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3.46 AVERAGE
3.46 AVERAGE
To be rated/reviewed closer to this month's book club meeting
I had a very hard time getting through this book and even harder time settling on how to rate/review it. I am reluctant to give one star ratings for a few reasons...but...while I appreciated the author's ambition in telling the story of this controversial woman, and felt that the translation was extremely well-done, this was not the book for me. If I hadn't been the one who nominated it for my book club, I probably would have stopped reading it. As it was, I ended up skimming over certain passages to get to the end. I knew virtually nothing about Empress Wu (China's only female emperor) prior to reading this book and was eager to learn more about her life and this period of history. This fictionalized account of her life is told in the first person, perhaps to humanize a woman who was defamed for daring to seize power and maligned by the history books. It follows Empress Wu from the womb to the grave. The language used is poetic and inventive, and the author clearly did a tremendous amount of research about Empress Wu, the golden age of the Tang dynasty, and life in the palace court. Unfortunately, I could not get past the more intimate personal elements and wished that they had been minimized to focus more on the politics. Maybe those aspects of Empress Wu's life were too interwoven into the politics though and this was unavoidable in telling her story, but I felt that certain scenes were gratuitous and distracted me from learning about this period of time and this woman. Perhaps a nonfiction account would have appealed to me more or I would have had a different reading of this book if I'd known more about Empress Wu prior to reading it. I am still torn about how to describe this book more than a week after having finished it because I'm not sure if my reaction is fair since I knew so little about the subject prior to reading this book. I am left wondering if I'm judging the story based on facts/aspects of Empress Wu's life that the author could not change in order to stay true to the history.
In addition to this being the January book club selection, I used this book for the 2016 Book Riot Read Harder Challenge category of "read a book of historical fiction set before 1900." At least I can say it most definitely helped me to read harder this year!
I had a very hard time getting through this book and even harder time settling on how to rate/review it. I am reluctant to give one star ratings for a few reasons...but...while I appreciated the author's ambition in telling the story of this controversial woman, and felt that the translation was extremely well-done, this was not the book for me. If I hadn't been the one who nominated it for my book club, I probably would have stopped reading it. As it was, I ended up skimming over certain passages to get to the end. I knew virtually nothing about Empress Wu (China's only female emperor) prior to reading this book and was eager to learn more about her life and this period of history. This fictionalized account of her life is told in the first person, perhaps to humanize a woman who was defamed for daring to seize power and maligned by the history books. It follows Empress Wu from the womb to the grave. The language used is poetic and inventive, and the author clearly did a tremendous amount of research about Empress Wu, the golden age of the Tang dynasty, and life in the palace court. Unfortunately, I could not get past the more intimate personal elements and wished that they had been minimized to focus more on the politics. Maybe those aspects of Empress Wu's life were too interwoven into the politics though and this was unavoidable in telling her story, but I felt that certain scenes were gratuitous and distracted me from learning about this period of time and this woman. Perhaps a nonfiction account would have appealed to me more or I would have had a different reading of this book if I'd known more about Empress Wu prior to reading it. I am still torn about how to describe this book more than a week after having finished it because I'm not sure if my reaction is fair since I knew so little about the subject prior to reading this book. I am left wondering if I'm judging the story based on facts/aspects of Empress Wu's life that the author could not change in order to stay true to the history.
In addition to this being the January book club selection, I used this book for the 2016 Book Riot Read Harder Challenge category of "read a book of historical fiction set before 1900." At least I can say it most definitely helped me to read harder this year!
I enjoyed this book. The language was beautiful and the character was drawn as both cruel and sympathetic - she is complex and full. None of her heroic feats diminish her moments of cruelty and none of her vulnerability diminishes her ultimate strength and state craft ability - which are extraordinary.
This was an interesting read, at worst. At best, it was a great insight into the mind of a historical figure that until now has been known primarily as a manipulative, arrogant, greedy woman whose every move (mostly immoral in nature) were geared toward getting to the throne. Not knowing anything about the history of this time period or the woman herself, I can’t say myself which version is closer to the truth, though I’d be interested to know just what Sa discovered when she was doing the extensive research for this novel, and how her research influenced the way she wanted to portray Heavenlight (Emperor Wu), if her portrayal was based on this research of if she already had a preconceived idea about how she wanted to spin the story of this woman.
Either way, I was sucked into this book from the very beginning. It begins before the birth of the girl, but not in the way you’d expect. The story starts and ends from the perspective of Heavenlight, and if she happens to be unborn or dead, no matter. The book starts right off with Heavenlight telling her perceptions of the world she knows, which at that time, is her mother’s womb. She tells of her birth, from her perspective, and let me just say, it’s strange to read. It was such a strange way to start off that I immediately wanted to read more. The musings of this unborn child were so insightful that I couldn’t wait to see what she would make of life in the real world.
She doesn’t disappoint. Though the prose is slightly choppy in my opinion (though I give a little slack since this book was translated into English from its original French, even though Sa says she pours over the translations – she speaks English as well as French – to make sure her readers still get the best of her writing in whatever language) the story behind the rough writing is intriguing. This woman was an interesting character. While you don’t get much of the emotions of others, you realize that this is only because Heavenlight herself doesn’t concern herself with them. Even the blocky storytelling begins to mirror her personality, in my opinion, giving you the feeling you’re really being told the story not by some eloquent Chinese beauty, but by the brusque, politically driven, practical woman Emperor Wu was to the core. There are brief glimpses into the softer side of Heavenlight but they don’t seem to hold as much sway in her life as the more important tasks of ruling her people, for which she seems to care for even if some of her motives seem to be slightly more geared toward keeping her dynasty alive more than what’s best for the people – though while she rules, it seems that her dynasty is exactly what’s best for the people.
Following her to the grave and beyond, this book kept me interested to the very last page. It was one of those books that made me want to learn even more about this woman and her rule, though if what I’ve read is any indication, this seems to be one of the only portrayals of the ruler in a positive light, and there’s little published about the details of her life and rule. So as I said, not knowing much about the history, I can’t vouch for the legitimacy of the facts behind this novel, but true or not, it made for a good read. If you pick it up and are put off by the abrupt style of writing, as I was at first, give it a chance. Hang in there, you won’t be disappointed!
Either way, I was sucked into this book from the very beginning. It begins before the birth of the girl, but not in the way you’d expect. The story starts and ends from the perspective of Heavenlight, and if she happens to be unborn or dead, no matter. The book starts right off with Heavenlight telling her perceptions of the world she knows, which at that time, is her mother’s womb. She tells of her birth, from her perspective, and let me just say, it’s strange to read. It was such a strange way to start off that I immediately wanted to read more. The musings of this unborn child were so insightful that I couldn’t wait to see what she would make of life in the real world.
She doesn’t disappoint. Though the prose is slightly choppy in my opinion (though I give a little slack since this book was translated into English from its original French, even though Sa says she pours over the translations – she speaks English as well as French – to make sure her readers still get the best of her writing in whatever language) the story behind the rough writing is intriguing. This woman was an interesting character. While you don’t get much of the emotions of others, you realize that this is only because Heavenlight herself doesn’t concern herself with them. Even the blocky storytelling begins to mirror her personality, in my opinion, giving you the feeling you’re really being told the story not by some eloquent Chinese beauty, but by the brusque, politically driven, practical woman Emperor Wu was to the core. There are brief glimpses into the softer side of Heavenlight but they don’t seem to hold as much sway in her life as the more important tasks of ruling her people, for which she seems to care for even if some of her motives seem to be slightly more geared toward keeping her dynasty alive more than what’s best for the people – though while she rules, it seems that her dynasty is exactly what’s best for the people.
Following her to the grave and beyond, this book kept me interested to the very last page. It was one of those books that made me want to learn even more about this woman and her rule, though if what I’ve read is any indication, this seems to be one of the only portrayals of the ruler in a positive light, and there’s little published about the details of her life and rule. So as I said, not knowing much about the history, I can’t vouch for the legitimacy of the facts behind this novel, but true or not, it made for a good read. If you pick it up and are put off by the abrupt style of writing, as I was at first, give it a chance. Hang in there, you won’t be disappointed!
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I loved the poetry of the language, but the timing of telling the story was odd. A long time was spent on her birth, but I felt the years of her marriage to Little Phoenix were rushed and then a long time was spent on her dying days. A lot of time was spent explaining how she felt old but that she kept busy, with hardly any indication of how she was keeping busy or what changes she was making to China.
She sounds fascinating, but I felt like I still don't understand very much about her.
She sounds fascinating, but I felt like I still don't understand very much about her.
3.5 Really well written and a fascinating insight into a time period and culture I'm unfamiliar with. More sexual content than I expected.
To be honest I thought that the writing was sophisticated but even though it was in first person I felt disconnected from the story. The cover art kinda creeped me out and I also skimmed through some of the lulls or boring parts. I was not expecting how erotic this book is and that took me by surprise. I was even more surprised to find out that this book was originally in French and translated into English. I think that the author did a really good job in filling in gaps in this person’s real life story. Overall, this was an intriguing read but I should try a pure nonfiction book instead.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I enjoyed it but If I had paid attention and known this was a fictional memoir of the Empress Wu Zetian and not just a story of a fictional empress I wouldn't have read it, but that's my personal bias.
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes