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3.49 AVERAGE
3.49 AVERAGE
Context is important. I was newly married and jumping through all sorts of bureaucratic hoops. I found a stack of copies of this novel remaindered. I bought them all. I mailed one to my wife and gave the others way. I then read this in tandem with a friend who was being chucked out of his house. Oh, it wasn't a foreclosure. He was leaving his wife, though sooner than he expected, obviously. I then began dogpaddling through this morass of a novel rife with nature and strange sex. It didn't reach me. I don't think my friend was touched either.
A month later while on the tube in London I saw someone reading it. I wanted to warm him. Maybe my reluctance to do so stemmed from an awareness of context.
A month later while on the tube in London I saw someone reading it. I wanted to warm him. Maybe my reluctance to do so stemmed from an awareness of context.
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Gorgeous but a bit of a chore at times. There is almost no real story but some magical descriptions of encounters and enchanted landscapes.
You know somebody with an interesting philosophy of life, and he says he'll tell it to you. For some reason, the way he goes about communicating it to you is by taking out a box of photographs from his life, extracting them one by one, and telling a rambling story about each, in excruciating detail. They don't seem to lead one into the other or follow any overall plan.
Eventually, about 90% of the way through, he tells you that he is aware of how absurd and pointless the whole thing has been.
I made the mistake of reading carefully for the first third of the book, until I realised I was avoiding reading, forcing myself to read a few chapters every couple of days. From then, I skimmed quickly through the rest, probably missing out on a bunch of liquor being drunk in every village, more and more tales of the countryside that all have women being raped basically to set the mood, and something about trees or a panda.
Eventually, about 90% of the way through, he tells you that he is aware of how absurd and pointless the whole thing has been.
I made the mistake of reading carefully for the first third of the book, until I realised I was avoiding reading, forcing myself to read a few chapters every couple of days. From then, I skimmed quickly through the rest, probably missing out on a bunch of liquor being drunk in every village, more and more tales of the countryside that all have women being raped basically to set the mood, and something about trees or a panda.
Back in 2000 it was perfectly acceptable to award the Nobel Prize for a book that unquestioningly portays women as weak, dim-witted things men have sex with and rape. In this novel the middle-aged male protagonist scorns a young woman for being suicidal after having been molested by her father; the protagonist then tells her all kinds of stories about rape, ignoring her repeated requests not to hear them, before having sex with her. "A true work of great literature" indeed. Thank goodness #metoo has changed our literary standards for the better.
A book that, for me, required some persistence, until I finally noticed that each chapter of this journey through China was a complete story in itself. Combining the everyday with evocative, dreamlike happenings, this author manages to express longings common to all of us.
emotional
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A