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zhelana's review
challenging
slow-paced
1.0
This book had no idea what it was trying to be. It was in part a fictional story that had something to do with someone's ancestors being sharks. It was in part memoir of growing up and traveling. It was in part political history with the Portuguese leaving East Timor and the Indonesians coming in and finally gaining independence. But it was told all out of order, and was really confusing to try to figure out when things were happening in relation to other things. It was also a really short book which didn't quite manage to give enough information on any of the other things it was trying to be. Maybe if it had been a bit longer it could have pulled off all three, but as it was it kind of just failed at being three different things. I don't feel like there were really any characters in this book it was all just sort of floating information. The description says this may have been on purpose to set the book in aboriginal dream time, but I don't like it. This is definitely the weirdest book I've read either this year or for my round the world reading challenge.
paulap's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting exploration of home and nostalgia. I enjoyed it.
fuzzyhebrew's review
informative
slow-paced
3.0
On a sentence to sentence basis, the writing was great. But somehow I was lost throughout the book. I don't think the story was told entirely linearly and there were some confusing time gaps. The writing was very dense so this took a lot of attention and time to read such a short book. I did learn a lot about Timor Leste, and I'm interested to read Luis Cardoso's most recent work, for which he won an award. I think it's so cool that he is really pioneering written literature for this country which is actually younger than me!
thesapphiccelticbookworm's review
challenging
slow-paced
1.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse and Colonisation
Minor: Xenophobia and Slavery
clarereadstheworld's review
3.0
Timor-Leste is an interesting country I hadn't heard much about before picking up this book. Geographically close to Australia, it has been occupied by both Portugal and Indonesia in recent history, before finally gaining independence in 2002.
Cardoso's book talks about his childhood, and mainly adolescence in Timor-Leste during the 1970's, as Timor-Leste successfully gained independence from Portugal to only be invaded and occupied 9 days later by Indonesia.
Unsurprisingly, for a book called 'The Crossing' there are a lot of journeys in this book, both physical and metaphorical. Water is also an important repeated symbol, and I have the impression that bodies of water are very important to Timorese culture, not surprising for a small island nation.
There was also a feeling of the importance of your background, and how no matter how far you travel, and what you do, you can not leave ancestry behind. This is both a comforting and uncomfortable thought.
Personally I didn't find the writing that captivating. While there were interesting details on the political and cultural history of Timor-Leste, I had to force myself to keep reading, and I wouldn't exactly describe it as a page turner.
Overall an interesting exploration of Cardoso's adolescence, but let down by the writing in my opinion.
Cardoso's book talks about his childhood, and mainly adolescence in Timor-Leste during the 1970's, as Timor-Leste successfully gained independence from Portugal to only be invaded and occupied 9 days later by Indonesia.
Unsurprisingly, for a book called 'The Crossing' there are a lot of journeys in this book, both physical and metaphorical. Water is also an important repeated symbol, and I have the impression that bodies of water are very important to Timorese culture, not surprising for a small island nation.
There was also a feeling of the importance of your background, and how no matter how far you travel, and what you do, you can not leave ancestry behind. This is both a comforting and uncomfortable thought.
Personally I didn't find the writing that captivating. While there were interesting details on the political and cultural history of Timor-Leste, I had to force myself to keep reading, and I wouldn't exactly describe it as a page turner.
Overall an interesting exploration of Cardoso's adolescence, but let down by the writing in my opinion.
evelina96's review against another edition
3.0
Intressant om ett väldigt okänt land. Länk till recensionen: https://ewelinasbokblogg.blogspot.com/2019/09/kronika-om-en-overfart.html
smokeyshouse's review
informative
reflective
slow-paced
2.5
Interesting as a rare memoir from an East Timorese, who grew up there but spent the period of the Indonesian military occupation in Portugal. The pace was very slow and the narrative was not compelling, with the exception of a few scattered passages. It does not serve as a primer of the colonial history or subsequent occupation; it might be more engaging for a reader who is already familiar with that history, and the important people in the independence movement.