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4.13 AVERAGE
4.13 AVERAGE
I am carrying an ocean.
I could call myself a cloud.
In the morning, spring rain.
One of my favorite debut novels!
The author said the title is open for interpretation.
In the last part, Daiyu says “ My feet leave the ground and I am lifted into the sky.” I think the four treasures would be Daiyu, Feng, Peony and Jacob. In unification, they make up the whole of Daiyu.
You must first destroy yourself ( she becomes Feng, a a boy) , grind yourself into a paste ( Peony and Jacob ) before becoming a work of art ( Daiyu, the black jade) This novel is sad and beautiful!
I could call myself a cloud.
In the morning, spring rain.
One of my favorite debut novels!
The author said the title is open for interpretation.
In the last part, Daiyu says “ My feet leave the ground and I am lifted into the sky.” I think the four treasures would be Daiyu, Feng, Peony and Jacob. In unification, they make up the whole of Daiyu.
You must first destroy yourself ( she becomes Feng, a a boy) , grind yourself into a paste ( Peony and Jacob ) before becoming a work of art ( Daiyu, the black jade) This novel is sad and beautiful!
dark
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
this novel falls flat for me because of a degree of seperation then desperate affixation that i assume was not intended. the story's protagonist, daiyu, has lived many different lives. of the many, she has lived as a boy on more than one occasion and to the other extreme, lived a life dependent solely on her female sexuality. the parts of her are regimented and stark, aided so by the structural separations of the novel. however, she is one person. one, whole, divided, complex yet plainly simple person.
as i write this, i can't help but want to read the book again. unfortunately, i would not find what i am looking for.
i liked the stories told of each of her lives. the writing sometimes needed to get the point faster than it did, but no major infractions there. where this novel actually loses me is in its failure to connect these aspects of her being in my head. while i am aware that each part of daiyu is daiyu, she never feels like she has taken any past experience with her (except ptsd which although extremely plausible, i felt was clumsily written). this is purposeful for she is in hiding so i don't have a problem with the separation. it's the 'callbacks to her past', the 'insurmountable impact that each of her lives has had on her current life that i am just supposed to go along with' where i find my issue. for example, in a brief life of hers, she takes up calligraphy and enjoys calligraphy, especially as she has learnt much from the calligraphy master. this art and the master are constantly referenced in the most insignificant ways and while i understand how that may impact others as "a tiny time of minute happiness has not left her and she carries it around with her and applies to any and anything", it more so comes off to me as, "i need to put something about calligraphy here. it's been a while since i mentioned calligraphy".
i also may not be smart enough for the book because i did not get the moral of lin daiyu's, a tragic character the protagonist was named after, storyline. i liked the addition and thought the idea was cool. however, when it started being used as a "tortoise and the hare" fable ending, i got very...very confused.
the calligraphy and lin daiyu, among other unreferenced aspects of the novel, are meant to gel and coalesce, and form together a protagonist and a novel built on glimpses, concepts, tragedies and heart. instead, my issues cause daiyu who is obviously very mutli-dimensional to appear very not so, since, all her dimensions float very heavily in the space above her rather than on her and wrapped around her. in all actuality, i am extremely jealous of the persons who it did work for because this seems like a very lovely and thought out book.
lastly, i think it would be questionnable to write such a long review and neglect to explicitly mention not only the chinese-american immigrant perspective of the author and protagonist, but also the timeframe in which the book is set, where the chinese exlcusion act was recently made within the united states. this book was my first time hearing about it and, as a jamaican reader with an interest in history, i am able to draw some parallels of the sentiments about chinese workers within my country that have persisted from around that period until now. it always is interesting (quite sad) to see how close the past is to the present and how people determine to remain the same.
as i write this, i can't help but want to read the book again. unfortunately, i would not find what i am looking for.
i liked the stories told of each of her lives. the writing sometimes needed to get the point faster than it did, but no major infractions there. where this novel actually loses me is in its failure to connect these aspects of her being in my head. while i am aware that each part of daiyu is daiyu, she never feels like she has taken any past experience with her (except ptsd which although extremely plausible, i felt was clumsily written). this is purposeful for she is in hiding so i don't have a problem with the separation. it's the 'callbacks to her past', the 'insurmountable impact that each of her lives has had on her current life that i am just supposed to go along with' where i find my issue. for example, in a brief life of hers, she takes up calligraphy and enjoys calligraphy, especially as she has learnt much from the calligraphy master. this art and the master are constantly referenced in the most insignificant ways and while i understand how that may impact others as "a tiny time of minute happiness has not left her and she carries it around with her and applies to any and anything", it more so comes off to me as, "i need to put something about calligraphy here. it's been a while since i mentioned calligraphy".
i also may not be smart enough for the book because i did not get the moral of lin daiyu's, a tragic character the protagonist was named after, storyline. i liked the addition and thought the idea was cool. however, when it started being used as a "tortoise and the hare" fable ending, i got very...very confused.
the calligraphy and lin daiyu, among other unreferenced aspects of the novel, are meant to gel and coalesce, and form together a protagonist and a novel built on glimpses, concepts, tragedies and heart. instead, my issues cause daiyu who is obviously very mutli-dimensional to appear very not so, since, all her dimensions float very heavily in the space above her rather than on her and wrapped around her. in all actuality, i am extremely jealous of the persons who it did work for because this seems like a very lovely and thought out book.
lastly, i think it would be questionnable to write such a long review and neglect to explicitly mention not only the chinese-american immigrant perspective of the author and protagonist, but also the timeframe in which the book is set, where the chinese exlcusion act was recently made within the united states. this book was my first time hearing about it and, as a jamaican reader with an interest in history, i am able to draw some parallels of the sentiments about chinese workers within my country that have persisted from around that period until now. it always is interesting (quite sad) to see how close the past is to the present and how people determine to remain the same.
This epic journey was both enlightening and devastating. The history of Chinese immigrants in the US in the late 1800s was mostly new to me. The protagonist of this novel sheds light on many aspects of the immigrant experience.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I loved this book!! BE WARNED: check trigger warnings, this book handles difficult topics and includes violence, SA, and Racism (which was important to the story, but may be difficult to read for some)
Definitely an emotionally intense read, but I loved that this was a book that kept me guessing and I learned a lot from it. Be prepared to be bawling your eyes out at times, but also blown away by the symbolism and story.
Definitely an emotionally intense read, but I loved that this was a book that kept me guessing and I learned a lot from it. Be prepared to be bawling your eyes out at times, but also blown away by the symbolism and story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Trafficking, Abandonment, Sexual harassment
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Incredibly written-a five star literary piece, but the content was very difficult for me. The final star review was an average between my taste and the excellent quality of the book.