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The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (Today Show Book Club #8) (Paperback) (平装)
by Alexander McCall Smith
| Category:
Detective, Fiction |
| Market price: ¥ 148.00
MSL price:
¥ 138.00
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| Stock:
In Stock |
MSL rating:
 Good for Gifts |
| MSL Pointer Review:
The novel highlights the spirit of a strong woman and the life in Africa. Hilarious passages highlight issues such as gender relations, respect for elders and the importance of a leading balanced life. |
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AllReviews |
1 2   | Total 2 pages 15 items |
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The New York Times (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-23 00:00>
The Miss Marple of Botswana. |
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Los Angeles Times (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-23 00:00>
Smart and sassy...Precious' progress is charted in passages that have the power to amuse or shock or touch the heart, sometimes all at once. |
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Anthony Daniels (The Sunday Telegraph )(MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-23 00:00>
The author's prose has the merits of simplicity, euphony and precision. His descriptions leave one as if standing in the Botswana landscape. This is art that conceals art. I haven't read anything with such alloyed pleasure for a long time. |
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Jill Malter (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-23 00:00>
Mma Ramotswe is the perfect heroine in this charming book. Blessed not with great height but with "ample girth," she kills a crocodile with one superbly placed shot, she cuts a cobra in half, and she solves all sorts of intriguing mysteries. All the while, we're treated to tidbits about the Great Questions of Life, such as whether Pumpkin gives one a reason for going on, or just many times per day Men think about Sex.
Yes, Precious Ramotswe is the only detective in her detective agency, in Gaborone, Botswana. And when she tells her devoted father than she's going to set up a detective agency, he dies on the spot! But it all works out for the best in this wonderful book, which I highly recommend.
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Julie N. Erickson (MSL quote), Concrete, WA
<2007-01-23 00:00>
A mystery novel set in Africa? What is this?! Move over Agatha. Here comes Mma Precious Ramotswe! Oh, but this book is so much more than a mystery. This book has drama, romance, mystery, political insights, and, well, it just makes you feel good. How is that for a winter rain buster?
The main character, Mma Precious Ramotswe enchants and delights the reader from the very first page. Precious is a big, size 22 woman that loves her country and loves to help people solve their everyday problems. Her homeland is Botswana. Precious is a woman before her time who decides to go against any conventional notion of what an unmarried woman should do, and spends the money she received from selling her late father's cattle to set up a Ladies' Detective Agency. Once the clients start showing up on her doorstep, Precious enjoys a pleasingly successful series of cases. The mysteries that Precious have been hired to solve make wonderful vignettes that keep the reader turning the pages.
Our Upper Skagit Book Club found this the type of book that you just couldn't put down. We loved the way "the author uses such sparing words to describe the characters, but the words he chose really hit home." You will remember these characters and the landscape of Botswana years after you have read this little book. That is just how memorable this writer's story is! Our overall rating was 4.6 out of 5.
No matter how busy your day-to-day life is, you will definitely want to find the time to read and enjoy this fast and fun novel! Find this book today at your local library!
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A reader (MSL quote), London
<2007-01-23 00:00>
An enchanting book, a real pleasure to read, which totally deserves the plaudits heaped upon it. Apart from the remarkable protagonist, Precious Ramotswe, and her succession of interesting cases, I particularly appreciated:
1. The beautiful setting: Central Southern Africa - running all the way down the eastern side of Botswana from Bulawayo to Mafikeng and on to Johannesburg in neighbouring South Africa. The book really makes this local topography come alive and gives an evocative picture of the whole area.
2. The wonderful idiom of the speakers and the conversations. Alexander McCall Smith has caught the local flavour of character, motivation, and speech so well - it's a privilege and a learning experience to "listen in".
3. The human suffering, which lends a three-dimensionality and depth to the characters. Precious Ramotswe herself sets up her agency after a troubled marriage and motherhood.
A retrospective describes the suffering of Precious's father in the Jo'burg diamond mines. The bosses there, says author McCall Smith, speak Funagalo. "...there are many Zulu words in it, but it is not Zulu. It is a language which is good for telling people what to do. There are many words for push, take, shove, carry, load, and no words for love, or happiness, or the sounds which birds make in the morning." [This soulless communication has been extended to the concept of 'Office Funagalo' - check the Web.]
4. Concept of freedom. Almost all of Precious's cases involve some kind of liberation.
Beautifully nuanced, clever, humorous, moving - highly recommended.
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Beverley Strong (MSL quote), Australia
<2007-01-23 00:00>
This story is full of such good humour and general "niceness" that it stays with you for days after you've read it. Precious Ramotswe is the survivor of an abusive marriage and was the mother of a baby who lived for only five days after marrying against her fathers' advice. She devoted herself to caring for Daddy, as she called him, for the rest of his life, agreeing with his plans for her to start her own business. Daddy had visions of her running a butcher shop or some other lucrative business, but, instead, Precious decides to follow in the shadow of one of her heroines, Agatha Christie, and sets up the No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency, complete with an office, a secretary and a tiny white van for following and surveillance work. Clients begin to trickle in slowly with Precios being asked mainly to follow errant husbands, but, as her reputation for common sense and reliable work grows, she is soon asked to consult on crimes of theft, suspected witchcraft and unlicensed medical practices. As a size 22, generously built African lady, Precious is an unlikely PI, but this quirky book has such charm that I hope to find the sequel soon.
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Jessica Lux-Baumann (MSL quote), Rosamond, CA
<2007-01-23 00:00>
Personally, I'm not a mystery fan, and I only read this at the urging of a friend. Imagine my surprise when a book I thought was about English ladies meeting in a parlor over tea to solve crimes turned out to be about a African folk hero and role model to women everywhere (who just happens to solve mysteries, in addition to fixing her friends lives, and running her business, and helping her community). To recount the pure joy of reading this book, I would have to cut and paste every line into my review. So what are you waiting for? This is a true gem not to be missed by readers of all ages! My high school sister, my mother, and my grandmother all adored the tales. I also highly recommend this as a book club selection (the Today show never disappoints with their selections).
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Beth Fox (MSL quote), Los Angeles, CA USA
<2007-01-23 00:00>
This is probably the only series of novels about a female detective in Botswana, or, for that matter, any detective in Botswana. But Alexander McCall Smith draws on the richness of that beautiful, special country whose air, sky and culture permeate every chapter. This is a uniquely African story.
Yet, Precious Ramotswe also is a darn good detective, drawing on her unique ability to understand human nature to solve a variety of cases. Although you will not find the depth or convoluted plot of a typical detective novel here, Mma Ramotswe cleverly solves several cases. Perhaps best of all, however, is that Smith draws Mma Ramotswe in detail, so that we know her life, her family, and a bit about her country. Despite pain in her past, Mma Ramotswe leads a fulfilling life -- in size 22 dresses (and thank you for that, Mr. Smith)! I look forward to reading additional books in this series.
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Denise M. Leming , USA
<2007-01-23 00:00>
The writing style is simple, yet there is great depth within the stories. Alexander McCall Smith is an excellent story teller, with the capability to make one fall in love with his characters. If you are looking for some light reading, this is a find. If you are looking for something which will make you introspective, again, this is a find. One of the best reads I've had in a long time and I'd consider it a modern day classic.
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1 2 | Total 2 pages 15 items |
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