Home | Books By Year | Books from 2001
Something Like a House
Buy Something Like a House now from AmazonFirst, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the book. And once you've experienced the book, tell everyone what you thought about it.
Wikipedia article
'Something Like a House' is British writer Sid Smith's debut novel, first published in 2001. The novel, set in China,MacFarlane, Robert. "Not your typical British soldier...", 'The Observer', 21 January 2001. http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2001/jan/21/fiction.reviews1 was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and the Whitbread First Novel Award. When Smith wrote the novel he had never travelled to China and most of the background of the book was gleaned from researches done in the British Library.Sansom, Ian. "A river runs through it", 'The Guardian', 1 February 2003. http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2003/feb/01/featuresreviews.guardianreview8
Plot synopsis
Jim Fraser, a British soldier who takes part in the Korean War, deserts and after surrendering himself to the Chinese army, finds himself billeted to a Miao village, working under the supervision of village elder, Old Tao. Unable to communicate much because of the language barrier, he spends some 35 years there, undergoing, amongst other things, the Cultural Revolution and bullying by the Red Guards, in the meantime bringing up a little girl who later becomes the victim of experimental biological warfare.
References
Category:2001 novels
Category:Novels set in China
Category:2001 debut novels
Buy Something Like a House now from Amazon
<-- Return to books from 2001