Favorite and least favorite parts of the book?

Use this forum to discuss the October 2019 Book of the month, "Skills of the Warramunga" by Greg Kater.
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Howlan
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Re: Favorite and least favorite parts of the book?

Post by Howlan »

Nuel Ukah wrote: 22 Oct 2019, 01:12
Ferdinand_otieno wrote: 01 Oct 2019, 23:59 The book has a lot of favorite moments from action, humour,espionage and romantic scenes. What parts or scenes from the story were your favorite and which parts were your least favorite?

For me, the most favorite part of the story was col. Johnny Cook's kidnapping and his entire experience in the Malay jungle. How he grew to be one of them. My least favorite part of the story was keeping track of all the organisations and their abbreviated forms like the BMA, MSS,MCP, MI6, and CIS.It felt like a chore attached to the story.
What about you?
My favorite parts were the parts they spoke Malayan language...
I also really enjoyed these parts of the story where they used diverse languages. It really added great flavor to the story.
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Post by LV2R »

My favorite part was when Jacko, Jamie, and Sarah found the weapons in the cave and took all the firing pins. That was a great way to ambush the bandits without harm. My least favorite part was when the Japanese Kempeitai units, siding with the bandits, brutally killed the guards from the buildings near the parade.
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Post by Nikolas Farmakis »

My least favorite part of the book was the vulgar words in the book, but my favorite part of the book was Johnny's escape from the jungle.
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Post by Howlan »

Nickolas Farmakis wrote: 22 Oct 2019, 08:51 My least favorite part of the book was the vulgar words in the book, but my favorite part of the book was Johnny's escape from the jungle.
I liked Johnny's rescue too. When I first read the book, I felt that it was going to be the major plot and the main story will center around Johnny's rescue. I was surprised when he was rescued so easily.
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Post by Howlan »

e-tasana-williams wrote: 21 Oct 2019, 17:58 My favorite aspect of the book is the portrayal of the local and expat communities in Malaya at the time. It’s easy to envision a monolithic culture when I think of that part of the world, but it makes sense that there would be Chinese, Indian, Dutch, German, Japanese and other groups there in the mid- and late-40s. Just imagining all the food choices...mmm!

My least favorite part, similar to other readers here, is the abundance of characters. Perhaps if they were introduced more gradually it would have felt like a more natural flow. The way it is, I felt like I needed a chart containing all of the characters and their relation to each other.
Yes, I really get your part about the abundance of characters. It too felt a little difficult to follow so many characters around and had to check the characters again and again to get who they were.
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Post by naomisorge »

My favorite part was, as many people have said, the descriptions of the jungle. It made me want to do a jungle trek of my own!

My least favorite aspect was that I thought there was much too much dialogue--I think Kater could have gotten away with more description and inner dialogue from different characters, instead of dialogue such as repeating "just the ticket" over and over and over again.
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Post by AntonelaMaria »

I loved the ending. It was sweet for such an action-packed novel. I loved Sarah I wish we have more information about here.
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Post by Dorcas Serwaa Adu »

Every single aspect of the book was a masterpiece. From kidnappings to bombing to escapes to weddings, all were so very thrilling. They all balanced each other out. The gore-some scenes were somehow sad👻 hey, but a man's got to do what a man's got to do to survive, aye!
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Post by nchoate12 »

I really like the setting of the book, the jungle, the camp backgrounds, etc. It had a consistent feel to the book that I appreciated. My least favorite part? Probably the language at times, that's just me. I think it's unnecessary.
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Post by Howlan »

naomisorge wrote: 25 Oct 2019, 13:43 My favorite part was, as many people have said, the descriptions of the jungle. It made me want to do a jungle trek of my own!

My least favorite aspect was that I thought there was much too much dialogue--I think Kater could have gotten away with more description and inner dialogue from different characters, instead of dialogue such as repeating "just the ticket" over and over and over again.
Yes, I totally understand your least favorite part about the book. I had the same problem too. I had to re read some parts as it became a bit confusing for me at certain times.
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Post by Washboard »

I enjoyed the scenes in the jungle, from the perspective of the bandits or the rescuers. I think it was perfectly detailed for good visualization without being too wordy. I got a little frustrated at some of the more romantic scenes. They felt a bit forced, and portrayed the women as very needy and helpless.
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Post by briellejee »

Phikim wrote: 05 Oct 2019, 15:47 Sincerely speaking, Greg Kater has done a wonderful and thorough job. There are so many factors to consider as favourite in this book and to mention but a few is sense of humour. For instance, one time Johnny Crook borrows a car and a driver from Major Algie Browning. The author says, "that it was an old two-door Alvis which struggled and groaned as they navigate the rugged thirty-five mile from the village of Tapah." Another instance is when he describes a Chinaman chief and his speed of talking. He says, " his words came out like a machine gun."

Apart from humour, I love the softened of the language and grammar used by Greg. He's made it possible for any reader to crack the nut without much struggles. Any reader can readily comprehend vividly and instantaneously this read.

The least favourite is the use of numerous characters. Sometimes you have to ignore others because the more you add a new one, the more you become more confused. However, this doesn't deter a reader from more sweeter things in the book.
I agree about the numerous characters. However, there are authors who are skilled enough to flawlessly incorporate more characters and yet readers won't feel overwhelmed. Not saying Kater is not great, it's just that authors have limitations as well. :tiphat:
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Post by briellejee »

naomisorge wrote: 25 Oct 2019, 13:43 My favorite part was, as many people have said, the descriptions of the jungle. It made me want to do a jungle trek of my own!

My least favorite aspect was that I thought there was much too much dialogue--I think Kater could have gotten away with more description and inner dialogue from different characters, instead of dialogue such as repeating "just the ticket" over and over and over again.
Agree about too much dialogue! I think Kater is not fully aware that his descriptions are way too good that will not bore readers even if there is only a bit of dialogue. :techie-studyingbrown:
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Post by Howlan »

DC Brown wrote: 06 Oct 2019, 22:20 I enjoy the scenery and the weather. Because of the excellent descriptions you feel like you're there. I did not like all the detail about the attempted uprising. How many weapons and what kind and who had them seemed like trivial information and, yes, the alphabet soup of organizations was distracting.
Yes, Greg Carter sure did a good job in what he wanted to do in terms of descriptions. But he really had too many characters popping up from left and right. I felt a felt a few to be unessesary.
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Post by mcdonaldchola »

My favorite moments were the two occasions when Jacko went to rescue the captives from their huts. Despite all the tight security, he managed with no trace at all. The moments I never enjoyed were those involving so much bloodshed.
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