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jacque18's review
adventurous
dark
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
The more I think about this book-it bothers me that the only viewpoints we hear are from the three men who were involved with the main female character. Each of them used her for their own purposes, even if they think they were being altruistic or were in love with her. I wish we had heard more from the main female character about how she viewed her life and these men. Overall, interesting novel with historical context I didn’t know about-involvement of Americans in China helping the Chinese fight the Japanese during WW2.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death
jayisreading's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
2.75
I had mixed feelings about this one. Bryant did a fantastic job with translation because it read wonderfully, and I can only imagine how it must have read in the original language. However, this can only go so far and I felt as though there was a lot left to be desired.
I think my biggest gripe was how there was a fixation on one woman from three perspectives (all men) and the complex feelings—a lot manifesting into love—they have for her. For a story so focused on one woman, it’s kind of incredible that the reader would be so detached from her. Maybe it’s because they were all through the lens of men and pretty much gave her no voice since it was all about what they thought of her. It would have been so interesting to have gotten her perspective on all of this but, alas, that wasn’t the case. Also, why is that each man was calling her by a different name, two of them just giving her one that they felt “suited” her? Ugh.
Another thing that really bothered me was how slow it was. It took me much longer than I would have liked to get through this book because the pacing was too slow for my taste. There was a lot of meandering, especially since each chapter was made up of reflective ramblings on the past from one of the three men. I lost interest pretty quickly and found myself skimming towards the end.
I have to commend Zhang for creating such a strong setting. Everything was clearly well-researched and she laid everything out well. Everything was well-detailed, which included particularly dark scenes that might leave some squeamish; I definitely grimaced at a couple. I think the decision to write unflinchingly was a deliberate one, though, just to show how bad it was during the Second World War in China. It was by no means a pleasant time in East Asia due to the Japanese— I can understand why she would want to highlight this to remind her reader of this.
It’s possible I wasn’t the right audience, because I think it’s objectively not a bad book. It just didn’t work for me is all and I found it somewhat boring.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Rape, Violence, and War
Moderate: Animal death
ann_0142's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.25
This book was a pain to read through. There were many info dumps and metaphors that could only be described as strange. The writing is so bizarre, like on page 256: "The war was a meat grinder, and also a roller. It ground all life into meat and loam." I honestly didn't know what to think when I came across, "Ian's skin glistened like a fish." on page 189.
The descriptions of certain things were very uncomfortable to read. There was an array of useless descriptions of things not relevant to the story ("He [the dog] flicked out half his tongue, licking gently..." pg 110) and of imagery involving insects ("A needle slipped and poked her finger. A purple bead crawled out from her fingertip and turned into a black worm. She quickly sucked the little purple bug..." pg 190).
I was also highly uncomfortable with how the main female character, Ah Yan, was described by Pastor Billy. In the book, Pastor Billy meets her when she is about 12 and he is 35. Here's a quote from page 75: "The lower portion of her blouse had begun to show the faint contours of her body." On page 95, he says: "'Stella...You're menstruating.' In that moment, I felt as if every pore in my body wanted to sing."
The way this book was written (the three main male characters narrating the story to each other) was confusing. Each person would refer to one of the other two as "you" and I would get confused as to who was speaking. It didn't help that there was one random chapter that was told from the dogs' points of view.
All in all, I think that this book was simply not for me. I would have given this one star, but added 0.25 because of the ending.
The descriptions of certain things were very uncomfortable to read. There was an array of useless descriptions of things not relevant to the story ("He [the dog] flicked out half his tongue, licking gently..." pg 110) and of imagery involving insects ("A needle slipped and poked her finger. A purple bead crawled out from her fingertip and turned into a black worm. She quickly sucked the little purple bug..." pg 190).
I was also highly uncomfortable with how the main female character, Ah Yan, was described by Pastor Billy. In the book, Pastor Billy meets her when she is about 12 and he is 35. Here's a quote from page 75: "The lower portion of her blouse had begun to show the faint contours of her body." On page 95, he says: "'Stella...You're menstruating.' In that moment, I felt as if every pore in my body wanted to sing."
The way this book was written (the three main male characters narrating the story to each other) was confusing. Each person would refer to one of the other two as "you" and I would get confused as to who was speaking. It didn't help that there was one random chapter that was told from the dogs' points of view.
All in all, I think that this book was simply not for me. I would have given this one star, but added 0.25 because of the ending.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, and Rape
abbie_'s review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Free review copy received from the publisher
Translated from the Mandarin by Shelly Bryant, Zhang Ling’s A Single Swallow is an intense character study set during World War II, in a small village in rural China. It’s got an unusual structure, since it revolves around one woman, Ah Yan, but we never hear from her directly. Instead, we hear from three men whose lives intersected with hers in various ways. Ian Ferguson, a white American gunner’s man, Pastor Billy, a white American-born missionary, and Liu Zhaohu, a Chinese soldier born in the same village as Ah Yan.
Translated from the Mandarin by Shelly Bryant, Zhang Ling’s A Single Swallow is an intense character study set during World War II, in a small village in rural China. It’s got an unusual structure, since it revolves around one woman, Ah Yan, but we never hear from her directly. Instead, we hear from three men whose lives intersected with hers in various ways. Ian Ferguson, a white American gunner’s man, Pastor Billy, a white American-born missionary, and Liu Zhaohu, a Chinese soldier born in the same village as Ah Yan.
I thought this stylistic choice might have been to show how little agency Ah Yan had over her own life. As a teenager, she’s brutalised by Japanese soldiers, found by Pastor Billy who, as well as a missionary, has extensive medical training. Her life’s course changes then, looked down upon by almost everyone after her horrific ordeal. But she is loved by each of the three men in their own ways, fatherly or romantic or platonic. I wasn’t really on board with Pastor Billy, given the age gap between him and Ah Yan. But Zhang Ling does a great job of showing how selfish love can be. Each of three men has a different name for this one woman, not caring what her preference is.
The translation is beautiful, I loved the language! And I read that the author was able to undertake field trips to a SACO camp and she also talked with living SACO (Sino-American Cooperative Organisations) trainees. This shines through vividly in the sense of place and level of historic detail.
I think I would have enjoyed it more had we been able to hear from Ah Yan directly, but I understand (I think!) the author’s intention.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
backpackingbookworm's review
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
To begin, this book is beautifully translated and manages to perfectly capture the essence of Ah Yan and the three men who loved her in his own way. I really enjoyed the switching perspectives and the unique second-person life-after-death narrative. It gave the story a new dimension and very cleverly told the story of Ah Yan's life despite having no chapters delivered from her point of view.
The book explored multiple themes, including war, lust, honour, illness, and abuse, with each connecting Ah Yan to one of the narrators, depending on who experienced/witnessed the event(s) associated with each theme. It was very well constructed, however, I did feel like the ending was dragged out to the point where I did wonder if it was ever going to end.
I loved Ah Yan's character, her selflessness, her resilience, and her gracious nature to forgive despite being subjected to some of the most harrowing circumstances. I liked Pastor Billy but I wasn't as fond of the other narrators, especially after discovering how selfish each of their feelings was for Ah Yan. I do believe most redeemed themselves and felt a sense of guilt/failure in doing what was best for Ah Yan at the time rather than only thinking of themselves. It was good to see this character growth as each reflected on their memories with Ah Yan pre-death.
Overall an interesting novel that was beautifully written but just a little too long to keep my engagement levels as high as they were at the beginning of the novel.
Rating breakdown
The book explored multiple themes, including war, lust, honour, illness, and abuse, with each connecting Ah Yan to one of the narrators, depending on who experienced/witnessed the event(s) associated with each theme. It was very well constructed, however, I did feel like the ending was dragged out to the point where I did wonder if it was ever going to end.
I loved Ah Yan's character, her selflessness, her resilience, and her gracious nature to forgive despite being subjected to some of the most harrowing circumstances. I liked Pastor Billy but I wasn't as fond of the other narrators, especially after discovering how selfish each of their feelings was for Ah Yan. I do believe most redeemed themselves and felt a sense of guilt/failure in doing what was best for Ah Yan at the time rather than only thinking of themselves. It was good to see this character growth as each reflected on their memories with Ah Yan pre-death.
Overall an interesting novel that was beautifully written but just a little too long to keep my engagement levels as high as they were at the beginning of the novel.
Rating breakdown
- Plot/narrative - 3.8
- Writing style/readability - 4
- Characters - 3.9
- Diverse themes - 3.6
- Ending - 3.5
Overall - 3.8
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Violence
Moderate: Animal death, Rape, and Sexual violence
bethlovescake's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Firstly, overall I found the book very immersive. Especially the great world-building creating a descriptive look into the past.
I felt this was mixed paced with slower paced parts due to the writing style.
The way each chapter is a different perspective was an effective and organised way of changing the point of view without it being confusing. There are flashbacks as well and the timeline isn't shown linearly, which can be difficult to follow if you're not keeping track of it.
I was uncomfortable with how the men looked at the girl in such a sexual/marital way before she was 18, when at least one of them was over 30. (The other 2 men I'm not sure of their ages.)
I think the above point is the main reason I took off a star because I really enjoyed the rest of the book. The historical setting was very interesting and I liked following the lives of the characters through it.
If you're thinking of reading this you'll need to mentally prepare yourself for an emotional intense read at times.
I felt this was mixed paced with slower paced parts due to the writing style.
The way each chapter is a different perspective was an effective and organised way of changing the point of view without it being confusing. There are flashbacks as well and the timeline isn't shown linearly, which can be difficult to follow if you're not keeping track of it.
I was uncomfortable with how the men looked at the girl in such a sexual/marital way before she was 18, when at least one of them was over 30. (The other 2 men I'm not sure of their ages.)
I think the above point is the main reason I took off a star because I really enjoyed the rest of the book. The historical setting was very interesting and I liked following the lives of the characters through it.
If you're thinking of reading this you'll need to mentally prepare yourself for an emotional intense read at times.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Misogyny, and Blood
Moderate: Rape
Minor: Cancer