Negative Positive
Title: Going Monkey Native
Review: I'd never heard of English author Martin Booth before. He wrote this personal memoir, recounting 3 years of his childhood in Hong Kong in the early 1950s, just before he recently died of brain cancer. He dedicated the book to his own children, as a way to pass on the story of his life to them. It reads like a novel - one incredible adventure after the next of a boy of 7 let loose on the streets of Hong Kong in the wild years after WWII. It also details the breakdown of the marriage of his mother and father. This is a real treasure trove, a look at the world through the new eyes of a child, but guided by the wise older hand of an older author. I feel like I have traveled and lived in Hong Kong - the sites, sounds, smells - the culture, food, weather, animals, people - all brilliantly alive and real. I also have a better sense of the Chinese and what it means to be Chinese, and a desire to learn more. I only wish Martin had a memoir of his entire life!
Is the review positive or negative? 