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Adam Williams

Autor/a de The Palace of Heavenly Pleasure

8+ obres 303 Membres 4 Ressenyes

Sobre l'autor

Obres de Adam Williams

The Palace of Heavenly Pleasure (2003) 195 exemplars
The Emperor's Bones (2005) 56 exemplars
The Dragon's Tail (2007) 30 exemplars
The Book of the Alchemist (2010) 16 exemplars
Missing treasure (1980) 2 exemplars
Le crépuscule du dragon (2011) 1 exemplars
Alkymistens bok 1 exemplars

Obres associades

Con la Muerte en los Talones (1959) — Actor — 523 exemplars
The Space Children [1958 film] — Actor — 1 exemplars
Dragonfly Squadron [1954 film] (2014) — Actor — 1 exemplars
The Hitch-Hiker [1960 The Twilight Zone TV Episode] (1960) — Actor — 1 exemplars

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male

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Ressenyes

El palacio de los placeres celestiales

Novela espléndida. Interesante y muy entretenida. Con unas excelentes descripciones de la China Imperial de 1900, su título puede inducir a pensar en otro tipo de situaciones, que también se producen, pero es muy acorde con los hechos. En realidad su eje central gira alrededor de la revolución de los bóxers y las costumbres ancestrales de la época.

SINOPSIS
China, 1899. La debilitada dinastía Ch’ing asiste indefensa a las disputas entre las potencias occidentales por las concesiones ferroviarias y el control de sus territorios. Contempla como empiezan a hacerse con su país sin poder hacer nada al respecto. La sociedad secreta de los bóxers planea una rebelión a causa de la sequía y el hambre y surge como un nuevo poder entre el campesinado, extendiéndose a todas las clases sociales, vaticinando que los dioses van a bajar a la tierra para expulsar a los extranjeros y arrojarlos al mar.

En este enrarecido ambiente desembarca Helen Frances, una inocente muchacha inglesa llegada a la ciudad de Shishan, cuya vida dará un vuelco llevada por su heterodoxa curiosidad y la pasión amorosa que siente por el aventurero Henry Manners. El estallido de la rebelión de los bóxers hará que la joven se vea rodeada de peligros inimaginables y su vida cambiará siempre.

El burdel que da título a la novela, un lugar en el que tienen cabida los más refinados y prohibidos placeres, sirve de marco al debut literario de Adam Williams. “El palacio de los placeres celestiales” es una historia épica y romántica que nos presenta una galería de personajes inolvidables, como la madame Madre Liu y su sanguinario hijo Ren Ren, el idealista doctor Airton, el misterioso mandarín y la sensual cortesana Fan Yimei. Todos ellos nos transportarán a una época convulsa y fascinante en una obra que atrapa desde sus primeras páginas.

“El palacio de los placeres celestiales” es la opera prima del escritor Adam Williams. Nacido en Hong Kong, descendiente de una familia inglesa asentada en China desde el siglo XIX, durante los últimos años ha sido representante en Pekín (Beijing) de una corporación de empresas dedicada al comercio exterior. Novela que engancha a través de la historia de la revolución boxer y una complicada historia de amor, nos introduce en la cerrada población china, sus costumbres y una forma de vida tan diferente a la del mundo occidental. Arrastra desde el principio sin apenas darte cuenta. Aunque sus personajes son ficticios, el contexto histórico está tan bien tratado que, a la vez que entretiene, incita a recordar algunos de los grandes acontecimientos de la China Imperial. Y más en este caso por venir de un escritor bastante fiable, no solo por su profunda y profusa investigación de los hechos, sino porque su familia estuvo presente viviendolo en primera persona, lo que da mayor validez a sus fuentes.
… (més)
 
Marcat
URBEZCALVO | Hi ha 2 ressenyes més | Feb 7, 2018 |
I cannot understand the low rating given by most of those who rank this book. I don't know how true the portrayal of the Chinese Boxer Rebellion was but this is an amazing read/adventure and I intend to research this time of Chinese history more because of it.

Adam Williams has compiled a very interesting set of characters. The dedicated missionaries, the European entrepreneurs, the devious Chinese of all types from Mandarin down to Madam, the mad mystic peasant revolt. Williams gives them each a unique voice and there are many stories within stories here.

I have a feeling that most give up on the story in the first 100 pages thinking it to be nothing more than a love story, but trust me, once things start falling apart the action is non-stop and you won't be able to put the book down.

I love historical fiction that offers a window into the life of the times. This book does this and more. There are twists in this tale to keep you riveted,.... betrayal, bravery, martyrdom, as well as feel-good scenes of kindness. It is all there.

If you are a reader of Chinese historical fiction...THIS IS A MUST READ.....2 thumbs up
… (més)
½
 
Marcat
Lynxear | Hi ha 2 ressenyes més | Aug 9, 2015 |
This was not, “The epic, thrilling novel of the birth of modern China”, as it is portrayed on the front cover. Yes, it is a novel, and yes, it spans the period from just before the Japanese invasion to just after the 1989 tragic events of Tiananmen Square; but it is not an epic.

There are three main characters; Harry Airton, a British citizen who was the son of a doctor and teacher who worked in China, hence Harry’s early life being in China and his ability to speak fluent Chinas with a local accent; Chen Tao, son of the Airton’s cook, who becomes an early friend of young Harry, or “Ha Li”, as he is called by his Chinese friends and colleagues; and Ziwei Peng, the daughter of Harry’s mother’s friend from her college days in England.

Let me comment on what I liked about this book before I list its flaws.

Adam Williams knows China well, and he has supplemented his own knowledge with a lot of sound research, as evidenced by the references in his afterword and be the detail of China, its history and the public events and characters in the book. While reading this book I learnt a lot about Chinese history of the 1950s to 1980s that I had hitherto only had a sketchy impression of from growing up during that period and picking snippets up from news programmes and documentaries (for instance detail of what the Cultural Revolution was about and what happened during it).

The problems I had with the book were threefold.

Firstly, there were too many coincidences. Of course, a piece of fiction needs a number of coincidences to work, but in this book the coincidents underlying the human story were countless. I’m afraid there were just too many for me to forgive as necessary poetic licence. When I read the first part of the book, “Harry’s Story”, in which the three main characters were introduced, I thought to myself, “An obvious plot would be…But I’m sure the story will not go along those lines. It would involve too many coincidences.” I was wrong.

Secondly, transitions were involved at different parts of the story for the characters. I found these were handled in a rushed fashion and did not ring true, given that they necessitated changes in personality that were not credible. This could be found in the actions of each of the three characters.

Finally, Murphy’s Law was not active enough. Particularly in the first part of the novel, things happened too easily. There was a lot of “setting things up” to create the plot elements required for the rest of the book. The book would have benefitted from a few more screw-ups at this stage.

In conclusion, this is a beautiful love story; it includes much information about the modern history of China, but it strives to be an epic novel also, and there lies the rub. I see the plot as being driven by the love story, but the overall story losing credibility from having to rely so much on incredulous coincidences to make the love story work.
… (més)
 
Marcat
pgmcc | May 29, 2010 |
China 1899. Una dinastía debilitada contempla sin poder hacer nada como los poderes occidentales se empiezan a hacer con su país. Por otro lado, una sociedad secreta planea una rebelión a causa de la sequía y el hambre. Ajena a todo lo que sucede a su alrededor una chica inglesa llega a la ciudad de Shishan. La vida consiste en picnics y cacerías de tigres para los extranjeros, pero para Helen Frances hay otros entretenimientos, algo más peligrosos, por que los boxers ya se están reuniendo masivamente en los bosques y las colinas y Helen se encontrará pronto en grave peligro.… (més)
 
Marcat
ana.iturgaiz | Hi ha 2 ressenyes més | Nov 29, 2007 |

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Estadístiques

Obres
8
També de
4
Membres
303
Popularitat
#77,624
Valoració
3.9
Ressenyes
4
ISBN
45
Llengües
8

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