December 7, 2003 - Personal Web Site: Reviews of Serendib by Sri Lanka RPCV Jim Toner

Peace Corps Online: Directory: Sri Lanka: Peace Corps Sri Lanka: The Peace Corps in Sri Lanka: December 7, 2003 - Personal Web Site: Reviews of Serendib by Sri Lanka RPCV Jim Toner

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Reviews of Serendib by Sri Lanka RPCV Jim Toner



Reviews of Serendib by Sri Lanka RPCV Jim Toner

Peace Corps volunteer Jim Toner relates the story of his 74-year-old Irish-Catholic father's unexpected visit to Sri Lanka in Serendib. Conservative, retired judge John Toner had never been outside America; his experiences during his month on the beautiful but impoverished, civil war-torn island are wryly observed through his son's eyes as the older man gradually learns to adapt to alien surroundings and customs while forming a bond with a son he never really knew. This book is effective not only as a touching memoir but as an illumination of a complex and fascinating culture.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.




Makes reading a pleasure agian, May 30, 2001
Reviewer: A reader from Jamestown, CA
Jim Toner has written a that not only introduces us to the island of Sri Lanka, but does it in the form of a touching story of discovery for a father and son. His charming and poignant novel will amuse you, make you laugh and cry and will never fail to entertain. Every few pages Toner turns a phrase so cleverly as to make you stop and take notice. A pleasure to read.

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

An uplifting read!, March 28, 2001
Reviewer: barbb@netgate.net from Mountain View, CA USA
This simple little book contains such power within! It deals with the journey of learning to love our parents, and the courage that it takes to process our relationships with our parents. Mr. Toner accepted the gift of a visit from his father to Sri Lanka as an opportunity, and in doing so Toner inspires the reader to examine the conflicts in one's own life as gifts. Through the shared adventures and lessons Toner learns to appreciate things about his father--especially the unknown talents and strengths and views--and in doing so Toner finds the healing power of love. The writing will warm you!

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Customer Reviews



A surprising love story, February 22, 2003
Reviewer: A reader from raton, new mexico USA
I picked this book in my search for Peace Corps memoirs (I leave in July). And like the best of those memoirs, "Serendib" is about much, much more. It is a wonderful, unexpected love story.

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0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

A must read for students as well as others, May 20, 2002
Reviewer: Jamie A. Ulm from Murphys, California United States
This story of an amazing adventure through life brings laughter and tears to one's eyes. Jim Toner has found a way to spark my interest in more world travel through eye opening details and incredible character descriptions. I will look for another piece of his writting in the future.

P.S. Jimmy, thank you for a wonderful semester of writting, thinking, and creating.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

a student from Jamestown, November 16, 2001
Reviewer: cds@goldrush.com from Jamestown,, CA USA
I enjoyed this book thoroughly. It covered so many different feelings in life. I was especially drawn to the moments of discovery with his father. To be in your 40's and to be experiencing your very first journey with your own father is at first a shame that it didn't come sooner and a blessing that it finally did. Learning to know and appreciate your parents as adults is a remarkable thing. Hearing them tell stories that you never heard before, enjoying bits of everyday life with them, watching their eyes sparkle when a chance to play arises--those are all gifts. Thank you, Jim Toner, for introducing me to Sri-Lanka (teka-teka) and for allowing me a moment to know the child in you. I'm blessed to have been able to read your book.

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3 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

Not an accurate representation, November 12, 2001
Reviewer: Serendib (see more about me) from Colombo, Sri Lanka
As a Sri Lankan, I am thoroughly upset at the fallacies present in the book. Mr.Toner, has unfairly characterized Sri Lanka as a nation that has no infrastructure, no medicine, extremely disorganized with a dirt poor society. Living in a country for 2 years as a peace corps volunteer gives no insight to the complex social issues or the intricate details of the civil war in northern Sri Lanka, let alone writing a book.
Sri Lanka is a developing nation that has a 90% literacy rate, excellent educational facilities and a state sponsored health care system which is excellent. The regular problems plaguing developing nations is present in Sri Lanka but nowhere to the extent the author has made it out to be. The capital Colombo is a modern city comparable to other modern cities in the world. The author makes no reference to that, but goes on talking about how treacherous living in Sri Lanka is. He also goes on to talk about how an Air Lanka aircraft on which his father was a passenger had to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia due to a bomb threat, and after the emergency evacuation his father runs off into the Sahara!!! The Sahara desert as we all know is in North Africa and not in the Arabian Penninsula. Mr.Toner is a typical first time traveller who goes on to a distant land to "teach" the natives about the great "American culture" as he puts it and decides to write a book about it. Mr.Toner's father who at 70 something years is travelling out of the USA for the first time in his life talks about how hot and humid Sri Lanka is. He obviously has not visited Texas, Arizona, New Mexico or Florida in his lifetime. This books depicts Sri Lanka as a war-torn nation akin to Rwanda or DR of Congo, when in actuality Sri Lanka is a modern nation with a civil war confined to the north and eastern provinces of Sri Lanka.

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moved, August 22, 2001
Reviewer: A reader from USA
A writer I once knew told me about the importance of honesty in one's writing. Here in this book there is a beautiful and simple honesty which allows us to enter into the skin of the author and to see through his eyes. After reading it, I feel that I've been to Sri Lanka and gotton to know the author intimately. A beautiful, giving spirit shines through so that it is easier to return to an American world and bring a little bit of Sri Lanka and a little of Jim Toner back to it.

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

moved, August 22, 2001
Reviewer: A reader from USA
A writer I once knew told me about the importance of honesty in one's writing. Here in this book there is a beautiful and simple honesty which allows us to enter into the skin of the author and to see through his eyes. After reading it, I feel that I've been to Sri Lanka and gotton to know the author intimately. A beautiful, giving spirit shines through so that it is easier to return to an American world and bring a little bit of Sri Lanka and a little of Jim Toner back to it.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

Surprise Great Read!, June 21, 2001
Reviewer: Pam Stelzer from AZ USA
This is a great book; especially for those who have traveled in lesser developed countries. The people and landscape are descriptive and complete. You can really feel yourself in those uncomfortable and sometimes dangerous situations. The author brings humor and humanity to light in this book. I can't wait for his next adventure.

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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

A powerful read, April 24, 2001
Reviewer: A reader from Lakewood, OH United States
I picked up "Serendib" thinking it looked interesting, and couldn't put it down. A powerful story of father/son relationships, this book made me laugh, and broght me to tears. I'll buy a copy for all my brothers, and then buy some more for friends. It's a must-read for any sibling from a large family who wants to know how to navigate the crowded road of parent and child relationships. Not to mention a fabulous peek into life in Sri Lanka.




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Story Source: Personal Web Site

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Sri Lanka; Writing - Sri Lanka

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