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Nancy Pearl’s Book Lust Forever Reviews The Lotus Eaters!

July 31, 2010

"...this is—not to mince words—a devastatingly awesome novel. It’s one of those books that I didn’t want to put down—I resented everything else that I needed to do in my life, because I didn’t want to stop reading it. In Greek mythology, the lotus-eaters were so addicted to the narcotic properties of the lotus plant that they were unable to live in the real world. The irony of Soli’s title is that what her characters become addicted to is the antithesis of narcotic bliss and lethargy, lassitude and dreaminess: it’s not sloth, a dream life, or being stoned that they crave, but rather the frightening narcotic of war and its attendant dangers."

To read the entire review, go to:

http://nancypearlbooks.wordpress.com/

from Read All Day, by Nina Sankovitch

Prisoner of War

June 2, 2010

"There are times when I don't know if I can write another book review (after a year of writing one review a day) but then I read a book like The Lotus Eaters by Tatjana Soli and I can't wait to tell everyone: read this book! The Lotus Eaters is a beautiful and powerful book, providing a new viewpoint on an old but still painful and still relevant time for Americans and the world, the era of the Vietnam War.  But it is more than that; The Lotus Eaters is the story of a woman defined by her work, addicted to its relevance and its pain, and on the cusp of either drowning in its fallout or in escaping into her future. This lush, painful, and beautiful novel about a photo-journalist and her addiction to the country of Vietnam during the Vietnam War covers everything important in life: love, commitment, responsibility, survival, and connection....

And yet at the end of all the horror, both Linh and Helen discover there is still beauty in being alive. They understand the wonder of life, as captured in the most powerful line of the novel: "after so much had been taken, so much could still be received."  This line says it all: its simple and yet miraculous truth is the only thing we need to guide us through suffering and loss. The Lotus Eaters is a great book, capable of changing forever anyone who reads it."

To read the entire review, go to:

http://www.readallday.org/soli.html

from The Nervous Breakdown

October 2, 2010

Love and Squalor: Love and War

I was working in Manhattan on September 11, 2001. After the towers fell, the only person in our office who didn't seem numb or scared or uncomprehending was a gentleman who, of his own volition, calmly ventured into the street to get sandwiches for the whole staff.

As it turned out, our coworker had witnessed the fall of Saigon.

It's that care and composure—not to be mistaken for sangfroid—that Tatjana Soli conveys in the character of Linh, a Vietnamese photographer and soldier, in her first novel The Lotus Eaters (St. Martin's, 2010). There's plenty of love and squalor in this visceral book, which begins with Linh and his American lover Helen planning to flee the country on April 28, 1975, before traveling back in time to explore the big themes of journalistic ethics, appearance versus reality, and the expatriate identity crisis that's as old as colonialism itself.

Linh is one sharp point of a love triangle that includes Helen, a photojournalist, and the Pulitzer-Prize-winning Sam Darrow, Linh's employer and friend as well as Helen's mentor and sometime lover. (If you're already thinking of The Quiet American, Soli deals with that literary baggage early on by having Helen toss the novel in the trash.)

The transformation of Helen from a naïf in high heels to a seasoned correspondent is the most enjoyable aspect of the book. Our heroine lost her father in the Korean War and her brother in Vietnam (the latter referred to as the "American War" by the locals), but these personal tragedies never seem like an easy psychological explanation for why a girl from California would immerse herself in a war zone. There's a sense of destiny and urgency throughout the novel, a fearlessness to the writing that mirrors Helen's own determination to take on dangerous assignments and prove herself in an era when female foreign correspondents were a curiosity.

To read the entire review, go to:

http://www.thenervousbreakdown.com/dlam/2010/10/love-squalor-love-war/

from Dixie’s Mom’s Book Blog

"The suspenseful beginning hooked me right away.  The story then goes back to when Helen first arrived in Vietnam, and we gradually learn about the past of these characters.  I loved each one of them, especially Linh.  The book gave me a look at Vietnam that I've never had.  It was disturbing to read at times, but Soli gave a very complete picture of the war and the Vietnamese people.  I thought this book was excellent.  It was definitely a 5/5 for me."

To read the entire review, go to:

http://reflectionsofaplumfan.blogspot.com/2010/04/lotus-eaters-by-tatjana-soli.html

from Savvy Verse & Wit

Soli has a gift; she crafts a scene filled with heavy, conflicted emotion like a painter uses oil on canvas.  Her characters are multi-faceted, evolving, and devolving at the same time, and like the lotus eaters in the Homer quote at the beginning of the novel, they lose sight of their home, their pasts, and themselves as they are absorbed by the beauty and the terror of the Vietnamese and their nation.  The Lotus Eaters is an excellent selection for readers interested in the Vietnam War and a perspective beyond that of the soldiers.  Another book for the best of list this year.

To read the entire review, go to:  

http://savvyverseandwit.com/2010/04/the-lotus-eaters-by-tatjana-soli.html

from Being Informed Journal

Soli cleverly uses the war as a perfect segue to make poignant observations about migration as she explores the dilemma of the Americans who came to the combat zone and found their souls lost in this foreign land, those who felt more at home in Vietnam than their own birth land. (“That is what happened when one left one’s home—pieces of oneself scattered all over the world, no one place ever completely satisfied, always a nostalgia for the place left behind.”) Journeys that sometimes take you from the land where your skin blends in to a land where your soul blends in. In the end one may land up being an anomaly in both lands, but the soul always trumps the skin.

To read the entire review, go to:  

http://www.beinformedjournal.com/

from Diary of an Eccentric

I loved The Lotus Eaters for the way in which Soli covers various aspects of a complicated war, touching upon the politics behind the war, the questions many had about why the United States became involved, and the mental breakdown of the soldiers in a sweltering hellhole where they had to worry about snipers and mines with every step they took.  Soli's characters became real to me; I grew attached to them and loved them for and despite their fears, their desire to get ahead, their confusion about love and relationships in a time of war, their questions about the importance of their jobs, and their desire to live amongst the people rather than the 5-star Americanized hotels. The Lotus Eaters is beautifully written and hard to put down.  It's easily one of the best books I've read this year and likely will make my list of all-time favorites.

To read the entire review, go to:  

http://diaryofaneccentric.blogspot.com/2010/04/review-lotus-eaters-by-tatjana-soli.html

Unlike any other story of war I've read, The Lotus Eaters sees the beauty amidst the destruction as only a story told through the eyes of a photographer can. It is at once a sweeping love story, a tragedy of humanity, and a fresh look at a war that transformed everything.”

                   —Julia Callahan, Book Soup

from Lit and Life

While this is a book set in a war and a love story, a number of them, actually, it is more the story about people living in a war... This book took me a long time to read; I found myself taking a ridiculous amount of notes of wonderful things I wanted to share. When I finished, I realized that there was no way to share all of them, nor did I want to. You really need to read this beautiful book for yourself, particularly if you are of an age where you grew up aware of the Vietnam war.

To read the entire review, go to:  

http://litandlife.blogspot.com/2010/04/lotus-eaters.html

from One Person’s Journey Through a World of Books

The vivid images that Tatjana Soli paints of a war will remain in my mind for a long time to come.  I will be holding on to this story that was heartwarming and heart-wrenching all rolled into the combined pages of The Lotus Eaters.

To read the entire review, go to:  

http://bookjourney.wordpress.com/

from At Home With Books

When I sat down to write this review I stared at a blank page for quite a while. How do you write a review of a book that has touched you in such a way that each time you think of it you see beauty and pain at the same time, side by side?  It's a Vietnam War story, so I expected the pain; the beauty took me by surprise... What is rare about this story is that while it is set during the Vietnam War, and you do get to read about some horrific events, the story remains one of love and relationships (and the effects of the war on those relationships).  It is nice that the story is balanced and written with an eye toward the beauty of the Vietnamese culture and countryside, which just emphasizes how heartbreaking it is to witness their destruction from either side.  No one side is vilified or glorified - there are evil acts perpetrated by soldiers on both sides, as the line between right and wrong gets blurred in the war zone.  The true villain in this story is war itself, yet goodness shines through from those selfless enough to act.

To read the entire review, go to:  

http://athomewithbooks.blogspot.com/

from Luxury Reading

To read the entire review, go to:  

http://www.luxuryreading.com/2010/04/blog-tour-lotus-eaters-by-tatjana-soli.html

from Suko’s Notebook

Above all else, The Lotus Eaters is a story about courage. A story about a young woman who breaks into a field previously off-limits for women. A story about a woman who risks her life to give the world an honest look at the atrocities of war, and a few glimpses of humanity. A story about a woman who chooses to love, even though she is not sure that she will live to see another day. The Lotus Eaters is a riveting novel about having courage and hope even in the worst circumstances.

To read the entire review, go to:  

http://suko95.blogspot.com/

from Books and Movies Blog

As Helen and Linh’s stories being to collide, the book became even more engrossing. As I read the last chapter, with tears streaming down my face, I actually found myself mentally praying for the characters, something that only happens when I’m reading a book that has become completely real to me. I don’t know what else to say about this book except that I consider it one of the best books I’ve read so far this year.

To read the entire review, go to:  

http://booksandmovies.colvilleblogger.com/2010/03/31/book-review-the-lotus-eaters-by-tatjana-soli/

from Reading, Writing and Retirement

We are used to hearing and seeing stories of men becoming enamored of war, about the effects of them seeing so much violence, about PTSD and the difficulty in returning home. To have this book be about a woman experiencing these things was brilliant. We watch Helen go from being a naïve, compassionate young woman who wants to save injured chickens, to being hardened by her experiences to the point of being unable to return to her former life in Southern California.

To read the entire review, go to:  

http://teelgee7.blogspot.com/

from Caribousman

We "Soli writes with authority and takes the reader inside the minds and hearts of her tightly drawn characters. The war scenes, including devastated villages and patrols through the jungle, capture the emotion of war. But, what is remarkable about Soli’s writing in The Lotus Eaters is not the story of war but the story of a country and its people, and the definition of “home.” Despite the burned out fields, Soli manages to also capture the beauty of Vietnam as Helen grows to love the country."

To read the entire review, go to:  

http://www.caribousmom.com/2010/03/23/the-lotus-eaters-book-review/

Musings from a Bookish Kitty

    "The Lotus Eaters is beautiful, dark, and thought provoking. War is cruel and Soli does not hold back from sharing the ugly side of it. Within it too, however, are sparks of humanity and compassion. The author does not leave that out either. In fact, it is often those moments, that help Helen through the darker moments. The Lotus Eaters is an amazing novel: a love story just as much as it is about the Vietnam War and the impact war can have on those touched by it. After having just finished it, I am still hesitant to pick up another book, still caught in its spell."

To read the entire review, go to:  

http://www.literaryfeline.com/2010/03/review-lotus-eaters-by-tatjana-soli.html

Feminist Review

    "When I read a book that keeps me enthralled to the final page, that is so absorbing I have to tear myself away from it, I find myself amazed (and envious) that anyone can be so gifted. That’s how I felt after reading The Lotus Eaters..

    Having attended my share of writing seminars, I realize you can’t really soar as a writer until you have truly mastered the craft; however, some writers seem to have talent that defies reason. A few paragraphs into this novel, I realized Tatjana Soli's powerful prose would haunt me."

To read the entire review, go to:  

http://feministreview.blogspot.com/2010/03/lotus-eaters.html

from 50 Books for 2010

    Helen Adams was just such a person. As a female war correspondent, with each word and action eliciting a close scrutiny to which her male counterparts were never subjected, she found herself simultaneously navigating the darkest recesses of human destruction and repeatedly proving her mettle in a man's world. Eventually, with the North Vietnamese closing in, these two paths coalesce in increasingly desperate attempts to satisfy the addiction to violence, even as its manifestation spills over the nation's borders into Cambodia. For Helen, as for Darrow and Linh, war was an end unto itself. "'The good ol' days are gone,'" a soldier tells her, just two months after she arrives in Vietnam. But it was not until the war's waning moments an eternity later, with those "good ol' days" tucked well into the past, that the wreckage of this incomprehensible human tragedy reached its long-awaited hour of reflection.

To read the entire review, go to: 

http://www.50booksfor2010.com/2010/07/28-lotus-eaters.html

from BookPage.com

    In her stunningly powerful debut novel, Tatjana Soli chronicles a young female photojournalist’s 10-year odyssey through love and war. Soli’s Vietnam is by turns tender and terrifying, casting a spell of both beauty and horror on her protagonist, Helen Adams, which doesn’t let go until the book’s transcendently agonizing climax. I ached to know Helen’s fate. I know other readers will as well... Soli’s incredibly moving work comes to an expertly crafted conclusion, and her novel should serve as a fitting tribute to the people of Vietnam, the land itself, the soldiers who fought there and those individuals who seek to forever capture war’s horrifying—and edifying—images.

To read the entire review, go to:  

http://www.bookpage.com/books-10013123-The-Lotus-Eaters

from Moore Musings

Some reviewers assert that the book shows how love triumphs over war.  In my view, the love is more incidental. What Tatjana Soli cares about, in the end, is Helen:  Helen and her odyssey to bear witness, fearing death while she is moving up to meet it.

To read the entire review, go to:  

http://moorebrarians.blogspot.com/2010/11/lotus-eaters-by-tatjana-soli.html

from Bookie

In Homer’s Odyssey, the Lotus Eaters become addicted to narcotic plants, and no longer desire to return home. Soli uses a quote from the story at the beginning of her novel and it serves as a pretense for all the events forthcoming in the book. A brilliant idea for a title to fit an equally brilliant book.

I really loved this book from cover to cover. It is my favorite read so far of 2010.  The characters were authentic, the writing was sparse and beautiful, no wasted paragraphs or wordiness, everything about it was good in my opinion.  I would highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys literary fiction.

To read the entire review, go to:

http://sherid.wordpress.com/2010/10/14/the-lotus-eaters-by-tatjana-soli/

from Linda’s Book Blog

This is probably one of the best books I have read this year. At first, I was a bit intimidated by it and was reluctant to dive in. But once I did, I was hooked. The novel tells the story of a female photographer during the VIetnam War....

There are so many themes running through this rich novel. One recurring theme involves morality; do the reporters and photographers who cover this gruesome war promulgate the violence and immorality of the war in their depiction of it? Is this just war porn? Or do they do the public a service by exposing the gritty and horrible details? 

The last 20 pages of the book were so intense I had to read them very slowly, savoring every word. I didn’t want the book to end, but I was dying to find out the outcome. I won’t give anything away.

To read the entire review, go to:

http://linbookblog.blogspot.com/

from You’ve Gotta Read This!

My thoughts: I thought I'd read it all when it came to this war. For the Vietnam reading challenge alone, I've witnessed the war from the ground, from the air, from the survivors who became foreigners in their own homeland. In fact, this book sat at my bedside for most of the year (I won it from Carrie), because I really didn't think it was going to show me anything new. I've been humbled. This book rendered me gobsmacked.

Without seeming crowded or forced, the story embraces the war in its totality. It isn't just about the brutality, the confusion of our mission, the addiction to adrenaline, the heat, the smells, the bugs, the drug culture, or the aftermath, individually. It's all in there, so expertly constructed that you truly feel that you are living it, hiding in bunkers, watching executions and eating canned peaches.

And speaking of expertly constructed, this may be Soli's debut novel, but she is one talented lady. Her prose is beautiful and rich, her characters complicated and fully-realized. You finish the book feeling full - satiated with words and images - and in awe of her skill.

To read the entire review, go to:

http://sandynawrot.blogspot.com/2010/12/lotus-eaters-tatjana-soli.html

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