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dinara123's review against another edition
3.0
Kindness 8/10
A man like him 5.5/10
Prison 8.5/10
Proprietress 7/10
House fire 8/10
3 Garden Rd 7.5/10
Sweeping past 7/10
Souvenir 9.5/10
Gold boy, emerald girl 9/10
A man like him 5.5/10
Prison 8.5/10
Proprietress 7/10
House fire 8/10
3 Garden Rd 7.5/10
Sweeping past 7/10
Souvenir 9.5/10
Gold boy, emerald girl 9/10
girlglitch's review against another edition
3.0
Gold Boy, Emerald Girl is a collection of short stories set in twenty-first century China.
The opening story, Kindness, is really a novella in itself, and this is the most accomplished piece of the collection: lonely and quietly tragic, but also defiant. Muyan is a desperately solitary girl and although two women war to take her under their wings, she refuses to be shaped by someone else's mould. She is perhaps not happy, but she is her own person, and she is free. She makes a world 'that would accommodate her loneliness' and this theme is rehashed in the rest of the stories.
There are occasional glimmers of hope, but on the whole Gold Boy, Emerald Girl is relentlessly bleak - not so much celebrating those who strike their own paths, but posing the question: is it worth it?
The opening story, Kindness, is really a novella in itself, and this is the most accomplished piece of the collection: lonely and quietly tragic, but also defiant. Muyan is a desperately solitary girl and although two women war to take her under their wings, she refuses to be shaped by someone else's mould. She is perhaps not happy, but she is her own person, and she is free. She makes a world 'that would accommodate her loneliness' and this theme is rehashed in the rest of the stories.
There are occasional glimmers of hope, but on the whole Gold Boy, Emerald Girl is relentlessly bleak - not so much celebrating those who strike their own paths, but posing the question: is it worth it?
jetia13's review against another edition
3.0
One Book, One Chicago Spring 2012 pick
I feel bad rating this book because I'm really just rating how I feel about short stories in general. They always seem to be too random and too short. I know, I know, that's half the point, right? Anyways, this was ok - the voice felt soft and relaxing and I liked reading it before bed. But I didn't love it in general.
I feel bad rating this book because I'm really just rating how I feel about short stories in general. They always seem to be too random and too short. I know, I know, that's half the point, right? Anyways, this was ok - the voice felt soft and relaxing and I liked reading it before bed. But I didn't love it in general.
ruta_crnoja's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
5.0
mjgriffinii74656's review against another edition
The stories in this collection evoke a wide range of emotions. From the humor of an old ladies detective agency to the longing and pain of a lost that dare not speak its name, Li does a remarkable job of portraying how individuals interact -- in good, bad, and even more complex ways. I think for me the standout story of the collection was "The Proprietress" about a woman who takes in women and children of men in a nearby prison. Or maybe is was actually the story, "Prison," about a woman and the surrogate mother to her child, quite a shocking tale about what it means to be beholden to another in this life.
izsanz's review against another edition
4.0
Historias cortas que narra una parte de la vida de varios personajes solitarios que viven o vivieron y regresan a China.
Los personajes y sus situaciones son diferentes, muerte de los hijos, los padres, soltería, la vejez, malos entendidos, violencia, China, etc., pero su común denominador es la soledad, lo que me da a entender que probablemente mucha gente no se da cuenta que realmente está sola.
Me gustaron especialmente:
-El relato que le da nombre al libro puesto que he visto situaciones similares muy de cerca.
-"La propietaria" me recordó a mi papá.
*Spoiler?*
-"El inexorable correr del tiempo" La nieta de Ailin decía exactamente lo que yo pensé. Pobre Ailin, si fue una injusticia que te culparan pero es verdad que el odio no entiende de razones.
Los personajes y sus situaciones son diferentes, muerte de los hijos, los padres, soltería, la vejez, malos entendidos, violencia, China, etc., pero su común denominador es la soledad, lo que me da a entender que probablemente mucha gente no se da cuenta que realmente está sola.
Me gustaron especialmente:
-El relato que le da nombre al libro puesto que he visto situaciones similares muy de cerca.
-"La propietaria" me recordó a mi papá.
*Spoiler?*
-"El inexorable correr del tiempo" La nieta de Ailin decía exactamente lo que yo pensé. Pobre Ailin, si fue una injusticia que te culparan pero es verdad que el odio no entiende de razones.
amaldae's review against another edition
4.0
you know how everything around you goes quiet if you do not speak for a longer period of time?
then you know how yiyun li's stories feel like.
but not even silence is always the same.
then you know how yiyun li's stories feel like.
but not even silence is always the same.
octaviaelise's review against another edition
3.0
HNF (read it for a class) it is a nice book. Easily digestible and touched on many current issues and compares cultural differences. Will definitely go back to it in the future.