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Two Caravans | 
 enlarge | Author: Marina Lewycka
Creator: Sian Thomas
Publisher: Penguin
Category: Book
List Price: £12.71
Buy New: £5.45
You Save: £7.26 (57%)
New (18) Used (3) from £3.43
Rating:  50 reviews
Sales Rank: 344315
Format: Audiobook
Media: Audio CD
Pages: 4
Number Of Items: 4
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 4.9 x 0.9
ISBN: 0141807733
EAN: 9780141807737
ASIN: 0141807733
Publication Date: July 5, 2007
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews: Read 45 more reviews...
 Strawberries with a Nasty Aftertaste December 28, 2008
Sofia (Bristol, UK)
I can't get past some of the newspaper reviews of this so-say "hilarious" book. I looked long and hard for "hilarious" in this novel and found nothing of the sort. Unless of course your idea of humour revolves around laughing at the fates of those less fortunate than yourself, in which case I suppose you will find much to amuse you.
Although perfectly nicely written, this is a smugly unpleasant novel. The characters are all slightly grotesque caracatures: the innocent know-it-all schoolgirl Irina; the greasy gangster Vulk; the plain-speaking hard-grafting former miner Andriy; the wide-eyed African ingenue Emmanuel; the overly pious Polish spinster Marta and her foul-mouthed buxom auntie Yola etc. Together they begin the novel in a strawberry farm, picking the summer's crop for a pitiful wage. They stumble into a variety of situations with a real sense of farce, which on its own would of course, be fine.
This novel could have just been a farce set in a strawberry farm with exaggerated characters but Lewycka wants to bring in darker subjects. She wants to talk about the exploitation of illegal immigrants, the dangers they face, the sadness they leave behind them; she wants to talk about prostitution, about the thousands of young women sold into sex slavery; she wants to talk about animal exploitation and intensive chicken rearing; she wants to talk about eco-warriors and middle England's vegetarians and to juxtapose them with the hand-to-mouth existence of her pitiful characters. And that's where the novel fails. A farce is fine in its place but to try to draw humour, even black comedy, out of forced prostitution (in particular) is just offensive. As an ethnic Ukrainian herself, Marina Lewycka clearly lacks any compassion for the plight of her compatriots.
It's an easy read and if that's your idea of humour, you'll enjoy it. I for one found it a revolting and deeply inappropriate portrayal of modern day immigration.
Overhyped book-Two Caravans November 10, 2008
Mr. P. B. Hart (S w France)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Two CaravansI absolutely hated everything about this book. I cannot believe that it is described as 'hilarious' I don't think I raised a smile reading any part of this book. The structural layout is awful; it switches every few paragraphs between the perspectives of its dreary characters.This had the result of msking me fail to identify with any of he characters. The most one can say is that it raises the awareness of the plight of Eastern European workers coming to the UK to work believing that it is a land with streets paved with gold and then being exploited. However, there are many films, books etc which evoke this in a much more effective and interesting way. Lewycka may refer to 'War and Peace' and 'The Canterbury Tales' in her novel but Tolstoy or Chaucer' she is not.
 Very enjoyable November 7, 2008
Mr. RJ WILMSHURST (UK)
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, perhaps even slightly more than "A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian". Highly recommended.
 Not Tractors part 2 October 29, 2008
soffitta1 (Harwich, Essex)
The second book from the Tractor Lady. Different book, darker themes - illegal workers, girls sold into prostitution, gangs. The characters are from many countries - Ukraine, Poland and further afield - and their connection is working together picking strawberries. Their living area is made up of 2 caravans, one for the women, one for the men. Irina is the latest member of the team, a young girl from the Ukraine, who has unfortunately aroused the interest of the unsavoury Vulk. A very human book, touching on a world, which we see everyday, but ignore. Light relief is there in there in the shape of Dog.
I attended the 2008 Cape Town Book Fair, where the author was interviewed by a local journalist. She came across as an interesting and articulate woman. She drew parallels between the U.K. and South Africa, both seen as lands of milk and honey in their respective continents.
Highly recommended- a fantastic read! October 19, 2008
Ian Fiddes
Having also read the previous novel Ukranian Tractors I thought this was by far the better of the two books. Unlike some of the other reviewers I did find parts of the book very funny indeed. In addition I also found it very moving in places. Stylistically the jumping about between the characters is slightly confusing in the early part of the book but this feeling does not persist and as the book progressed I found I quite enjoyed this style of writing. I found this a very rewarding read and very much look forward to Marina Lewycka's next book.
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