House of Stone: The True Story of a Family Divided in War-torn Zimbabwe |
 |
 click here for more details, find new or used items |
Christina Lamb
|
|
Pages: 320 (Paperback)
ISBN: 0007219393
Pub: HarperPerennial
Pub date: 2007-02-05
Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 3144
Reader Reviews:
Two sides of the coin (1/1 people found this helpful)
This book is an excellent read for anyone interested in knowing more about the current social and political situation in this beautiful country.
What I liked the most is the fact that the author describes the situation from the point of view of people from different backgrounds: a black lady raised in poverty and a white man born in a farming community, sent to good schools and well-travelled.
I absolutely loved. Fully recommend it,
Paola Barcacel.-
Easy read but with distortions (1/2 people found this helpful)
This book is a very easy read but spoiled by several errors of fact, many of which do not materially affect the story, but definitely reflect the political views of the author. As an example she refers to Nigel Hough's brothers and sisters also losing their farms whereas none of the sisters ever had a farm and even the brother, if he had one at all, only had it for a very short time. It appears to be an attempt to depict white Zimbabweans as all being landowners, which was nowhere near the case.
Gripping story (1/1 people found this helpful)
I couldn't put this book down -- I read it in a weekend, totally gripped by the two very personal stories, and felt it gave me thorough understanding of what happened in Zimbabwe, without ever feeling like a difficult read. The Africa House is also a good book, but this is outstanding.
A nitty-gritty account with lots of insight (5/5 people found this helpful)
This book gives plenty of insight to the current situation in Zimbabwe.
There were a couple of places where I thought the facts were wrong (about some points of little consequence to the main story) and this then left me wondering whether all of the reporting was accurate. I enjoyed this and The Africa House, but I do find Chrtistina's style slightly awkward. She is a very good journalist. I ripped through this book in a week and could not put it down.
I wondered why the Houghs did not covert their farm into a workers' cooperative with Mr Hough retained as a salaried agricultural adviser - but perhaps even that would not have staved off the attack they suffered. Because, ultimately, this is a regime that is not looking for or interested in solutions. It just wants to retain power.
If you are interested in understanding the situation in Zimbabwe then you will not be disappointed if you buy this book. It is very good. I would also highly recommend Mukiwa (White Boy in Africa) by Peter Godwin - his book is lighter and there is little overlap with House of Stone.
House of Stone really shows the corruption and the seamier side of human behaviour. It is such a tragedy that people are suffering so in a country that should be 'rich'. God bless Zimbabwe.
House of Stone (2/3 people found this helpful)
I bought the book House of Stone after a review in the Sunday Times newspaper. This book tells a compelling personal account of a family in Zimbabwe that have been truly affected by the country's Land Reform programme. House of Stone makes a great read for those like me who travel on long train journeys. Well worth buying just to highlight to plight of the nation of Zimbabwe!!
Similar Products
When a Crocodile Eats the Sun
The Africa House: The True Story of an English Gentleman and His African Dream
Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood
Categories
Amazon.co.uk places this book into the following categories:
Books -> Subjects -> History -> Military History -> Wars, Battles & Campaigns
Books -> Refinements -> Language (feature_browse-bin) -> English
Books -> Refinements -> Age (feature_two_browse-bin)
Books -> Refinements -> Format (binding_browse-bin) -> Paperback
Books -> Refinements -> Condition (condition-type)