|
Loading... The White Mary: A Novelby Kira Salak
LibraryThing recommendationsMember recommendations
Loading...
won't like
will probably not like
will probably like
will like
will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.  mccin68 | Dec 28, 2009 |  “The White Mary” by Kira Salak is a story about a female journalist whose career has been in war-torn and ravaged countries, who has narrowly escaped death time and again, who now embarks on a quest deep into the jungles of Papua New Guinea to investigate the disappearance of a highly esteemed fellow journalist who is understood to have committed suicide six months earlier. I loved this book. Imagine a combination of Heart of Darkness, Fieldwork, and The Sparrow and you sort of get the picture. However, be warned, this is not for the faint of heart. There are some soul-breaking scenes and hard questions about life are asked. The answers may not be so elegant and mystical as The Sparrow, but this was an absolutely riveting story about finding peace in a very, very messed up world. (  ) alaskabookworm | Dec 23, 2009 | A young reporter goes on a dangerous adventure to discover if a famous correspondent is still alive contrary to reports that he committed suicide. Like her protagonist, Marika Vecera, author Salak has traveled solo and narrowly escaped death - in some of the world's most remote and terrifying places. Marika travels to the wilds of Papua, New Guinea, hoping to uncover the truth about correspondent, Robert Lewis. Did he commit suicide, or are sightings of him the truth?? There were parts of the book that I found very difficult to read. I don't fully understand man's cruelties to his fellow man, and I would rather not read about them. (  ) amerri | Dec 21, 2009 | Marika has led a life of danger and excitement as a journalist traveling to the world's most war-torn and troubled locales. But in the process she has lost all sense of herself and her relation to others. When she decides to venture into the deepest jungles of Africa in search of a missing fellow journalist, her journey leads her to question her life as she lives it and, ultimately, discover how to embrace and seize all that she's been missing. I found this book to be powerful, thought-provoking, and spiritually moving. Marika's journey is an allegory for all of us as we search to live our lives more fully and learn to open ourselves to honest and fulfilling relationships with our world and those in it. I'm looking forward to exploring other works by this author! (  ) dmcco01 | Dec 14, 2009 | Another LibraryThing Early Reviewer win. Marika is a journalist. She travels to some of the harshest areas in the world, reporting on war, atrocities, all the stuff people don't want to see while safe at home. The man who inspired her, Robert Lewis, has died. Then she hears a rumor that he's been seen in Papua New Guinea. She decides she has to know if he's alive, no matter the cost. The description of travel through PNG is amazingly well done. So well done that I know I never want to travel through the interior of that country. Ever. It's a very good book, if not always pleasant. (  ) PirateJenny | Nov 26, 2009 |  no reviews | add a review
Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0805088474, Hardcover)A young woman journeys deep into the untamed jungle, wrestling with love and loss, trauma and healing, faith and redemption, in this sweeping debut from “the gutsiest woman adventurer of our day” (Book Magazine) Marika Vecera, an accomplished war reporter, has dedicated her life to helping the world’s oppressed and forgotten. When not on one of her dangerous assignments, she lives in Boston, exploring a new relationship with Seb, a psychologist who offers her glimpses of a better world. Returning from a harrowing assignment in the Congo where she was kidnapped by rebel soldiers, Marika learns that a man she has always admired from afar, Pulitzer-winning war correspondent Robert Lewis, has committed suicide. Stunned, she abandons her magazine work to write Lewis’s biography, settling down with Seb as their intimacy grows. But when Marika finds a curious letter from a missionary claiming to have seen Lewis in the remote jungle of Papua New Guinea, she has to wonder, What if Lewis isn’t dead? Marika soon leaves Seb to embark on her ultimate journey in one of the world’s most exotic and unknown lands. Through her eyes we experience the harsh realities of jungle travel, embrace the mythology of native tribes, and receive the special wisdom of Tobo, a witch doctor and sage, as we follow her extraordinary quest to learn the truth about Lewis—and about herself, along the way. (retrieved from Amazon Tue, 05 Jan 2010 14:53:00 -0500) The first test round has been closed. Visit the Open Shelves Classification group for details. |
Popular covers    LibraryThing Early Reviewers AlumnThe White Mary by Kira Salak was made available through LibraryThing Early Reviewers. Sign up to possibly get pre-publication copies of books. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wikipedia in English (1)
Marika is head strong, proud and self-sabotaging. there were many points in the story where she sounded like an acting out 13 year old rather than a battle weary journalist.
the intertwining of her story with that of the jouranlist she is seeking was at times hard to follow, I would have loved for the story to have delved more deeply into her own story.
good overall read.