Jonathan Chamberlain

I knew two brothers who both fought in the Canadian armed forces in World War II. One had a gentler personality in peace time than the other. Two individuals with unique personalities. Not surprising.
I am sure they were already different from each other before the war and during the war. Obviously.

What happens when one brother stays at home during war (in this case the Vietnam War) and the other one goes? After the death of the soldier(by suicide) the surviving brother receives the suicide note with instructions to go to his forest hideaway to visit his war buddy. there is a task to fulfill. The girl that both returning vets have sharing as a sex slave in captivity for quite some time (the girl and her girlfriend initially came out to the forest for what they expected was to be a one night party after which the would be free to go back home, but the one ended up being murdered within a very short time) has given birth to a son.
The task is to rescue this boy and get him to civilization. The main character, the non-soldier will be curious, as is the reader, about who is the biological father of the boy.

It is no mystery to us now when we read about post-traumatic stress disorder to see that the violence of war does not evaporate from a returning veteran. But it is still shocking to read about it in this book. We who stayed home must offer our support and resources.… (mais)

This is not an A, B, C of a concept, a war, or a time of American history. This is a hard as nails, jagged as broken mirror of the evil we avoid, live with, and sometimes willingingly/unwillingly participate. Presented in several voices, I occasionally faltered as to whose time and experience I was reading, but I could not stop reading. No matter how insanely harsh or sublimely sweet, I had to know where we would all wind up. Jack has inherited his brother Joe’s personal box of war rantings, letters and self loathing and is compelled to upset every principle he has ever previously understood as good and true to seek an ultimate understanding that can never be obtained but will jumpstart his stalled out life.… (mais)

Disclosure: I received a copy of this from the Goodreads First Reads program.

Synopsis: Circumstances collide to set Rowan Jones (a Welsh poet) as the spokesperson for a previously unconnected group of athletes choosing to compete in the London 2012 Olympics. A little political, a little sporty and a lot funny, Dreams of Gold pits together a cast of characters who, individually posses varying degrees of sanity, but together make a formidable team of athlete-cum-detective-cum spies to save the Olympics from themselves and an enigmatic dictator.

One must read this book as though they are watching a sporting event with an extremely knowledgeable, yet unidentified presenter/broadcaster. Considering this is a book about the Olympics (sort of), I think it really helped to set the tone. I did wonder if perhaps this broadcaster-cum narrator would turn into a Hercule Poirot as it became more of a detective story, but alas no Belgian accent popped up.

For the most part, Chamberlain sticks to the Martin Millar approach of writing chapters in fewer than 5 pages, with a Jasper Fforde-ish quirkiness of prose. Add to this a dash of information about Olympic regulations and a host city's neurotic need to produce the best event...evaaaah, Chamberlain successfully navigates the planet and the diverse reasons athletes have for wanting to compete on the world stage.

We are given just enough detail about each character to understand what each has at stake and why their individuality improves the whole of the group. We also learn how pinning one's hopes on a singular decision can derail an entire concept while simultaneously exposing everyone to relatively esoteric ideas. Not to mention a dose of unique poetry from time to time.

I don't know that this writing style would appeal to all, but I do believe it is a story that everyone should read. The work is riddled with lessons in tolerance, reading the fine lines, doing research, having faith in one another and that differences between people make for a very spherical world. Plus, it's just simply a fun read.… (mais)