Pretentious, slow, boring, and pointless - these are the words that come to mind when describing this novel.

The characters are extremely flat. Throughout the entire story, you don't truly get to understand either the motives behind their actions or who they are supposed to be.

Spoiler alert: The love affair in this novel is quite improbable. Due to the reasons mentioned above, it seems that the man falls in love with the underage girl because of some sort of daddy figure fetish. However, the reason why she falls in love remains completely unclear. Maybe it's because she's 17? But is that really a valid reason to fall in love with a guy 20 years her senior? In this novel, it apparently is.

Ultimately, it all leads to a very unsatisfactory ending. It's quite surprising that a novel written by a female writer could be so sexist and disappointing.

This novel fails to engage the reader on multiple levels, leaving them with a sense of dissatisfaction and disappointment.

This has to be one of the most beautiful books I have ever read. It brought me to tears.

It is a story about admittedly elite people who are well educated, articulate, and privileged. But they are also people who have undergone horrendous war experiences and are recovering or not. Ms. Hazzard’s genius is to tell their stories and have them reflect on them in her very beautiful prose.

The central story is about love between a veteran in his early 30s and a British girl in Occupied Japan who turns 17 towards the beginning of the book. A problem, indeed, for the two lovers especially when the girl’s parents are unloving and cruel. I can say no more without spoilers — except that their cruelty and self-involvement expand beyond their attitude to their daughter’s love, except that separation by half the globe intensifies the admirable suspense of the storytelling. There are numbers of other characters who are given life by the author’s empathetic eye — from the young veteran’s wartime service friend, to lower rank soldiers, Americans, and others. Ms. Hazzard sets these characters up against each other so that their relationships come to life in the internal lives of each of them.

Despite the title, this book is not about the great fire bombing of Tokyo. Hiroshima and Nagasaki are discussed. But the great fire is actually the war that has burned up whatever remnants there are of a past that existed or was clung to or seemed unshakeable — the end of any tradition of the old China and the old Japan, the irony of victory without victory (as in the shabbiness of life in Britain, the rubble of Europe). There is also the palpable anxiety that the great fire has not really gone out, and that, despite the devastation, there are those willing to contemplate more hostilities.

I do not think I have read a war book where the changes wrought by war in the inner lives of people is so well done. There are books, of course, in which people come to realizations — e.g., The Gallery. But The Great Fire is a book that enters the characters’ minds and behaviors. It delves deep into their emotions, fears, hopes, and dreams. The author’s细腻描写makes the readers feel as if they are right there with the characters, experiencing their joys and sorrows.

This book was really worthy of the National Book Award. Lawrence says: Check it out. It is a must-read for anyone who loves a good story, especially one that explores the human condition in the aftermath of war.

The Great Fire by Shirley Hazzard, the winner of the 2004 Miles Franklin Award, is set in the immediate aftermath of World War II. The story unfolds in various locations such as Japan, China, England, and New Zealand.

Interestingly, for a novel by an Australian author, there is a surprisingly limited connection to Australia.

Aldred Leith, an Englishman wounded in the war, is assigned to Japan near Hiroshima to investigate and report on matters related to the post-war occupation by the Allies. He had previously spent two years in China on similar work, where his best friend Peter Exley still resides.

In Japan, Leith meets the Driscoll family, who have two teenage children, Benedict (Ben) and Helen. They live in a cottage separate from the main family house. Ben suffers from a rare degenerative disease, and his life is unfortunately cut short. Meanwhile, the brother and sister are extremely close, and Helen is dedicated to Ben's well-being.

Gradually, an attraction deeper than mere fondness develops between the mature Leith and the sixteen-year-old Helen. Despite the obvious and profound love that is blooming, both Leith and Helen are resolved to keep the relationship chaste and above reproach, despite the significant age difference.

Leith travels to London after his father's death to reestablish relationships with his mother and other family and friends. Ben is taken to America for specialized medical treatment, and Helen migrates to New Zealand with her parents.

Leith and Helen maintain a regular correspondence that becomes increasingly tender and longing. When the news of Ben's death arrives, Leith joins Helen in New Zealand to finally formalize and consummate their love.

The setting and subject matter of The Great Fire are an intriguing choice for Hazzard. While there are numerous novels about wartime relationships and men returning home after the war, few address this immediate post-war limbo period in defeated and occupied countries and the longing of men for it all to be over, even though they are now safe from hostile actions.

Hazzard's writing style alternates between lyrical and flowing prose and a more staccato, rapid-fire delivery, which at times annoyed me and disrupted the flow of meaning and mood within the narrative. Overall, however, it is a finely written novel worthy of consideration.

How this book managed to win the National Book Award over "The Known World" and even "A Ship Made of Paper" with its minor faults is truly beyond my comprehension.

When it comes to character development, women are unfortunately left by the wayside. The story is set after WWII and mainly centers around two male characters. The writing style is good, and at times it is so succinct that one might easily miss certain events that have occurred. However, the relationships lack intrigue. The dynamic between the father and the lead protagonist is disappointingly lacking. Why wouldn't Leith care that his father had an affair with a woman he himself was involved with or show no concern for his mother's feelings during this long-term adultery? Additionally, the character of Peter Exley receives very little focus towards the end.

Leith's love interest, Helen, is depicted as a young, overly affectionate girl, similar to those found in 19th or 18th century books by British authors, where women were not fully developed as complex beings.

I had a hard time getting through this book but was determined to finish it. It simply failed to engage me with its characters or situations. Even the experiences of the characters during the war were only briefly touched upon in snippets, when that is precisely what I wanted to know more about, considering how it might (or might not) haunt them. Oh well, such is life. If I can manage to finish this, then surely I should have no problems finally getting through "Invisible Man".

In a rather indistinct yet all-encompassing postwar depression, which is replete with images of physical lassitude, injury, and disease, the characters tentatively attempt to flee (perhaps to the past or the future?) through extremely romantic love. This work managed to win the National Book Award and was even nominated for my very own Stage IV Oy Vey Award. However, it was so well-written that it didn't make the shortlist.

The author composes sentences that at times seem to have gaps within them. Initially, I believed this to be some sort of synecdoche, but it turns out not to be. Her writing style is abstract, oblique, and liberally sprinkled with poetic or peculiar word choices, such as using adjectives as nouns and so on. She also has a penchant for occasionally putting her punctuation to a rigorous test:

By now, misery would have circulated: the dead would be named, the relatives informed; existences derailed.

Nearing the book's gradually approaching conclusion, a character remarks,

"What a cruel story. Does everyone have a cruel story?”

Certainly, they do in this narrative, although it sometimes appears as if they both exaggerate and cherish it. At times, I felt like the family practitioner who dealt with various mental disorders by slapping his patients and exclaiming, Get a hold of yourself, man!

Such a touching and beautiful story! It truly has the power to move the hearts of all who read it. The way it is written is simply beautiful. Every word seems to be carefully chosen to create a vivid and emotional picture in the reader's mind.

The story unfolds in a gentle and captivating manner, drawing the reader in and making them feel as if they are a part of the narrative. The characters are well-developed and their emotions are palpable. We can feel their joys, their sorrows, and their hopes.

It is a story that will stay with you long after you have finished reading it. It makes you believe in the power of love, kindness, and perseverance. It shows us that even in the darkest of times, there is always a glimmer of hope.

Overall, this is a story that is not only beautifully written but also has a profound and meaningful message. It is a must-read for anyone who loves a good story that will touch their heart and soul.

Exquisite


This is an exquisitely crafted story that is truly captivating and deeply moving. From the very first word to the last, it holds your attention and draws you in. Every sentence is a gem, carefully constructed to convey the emotions and ideas with precision and beauty. It's a book that you find yourself completely immersed in, unable to put it down until you've reached the end. And even then, you know that you want to read it again, because you're certain that you didn't fully take in all of its nuances and subtleties the first time around. It's a story that lingers in your mind, leaving a lasting impression and making you reflect on the themes and characters long after you've finished reading. It's a literary masterpiece that is sure to be cherished by readers for years to come.

I read this for a discussion in the 21st Century Literature group, which I don't want to preempt. It is my second Hazzard novel. I read The Transit of Venus earlier this year, which was truly impressive, and this one is almost as good.

It is a bit of a slow burner. There is rather a lot of introductory preamble that introduces all of the characters and establishes their situations before the story really gets going.

The book is set in 1947, in a world where the scars of the Second World War are still fresh. At the start, we meet Aldred Leith, a recently divorced British soldier and war hero with a famous writer father, as he travels to Kure near Hiroshima for a military posting to observe the effects of the bomb.

In Kure, Aldred is billeted with an Australian officer, his wife, and their two children - Benedict, who is increasingly paralysed by a fatal illness, and Helen, who is 17 and very close to Benedict. Both are well-read and clever, and Aldred befriends both. Soon, he falls for Helen, despite his misgivings about her age and the need to hide it from the disapproving and over-protective parents. This love story drives much of the plot, and like most love stories, there are plenty of obstacles.

In some ways, the digressions are more interesting. Aldred has a friend in Hong Kong, which increases the scope of the political element of the novel. All of the main characters have to fight for fulfilment in a very uncertain world.

Incidentally, football fans who remember the late 70s and early 80s may be amused to find a minor character called Brian Talbot - it is very unlikely that this coincidence was deliberate!

I so wanted to love this book.

Lily King references this author in Writers and Lovers which I just finished. I felt destined to love the author as much as she did, especially after realizing this book was unread on my shelf for over 5 years. Mais alors.

I did appreciate a unique telling of countries immediately after WW II. As she commented at a book reading at 92 Y, this was of a place and time that has vanished from earth.

I so enjoyed hearing the author read the beginning of the book. Listening made me slow down to listen to her prose. One book reviewer described it as a book that rewards the slow and thoughtful reader. Unfortunately that does not describe my reading of this book.

In fact, I think I rushed to the end because I was appalled by the thought this might be a romance novel of a 32 year old veteran soldier pursuing a 17 year old girl.

Advice I would give myself prior to reading this book. Read it only when I have time to savor the prose and observations. Watch interviews of her. Appreciate that the author herself was 16 when she worked for the British secret service and she was happily married to an older man. This is definitely a reflection of a time so different from today.

I haven't given up hope on this author. I want to try her short stories and Transit of Venus. I believe that perhaps with a different approach and more time to invest, I will be able to truly appreciate the beauty and depth of her writing. Maybe her short stories will offer a more accessible entry point into her literary world, and Transit of Venus could be the masterpiece that finally makes me fall in love with her work. I look forward to giving her another chance and seeing where her words will take me.

I am making a conscious effort not to be overly swayed by the erudite voices on the cover that acclaim this book as a work of genius. To be honest, I found it to be as dull as ditchwater.

I believe it is a piece of fiction targeted at those who read books on a more elevated plane, where realistic dialogue is not a prerequisite, and in fact, nothing needs to occur from one page to the next. One can simply relax and appreciate a well-crafted metaphor.

The post-war Japan setting initially appeared to be quite interesting, and I had hoped it would possess some educational value. However, what we ended up with was a lackluster love story in which a man takes a fancy to a girl who is practically half his age (didn't anyone else find that rather unappealing?), despite hardly knowing each other. Their courtship is stiff and described by a narrative voice that reminds one of the Pathe Newsreel. There was nothing to engage the reader, no points of connection, nothing at all. I truly did not like it - perhaps that makes me a literary philistine, but so be it.

A possibility of a great book but not quite actually a good book.

I am truly smitten for any form of post-war analysis and I firmly believe that that period is a rich harvest of psychological and poetic rumination.

Regrettably, this is not that book. Instead, it is a wordy, overly-crafted account of a man who has reached middle age. He wanders around the far east and discovers himself infatuated with a 17-year-old girl. Strangely, this girl seems to talk, write, and think like a 45-year-old man.

There are numerous shifts in point-of-view, yet they are all written in the same somewhat cold, detailed, and descriptive manner. I found it arduous to follow and ultimately it felt more like being told rather than experiencing any emotions.

I simply couldn't muster up much anticipation or tension for this string of characters who, although detailed, barely seemed alive. To make matters worse, there is the strange uneasiness surrounding this underage romance.

Some people on here seem to consider it the perfect little novel. Well, I shall give them my copy. As I was looking (and will continue to search) for quite a different book that seemingly would match this very title and description.

Shirley Hazzard's final novel, 'The Great Fire', which won the U.S. National Book Award and the Miles Franklin Award in 2004, took her twenty years to write. Given the time and effort invested, it's no wonder that this average-sized book is filled with incident, character, and detail. As a reader, I sometimes got lost, but this is more a testament to the author's ambition to leave no stone unturned than a criticism. Hazard is consciously creating her testament, a 'War and Peace' for her times - the tumultuous mid-twentieth century.

Hazzard's novels seem to straddle two camps: escapist indulgence and the past as a revealing cipher for the present. In 'The Great Fire', the post-WWII Asia and England backdrop, with flashbacks to the war, is vivid and gripping. We can't help but think that, but for the roll of time's dice, this could have been us. However, the main story, a girlish adolescent fantasy romance, seems out of place in such a sophisticated and adult setting.

Jane Austen's novels also present female fantasy in a realist setting, but the grown-up humour and satire offset the disjunction. Hazzard, on the other hand, is not ironic, and her 'Great Fire' seems to refer equally to love and war. The girlish romance is presented as being as real and significant as Hiroshima, which I find hard to believe. Her previous novel, 'The Transit of Venus', was an exploration of the agony of sexual love, and it's clear that Hazzard takes love very seriously.

The fantasy object in 'The Great Fire' is Aldred Leith, who has been funded by a dying French officer to wander around East Asia gathering material for a book. In Japan, he becomes besotted with the fifteen-year-old daughter of an Australian medical officer, Helen. She, in turn, is in love with the battle-hardened warrior, who is twenty-plus years her senior. The connection between them is based on 'high culture', a prejudice that grates throughout the book.

Hazzard also takes aim at 'the antipodean male' and Australian middle-class suburban life, particularly through the brutish and uncultured Driscolls, Helen's parents. While there were no doubt plenty of brutes in the Australian army and the fifties may have seemed restrictive for a young ambitious woman, Australia actually had a rich mid-century literary culture. Hazzard was only a schoolgirl at the time, but by 2004, she might have updated her perspective.

The locale of the novel is also a point of interest. I grew up in the same area as Hazzard, the lower North Shore of Sydney, which she remembers as a benighted wasteland but which I remember as a childhood paradise. Despite development, much of Mosman, where Hazzard went to school, remains beautiful, but she seems blind to it. Interestingly, in her descriptions of the Bay of Naples in 'The Bay of Noon', Hazzard unconsciously transfers her memories of Sydney Harbour.

Although Hazzard's snobbery is intrusive, she is aware of it and does a little rear-guard. One of Leith's close confidants, Peter Exley, is both Australian and cultured. Exley is the centre of a well-fleshed-out sub-plot set largely in Hong Kong, which is almost like a separate novel. The post-war world of dislocation and the necessity and impossibility of action and decision are powerfully and movingly portrayed. While I find it difficult to swallow the characters of Leith and Helen, the minor figures are wonderfully sharp.

Hazzard's ambition is evident in her writing, which is dense and high-toned, like that of Joseph Conrad. However, this density can sometimes impede narrative flow, and her concern with literary 'excellence' can cause her to forget about pace and tone. Dialogue is also a problem, as people speak as Hazzard writes, and the conversations are too aphoristic and lyrical to be credible. Symbolism is often overdone, such as the 'great south wound'.

Despite these flaws, 'The Great Fire' is a very fine novel. The writing on war and war's turmoil is superb, and there are many incisive descriptions that will stay with me. However, the lavender romance at the end seems insubstantial and undefined, and the melodrama detracts from the overall effect. Readers may disagree with my judgement, but I believe that 'The Great Fire' is a novel that is marred by mawkishness and snobbery, but still worth reading for its many great qualities.