Rating: 
Summary: Serendib Touches Every Part of the Human Soul
Review: A book that can make you laugh out loud, then cause tears to stream down your face on the very next page is a great rarity. Serendib is just such a book. Every single sentence of this extremely well-crafted novel evokes vivid imagery which delights or saddens the heart depending upon the situation. Jim Toner's charming witticisms made me laugh. The joy he and others found amidst the everyday tragedies in Sri Lanka made me cry. The relationship that developed between Mr. Toner and his aging father in this utter chaos made me do both.It was serendipitous indeed that I came across this wonderful book. I haven't felt such power in the written word in a long, long time.
Rating:
Summary: moved
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: Not an accurate representation
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Not an accurate representation
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Captivating
Review: As a student of Jim, I am proud to have read his book. Throughly and completely, it touches the heart of the reader in bits and pieces that are small enough to reach those inner-most parts of us that haven't ever been touched before.
The flow progresses so nicely that the reader truely has the ability to keep up stride for stride as the description and dialogue set the atmosphere.
"Shadow People" Just a two word phrase, carefully placed, can have an outstanding impact oh a person's psyche. This book is full of them from beginning to end. The craft of visualization through similies without over emphasizing an exact direction towards the reader gives way for room of ones own interpretation(s).
Definetly worth sitting down with this book, but beware; If you pick it up you may not want to put it down.
Rating:
Summary: a student from Jamestown
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: A surprising love story
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: A surprising love story
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: A powerful read
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Makes reading a pleasure agian
Review: 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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