Acquired via BookCrossing 12 Nov 2009 - bookring

I saw Ali was reading this and managed to squeeze into the Bookring after her (thanks to Katrinat who was running it)

A bit darker than History of Tractors and on the edge of what I can cope with as regards violence and upsetting scenes - I was glad Ali had warned me about the chickens although there was also some human stuff that was quite graphic. Having said that, I did enjoy it once I'd managed to pick it up and start it.

I liked the different voices and, although I found Emanuel's letters written in such a naive style that it seemed patronising, I thought about the language of people from his part of the world and realised it was just another reflection of the variety of voices in our wonderfully diverse nation.

The book was a little reminiscent of Rose Tremain's The Road Home, showing our country and indigenous population through the eyes of an immigrant thinking of England as the promised land. Very interesting and I liked the way the author worked in all sorts of English people, whether the traditional middle class family, eco-warriors in a camp or mad drivers, and then the characters' fellow-migrants, slightly further up the legal scale than them, such as the Australian restaurant worker and the African nurses having to go to the bottom of their profession to start again in the UK.

I didn't find it hilarious but there were moments of black humour and some touching sections too. I'm glad I had a chance to finally get round to reading it. ( )

After thoroughly enjoying A Short History of Tractors in Ukranian, I was disappointed in Strawberry Fields. Unlike Tractors, I was not particularly engaged early by the characters and the variety of characters that wandered off the page in the midst of the book left me with a sense of an incomplete experience. (It seems like we never quite get to all the things Yola was going to tell us about.) About three-quarters of the way through, I was going to rate it much lower, but it gained some steam in the end. I eventually felt some connection to the young Ukranian couple at the center of it all. I had hoped for more after her sensational debut. Maybe next time. ( )

This second book by Lewycka can't seem to make up its mind: is it a social pamphlet, a picaresque adventure story, an exposé about Ukraine or a badly written Enid Blyton story with the most improbable coincidences? Sadly the last option seems to prevail. i really loved her "A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian", but unfortunately this book isn't of the same quality. ( )

This book started off well - funny and quirky - but didn't live up to its promise and became quite dull. I lost all empathy for the characters and couldn't care less about them. A bit disappointing after her 'tractors' book. ( )

This is a light-hearted and mildly amusing book which examines the exploitation of illegal workers in the UK. I found it a pleasant enough easy read. However, I have to say that I found the rather long section in the middle of the book about how inhumane conditions are in factory farms to be rather annoying as it jarred horribly with the humorous and light-hearted portrayal of the other issues in the book. Whilst on a personal level I feel very strongly against factory farming I found this section too preachy and out of place in an otherwise quite humorous novel. If I want to read a diatribe against factory farming I'll re-read 'The Way We Eat: Why Our Food Choices Matter' by Peter Singer and Jim Mason. I got the distinct impression the author was using this section of the novel as a soapbox rather than using it to help the story along. Reading the author's acknowledgements section at the back of the book only served to confirm this suspicion. ( )