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The Persimmon Tree Audiobook by Bryce Courtenay
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Title: The Persimmon Tree
Author: Bryce Courtenay
Narrator: Humphrey Bower
Format: Unabridged
Length: 27 hrs and 56 mins
Language: English
Release date: 07-09-10
Publisher: Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd
Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 2553 votes
Genres: Fiction, Contemporary
Publisher's Summary:
The Persimmon Tree opens in Indonesia in 1942 on the cusp of Japanese invasion and the evacuation of Batavia (Jakarta) by the Dutch. Seventeen-year-old Nicholas Duncan is on holiday there, in pursuit of an exotic butterfly known as the Magpie Crow. It's an uncertain, dangerous time to be in Indonesia, and Nick's options of getting out are fast dwindling. Amidst the fear and chaos he falls in love with Anna, the beautiful daughter of a Dutch acquaintance, and she nicknames him 'Mr Butterfly'.
To assist in the escape, Anna's father gifts Nick his prized yacht, Vlermuis, to sail to Australia. Singapore has just fallen, the Japanese have made it to Sumatra, and the waters are dangerous. Vlermuis is not long out of Batavia when Nick is forced ashore for repairs. He witnesses the bloody execution of shipwrecked Allied soldiers by natives, and while burying what's left of the bodies, Nick notices one wounded soldier has escaped death, and he carries him back to his yacht.
The rescued soldier is a lower-class Irish Catholic American called Kevin Judge. He has no sailing experience, but he assists Nick in navigating through some dramatic storms and the two form an unlikely and lifelong friendship.
Members Reviews:
An excellent sequel
I had read FISHING FOR STARS previously when THE PERSIMMON TREE (which is the earlier book) was not yet on Audible. Now I am reading FISHING FOR STARS again, I remembered large parts but there are details that I couldn't have understood in the same way in my earlier reading. The PERSIMMON TREE takes place in the Pacific Theater of WWII and provides an important perspective into the war in the islands many of which are now Indonesia, the Japanese war experience, history, cultural traditions, the comfort women, the old Japan and the overlay of the new one, survival and psychological scars. With Humphrey Bower reading, the books are everything that the best of Coutenay's books are.
Never a Dull Moment!
Courtenay was off to a great start in this two-book story. I started into this book knowing there would be a sequel. This book ends rather up in the air and nobody sails into the sunset. But the characters had love and lots of time on their side. Both author and narrator are in top form. Anybody short on credits could just write their own ending and not listen to Fishing for Stars which continues the story. I rather wish I had. I saw healing, cooperative business, babies, brilliant careers for all. But a truly loyal Courtenay fan will have to listen to both. I did. In this book I will say I heard some new (for me) vocabulary. The sex is explicit. There are quite a few most unpleasant scenes and a couple that were sublime, i.e., the little man sitting in the jungle with his watercolors. That was lovely!
Best Author- Narrator combo on the market
No one spins a tale quite like Bryce Courtenay. Add Humphrey Bower's narration and you have true magic. Bower is masterful doing all the accents for the multiple nationalities of Courtenay's characters. The two are forever linked in my mind. I waited quite awhile for Audible to offer the Persimmon Tree so I could read this two book series in order. It was well worth the wait. As always with Courtenay, in addition to a great story, you get a bit of history from the other side of the world.
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Title: The Persimmon Tree
Author: Bryce Courtenay
Narrator: Humphrey Bower
Format: Unabridged
Length: 27 hrs and 56 mins
Language: English
Release date: 07-09-10
Publisher: Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd
Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 2553 votes
Genres: Fiction, Contemporary
Publisher's Summary:
The Persimmon Tree opens in Indonesia in 1942 on the cusp of Japanese invasion and the evacuation of Batavia (Jakarta) by the Dutch. Seventeen-year-old Nicholas Duncan is on holiday there, in pursuit of an exotic butterfly known as the Magpie Crow. It's an uncertain, dangerous time to be in Indonesia, and Nick's options of getting out are fast dwindling. Amidst the fear and chaos he falls in love with Anna, the beautiful daughter of a Dutch acquaintance, and she nicknames him 'Mr Butterfly'.
To assist in the escape, Anna's father gifts Nick his prized yacht, Vlermuis, to sail to Australia. Singapore has just fallen, the Japanese have made it to Sumatra, and the waters are dangerous. Vlermuis is not long out of Batavia when Nick is forced ashore for repairs. He witnesses the bloody execution of shipwrecked Allied soldiers by natives, and while burying what's left of the bodies, Nick notices one wounded soldier has escaped death, and he carries him back to his yacht.
The rescued soldier is a lower-class Irish Catholic American called Kevin Judge. He has no sailing experience, but he assists Nick in navigating through some dramatic storms and the two form an unlikely and lifelong friendship.
Members Reviews:
An excellent sequel
I had read FISHING FOR STARS previously when THE PERSIMMON TREE (which is the earlier book) was not yet on Audible. Now I am reading FISHING FOR STARS again, I remembered large parts but there are details that I couldn't have understood in the same way in my earlier reading. The PERSIMMON TREE takes place in the Pacific Theater of WWII and provides an important perspective into the war in the islands many of which are now Indonesia, the Japanese war experience, history, cultural traditions, the comfort women, the old Japan and the overlay of the new one, survival and psychological scars. With Humphrey Bower reading, the books are everything that the best of Coutenay's books are.
Never a Dull Moment!
Courtenay was off to a great start in this two-book story. I started into this book knowing there would be a sequel. This book ends rather up in the air and nobody sails into the sunset. But the characters had love and lots of time on their side. Both author and narrator are in top form. Anybody short on credits could just write their own ending and not listen to Fishing for Stars which continues the story. I rather wish I had. I saw healing, cooperative business, babies, brilliant careers for all. But a truly loyal Courtenay fan will have to listen to both. I did. In this book I will say I heard some new (for me) vocabulary. The sex is explicit. There are quite a few most unpleasant scenes and a couple that were sublime, i.e., the little man sitting in the jungle with his watercolors. That was lovely!
Best Author- Narrator combo on the market
No one spins a tale quite like Bryce Courtenay. Add Humphrey Bower's narration and you have true magic. Bower is masterful doing all the accents for the multiple nationalities of Courtenay's characters. The two are forever linked in my mind. I waited quite awhile for Audible to offer the Persimmon Tree so I could read this two book series in order. It was well worth the wait. As always with Courtenay, in addition to a great story, you get a bit of history from the other side of the world.