, and I've just realised that I also forgot Fledgling by Octavia Butler, which I can't remember if you've read or not *stalks your archives*

This does sound good and I know it's a big fav...

2012-01-19T16:43:13.084Z

This does sound good and I know it's a big favourite of many, but still, multiple time lines *suspicious*. For years I kept positive about that device, because, it's just such a me device (history yay, but also people whose lives still have the possibility to develop because they live in the present, hurrah). But I've read a lot of novels that proved to me that this is a well hard structuring method to use, because so many authors use it so badly/as a default when a novel doesn't need it. Still, will stop ranting and adds cautiously to TBR.

Oh and polyamarous relationships...hey have you heard of this book called The Broken Kingdoms *whistles*. It's the tiniest element, but it's there and the characters are happy. I guess the further discussion of the gods three way relationship, is also line of polyamarous investigation? Pretty much any head canon I think up involves polyamarous slash somewhere along the way (because I am bad at making decisions and hate conflict break ups).

Have you read This Is All? One of my favorite book...

2012-01-19T15:43:35.897Z

Have you read This Is All? One of my favorite books ever. I did have this one, along with all the others but didn't enjoy them and got read of them years ago. A shame, as I suspect now I would have enjoyed them a lot!

I don't read much WW2 historical fiction, not ...

2012-01-19T14:55:39.580Z

I don't read much WW2 historical fiction, not sure why that is, but the characters in this one sound really wonderful.

Well you know I'm not a huge historical fictio...

2012-01-19T13:54:53.041Z

Well you know I'm not a huge historical fiction or war-related fiction reader, so this book might not work for me, but I do think it's interesting that it includes different romance elements than usual, and I think you should do cartwheels anyway. :D Even if not for a vlog.