The Ginger Tree

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This is by far the most interesting book I have read this year. The joy of participating in a book club is that you are often introduced to a book you would not find on your own, and that was precisely the case with this 1977 novel. The story is set just after the Boxer Rising in China and then against the Russo-Japanese War. This is a time when foreigners stood out and often not overtly welcome. As the story progresses further events on the world stage influence the life of the protagonist, right up to WW2. The Kantō Earthquake, for example, is detailed; as it took place at lunchtime the braziers were being used all around the city and thus fires devastated large areas leaving 1.9 million people without shelter. It was the first High Definition serial to be made for the BBC, although it wasn't broadcast in HD or given an HD release. [ clarification needed] The series was broadcast in the U.S. on the PBS series Masterpiece Theatre in 1990. It was produced in 1035 line HD using the Sony HDD 1000 VTR. What I love about this book is how it shows opportunities and decisions conspire to shape one's life, but outside forces will intrude. We are never truly in control of our own lives. Natural disasters, political forces, and people we randomly meet will change our lives for good and bad. This is curious, for The Ginger Tree is not a great novel. Certain sections I always skip, and some of the characters in the second half fail to come to life. So why does this book grip me? Why, seventeen years after I first read it, do I still reread it regularly?

The Ginger Tree by Oswald Wynd | Goodreads The Ginger Tree by Oswald Wynd | Goodreads

I have decided right now that I must not send this notebook to Mama as I promised. Ever since Port Said I have found myself wanting to write down things that she must never see. I have heard that people change east of Suez and that could be what is happening to me. The day before yesterday, when I was beginning to feel not too well, I still wanted to eat curry and I have always hated curry. It is almost frightening, that you can travel in a ship and feel yourself changing. I was given The Ginger Tree, by Oswald Wynd, to read before the birth of my first child. ‘It will take your mind off things,’ said my friend. Indeed it did. Through all the dramas of a premature birth, the book stayed in my hands. The life of a young girl at the turn of the twentieth century in China and Japan provided an escape and a refuge. It still does. In times of crisis or just a bout of ’flu, I return to The Ginger Tree. It has the power that all the best books have, the power to create its own reality. I step into it and am enveloped. Oswald Wynd (1913 – 1998) was a Scottish writer, born in Tokyo of parents who had left their native Perth to run a mission in Japan. So why did I give this book four stars? Remember: four stars in Goodreads equals "I really liked it." I really liked Mary. She was strong but not ridiculously so -- in fact, there were times when I wished she were even stronger. Or at least more vocal. I liked the setting / atmosphere -- I found myself looking up the places she lived or traveled as well as re-reading books (Boxers and Saints!) and reading up on historical events to gather insights into what was going on in that part of the world. I liked the connection to the view of an expat (the foreign connection mentioned at the start of this review about a ginger tree). I am not an "expat" in the conventional sense of the word (in fact, I consider myself a "lifer"... :-) ), and yet, I have expatriated from my birth country. I can do many things to try and fit in and yet I am an outsider, a foreigner. While having said THAT, I no longer fit in as seamlessly in my home country -- as Mary cannot go home to Scotland, it would be hard for me to return to the USA. I also liked how Oswald Wynd, a man, captured the character of a woman. Men writing about women in 3rd person, is do-able. Writing first person in journal entries... hmm... a bit more challenging. He does it well. Finally, I very much enjoyed our book club discussion. Fascinating takes and insights on the book!Also, she grows to be a fairly unsympathetic person. She likes no one really, has no passion for anything, is highly critical of everyone who is lower than her. Okay she liked her Chinese servant - that was good. Japan and Japanese she dislikes, together with "Japanophiles" - it was a bit refreshing after other Western books which pretty much idolize the culture, but even this dislike was dry and without passion and therefore not that interesting to read about.

The Ginger Tree by Oswald Wynd | Goodreads

En resumen, y para aquellos que adoran este párrafo en las publicaciones, no es una historia épica pero sí es una historia maravillosa sobre una mujer, sobre sus años en Japón, sobre su vida, sus amores, sus errores y, sobre todo, su soledad. The New York Times wrote of the series "Despite several fine performances, The Ginger Tree turns out to be unabsorbing. The East-meets-West aspects of the story are handled intelligently. The on-location effects are often splendid. But the overall production is plodding and curiously sluggish.". [2] Howard Rosenberg, writing for the Los Angeles Times, agreed and wrote the series "is a slow-evolving come-on with a disappointing payoff." While he praised the first two episodes, the production, and Samantha Bond's performance, he wrote of the final episodes: "As Mary gains assurance, the drop-off in intensity is dramatic. There is simply never any doubt where this part of the story is taking you or how it will arrive there. It's an unsatisfying resolution to a drama that begins so promisingly." [3] Media releases [ edit ]Wynd was born 4 July 1913 in Tokyo of parents who had left their native Perth, Scotland to run a mission in Japan. He attended schools in Japan where he grew up speaking both English and Japanese. In 1932, he returned with his parents to Scotland and studied at the University of Edinburgh. With the advent of World War II he joined the Scots Guards but due to his language ability was commissioned into the Intelligence Corps and sent to Malaya. At the time of the Japanese invasion in Malaya, he was attached to the Indian Army on the east coast, and his brigade covered the final withdrawal to Singapore. Cut off by the Japanese advance, he was lost alone for a week in the Johor jungle. Eventually he was captured and spent more than three years as a prisoner of war in Hokkaidō, Japan, during which time he was mentioned in dispatches for his work as an interpreter for prisoners. He was interned at Hokkaido Main Camp, where, with three others, he was put to work on a Japanese phrase book for British prisoners of war. In June 1945 he was transferred to Bibai coal-mining camp. There's always something extra delightful about coming across a novel you've never heard of by chance and then finding out you love it. I grabbed this one from my Little Free Library in the early days of the pandemic, when the public library was closed, but for some reason, just got around to reading it now.