Smoking Poppy

This novel has it all - humor, love, friendship, heartache, personal growth and understanding. The sharing of these emotions and lessons are served in a fantastic, smooth moving, fast paced read. No dawdling by the author at all - it starts from page one and every word, for me, was coming in fast and furious. In 90% of the books I read, I find myself bored, at one point or another, and starting to skim. There was no skimming, no confusion or lost thoughts for this reader - I loved it.And what I enjoy the most about this author - he has a unique ability of making every character come to life and he has a wild sense of humor doing it. Of course there's a "main" character but every one around the 'main' is an important, well developed addition and to jump into Graham Joyce's mind through his writing is a pleasure for me.

Graham Joyce has become my new favourite author. I have read 5 of his novels and each is unique in theme. With many authors , the reader approaches a new novel with certain expectations of the author's world view gleaned from previous novels. This is not the case with Graham Joyce. Each new novel explores a different aspect of the human experience, and does this with insight, humour and fine literary skill. Smoking Poppy is a great examination of family relationships, friendship and loyalty. Joyce examines how far a parent will go to save his child from a living hell in the golden triangle region of Thailand, and opium addiction.I thoroughly recommend this novel and others from the pen of Graham Joyce.

I've read a LOT of books about family relationships, but for some reason, this one tends to stick out. A bit mystical in tone at times, a father comes to recognize the fact that he's got one chance to redeem himself with his two adult children, both of whom have done some pretty weird stuff as a result of their alienation from their father. I can easily recommend this one -- it's tough, it's gritty at times, and yet you may find yourself blubbering like a baby by the end.Smoking Poppy tells the story of Danny Innes, who one day gets a phone call saying that his daughter Charlie has been arrested in Thailand. It seems that she's now imprisoned and may be facing the death penalty. Even though Charlie and Danny have been somewhat estranged for a while now (since Charlie went off to Oxford, it seems), Danny is off to see what he can do. He is accompanied by a friend, Mick, and his son Phil, who has channeled his alienation from his father into religious zealotry. Their arrival at the prison only brings disappointment...it seems that the woman being held there isn't his daughter after all; she's stolen Charlie's passport. Rumors say that Charlie trekked into the opium fields...and that's really where the story takes off.I won't say more, because it would spoil the read for anyone who may be interested, but Smoking Poppy was very well done. All of the characters were realistically written, the setting was exotic and real enough that you could picture yourself there. I couldn't put it down once I started.I wouldn't advise this for people who are happy when writers spell everything out neatly and cleanly; this is a book that requires reader participation and lots of thought.Overall, a fantastic story and one I won't soon forget.

SMOKING POPPY is a daedal novel, and the Booklist précis is all the plot summary a reader requires to 'take a whiff'. What that review does not share is how Graham Joyce has managed to update a familiar tale (Conrad's HEART of DARKNESS) and, in the process, completely and ravishingly made it his own.The plot, the graceful (writerly) style, the characters - each a 'person in full', although Dan Innes, the novel's core protagonist, really shines. Moreover, there is the novel's sub-text: Graham Joyce has important insights to share about our relationships with each other -- parent:child(ren), child:parent, friend:friend, lover:lover, etc. And that is not the end of the treasure trove Joyce has gifted us; many rewards await the discerning reader.SMOKING POPPY has so much to say and says it so well. Recommended.

After reading the other reviews and story synopsis I thought Smoking Poppy would be a fun read, especially since I just spent some time in Thailand. However, though the story line itself was fine, I did not care for the descriptions of Chiang Mai, or the Thai people that Graham Joyce puts in the book. It seems like every step the characters take in Chiang Mai is trailed by prostitutes and "vixen women" (seriously he says that), drug dealers, and pimps. Having spent time in Chiang Mai and not experiencing anything like what Joyce describes I was really turned off by the book. Chiang Mai is a lovely city, a bit touristy, and there probably are prostitutes, but we certainly did not find "every bar to be a brothel" as one line states in the novel. I feel as though Joyce has never been to Chiang Mai and is writing about the city using generic Thailand stereotypes. Disappointing.

Graham Joyce is a really good author:) I've just read "silenced land" and "some kind of fairy tales", and this last one. I have to say I'd like to continue with Joyce

It's a very Good Book over all, It starts out a little slow BUT It all come's together in the middle of the book .I would Rate it a 8 out of a Possible 10. There are Many twist in the book and the End of the Story is well worth the slow start. It is written by a English writer and so it took Me a little longer to understand the words but I understood it after 10 or so pages.You will enjoy the book HAA HAA it has everything That a Good book should have ( Family, trials,Human suffering and a great finish).ENJOYMaxx