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Bianca's Reviews > On the Java Ridge
On the Java Ridge
by
by
Bianca's review
bookshelves: 3rd-person-narrative, contemporary, aussie-author-challenge-2018, aussie-author, audiobook, general-fiction, male-author, 2018
Apr 30, 2018
bookshelves: 3rd-person-narrative, contemporary, aussie-author-challenge-2018, aussie-author, audiobook, general-fiction, male-author, 2018
On The Java Ridge is an extremely contemporary novel. I found myself listening to the audiobook compulsively, unable to stop.
This is a novel about asylum seekers and politics.
Serong has wisely chosen to tell his story via three characters: nine-year-old Roya fled Afganistan with her heavily pregnant mother after the Talibans took away her father and brother; Isi Natoli is the skipper of the Java Ridge, and she's taking Australian tourists to some great surfing spots in the Javanese archipelago; Cassius Calvert is the Minister for Border Integrity - he's an ambitious, competent politician, who's announced a new measure to deter the boat arrivals. As I've said, this is a very contemporary novel.
When the asylum seekers' boat sinks near to where the Java Ridge was anchored, the Aussies do their best to save as many people as possible. But over half of the people, including babies and children perish. Stranded on an atoll, without meaningful means of communication and injured people to look after, this becomes a rescue trip. Will anyone come to their rescue?
Jock Seron wrote a compelling, riveting novel that just got better and better as it progressed. The characterisations were fantastic. Surprisingly enough, I've never read a book on this very contemporary issue. Serong gets extra brownie points for daring to write a political novel focusing on an issue which is highly divisive.
I found On The Jave Ridge unexpectedly riveting, relevant, and touching while managing to avoid the melodrama. It is a "message book", I didn't mind it.
This is a novel about asylum seekers and politics.
Serong has wisely chosen to tell his story via three characters: nine-year-old Roya fled Afganistan with her heavily pregnant mother after the Talibans took away her father and brother; Isi Natoli is the skipper of the Java Ridge, and she's taking Australian tourists to some great surfing spots in the Javanese archipelago; Cassius Calvert is the Minister for Border Integrity - he's an ambitious, competent politician, who's announced a new measure to deter the boat arrivals. As I've said, this is a very contemporary novel.
When the asylum seekers' boat sinks near to where the Java Ridge was anchored, the Aussies do their best to save as many people as possible. But over half of the people, including babies and children perish. Stranded on an atoll, without meaningful means of communication and injured people to look after, this becomes a rescue trip. Will anyone come to their rescue?
Jock Seron wrote a compelling, riveting novel that just got better and better as it progressed. The characterisations were fantastic. Surprisingly enough, I've never read a book on this very contemporary issue. Serong gets extra brownie points for daring to write a political novel focusing on an issue which is highly divisive.
I found On The Jave Ridge unexpectedly riveting, relevant, and touching while managing to avoid the melodrama. It is a "message book", I didn't mind it.
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Reading Progress
April 4, 2018
– Shelved as:
to-read
April 4, 2018
– Shelved
April 29, 2018
–
Started Reading
April 30, 2018
– Shelved as:
3rd-person-narrative
April 30, 2018
– Shelved as:
contemporary
April 30, 2018
– Shelved as:
aussie-author-challenge-2018
April 30, 2018
– Shelved as:
aussie-author
April 30, 2018
– Shelved as:
audiobook
April 30, 2018
– Shelved as:
general-fiction
April 30, 2018
– Shelved as:
male-author
April 30, 2018
–
Finished Reading
August 23, 2018
– Shelved as:
2018
Comments Showing 1-9 of 9 (9 new)
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by
Cheri
(new)
May 01, 2018 11:11AM
Terrific review, Bianca, I've got too many books to add another right now, but this really does sound like a very contemporary novel.
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This sounds fantastic Bianca. Added thanks😀
Cheri wrote: "Terrific review, Bianca, I've got too many books to add another right now, but this really does sound like a very contemporary novel."Thanks, Cheri. I understand. It probably hasn't made it to your part of the world anyway.
Sharon wrote: "This sounds fantastic Bianca. Added thanks😀"I hope you enjoy it, too.
Great review, Bianca! Glad you liked it and it’s fun to see your enthusiasm. Thanks for the warning about it being a message book—probably not my cuppa.
Excellent Bianca, going on the title alone I may have passed this book up before your great review.
Debbie wrote: "Great review, Bianca! Glad you liked it and it’s fun to see your enthusiasm. Thanks for the warning about it being a message book—probably not my cuppa."I guess it's debatable whether it's a "message book" - having politics at its core, I guess it makes it seem more so, although it could easily be just me.
Vanessa wrote: "Excellent Bianca, going on the title alone I may have passed this book up before your great review."I didn't have it on my TBR, but I did see a couple of favourable reviews, and it was available to borrow, so I thought why not check it out.
Elyse wrote: "I’ve been hooked like you lately with Audiobooks.... Narrators have gotten better and better —
Plus ... the’re like our perfect little buddy friends while we’re doing the laundry or cleaning a ro..."
So true about the audiobooks. When I come across a narrator I encountered before it's like coming across a good friend.
