188 reviews for:

Red Sorghum

Mo Yan

3.7 AVERAGE

drinkingpondscum's review against another edition

4.0

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Elemental, earthy writing about the difficulties of having a hot grandma. Mo Yan succeeds in creating a colorful world filled with rich metaphor and compelling action; funny and strange and genuinely thoughtful. The section about the war with the dogs was particularly incredible. I did have a similar problem to the one I had with One Hundred Years of Solitude where some of the magical realist elements felt a bit too cutesy to the point where it lessened some of the emotional impact. I guess I’m just not a huge fan of the genre. Still, Yan is clearly a great writer and absolutely deserves his status as the preeminent novelist of modern China.

emamoretti03's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

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Questo libro parla della storia della famiglia del narratore. Seguiamo le vicende tragiche, drammatiche e sanguinose che si svolgono intorno a questa famiglia per vari motivi, tra cui la guerra contro i giapponesi e conflitti interni tra fazioni politiche. Lo stile è crudo, descrittivo e può risultare impegnativo per un pubblico sensibile. A me questo libro è piaciuto molto, ci sono alcuni punti più calmi, però nel complesso è un classico da recuperare anche per capire le tradizioni della Cina, così in alcuni casi distanti dalle nostre. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Kidnapping, Grief, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail

sharonb's review against another edition

3.25

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Rape, Murder

lastmohik's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

al_sharnaqi's review against another edition

3.0

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بغض النظر عن القصة، وعن الأحداث المرويَة هنا، لم تكن اللغة مُحكمة. ولم أتمكن من معرفة السبب، أسُوء في الترجمة أم عدم تمكن من الكتابة. وقد خاب أملي في قراءة كل تلك الصفحات، والوقت الضائع فيه، والسبب الرئيسي هي اللغة.

sarahreadsaverylot's review against another edition

3.0

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3.5 stars.
Violence and beauty in equal parts and excruciating detail.

littlefemur's review against another edition

4.0

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I read Red Sorghum for book club and it was a good discussion book but I don't know how to feel about the book. It shows the horror of the 1930s in China but it the violence was so extreme and graphic that it sometimes felt gratuitous. I don't have any insight except to offer a content warning for graphic violence and rape.

wcb31's review against another edition

3.5

challenging dark reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Loveable characters: No

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Probably one of the most  violent books I have ever read. Cannot put enough trigger warnings on this- this book contains some of the most devastating, revolting scenes of violence I have ever read or even imagined, BUT the violence has a purpose within the novel. Violence IS the purpose. The unique non-chronological structure of the book, a story of the ancestors of an un-named narrator, takes on the feeling of a myth in many places, with ordinary people becoming heroes, kings, and monsters. The book is an important meditation on generational violence in China.

The violence manifests in many ways, as murder , love, war, kidnapping, rape, even a strange, prolonged battle with a pack of dogs. The violence is cyclical also, as one generation faces the horrors of the Japanese invasion/local militia warfare, the next faces the horrors of the Chinese Civil War and the Great Leap Forward. Throughout it all, the red sorghum stands, omnipresent and silent. Although, in the last pages we learn that the red sorghum has been replaced by a hydroid strand, robbing Northeast Gaomi Township even of this beauty in the midst of violence. <spoilter> Mo Yan's writing is hypnotic at times. It is certainly disorienting at times to go from reading one of the most horrific lines you have ever seen to reading one of the most beautiful lines you have ever seen, and even more so when they are the same line. Yan's deep love for Northeast Gaomi Township is the glue holding the book together, and it is what makes the bloodshed bearable. 

seanml's review against another edition

3.75

challenging dark informative sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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Red Sorghum was very casually the most graphic thing I’ve ever read. Its backdrop is 20th century China, jumping around between the early 1920s and through the intense Japanese occupation of 1939 and 1940. If you want a story where things get bad and then they get worse and then become entrenched in misfortune, this may be for you. 7.5/10.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Infidelity, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Excrement, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Abandonment

Minor: Addiction, Body shaming, Drug use, Incest, Suicide, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Alcohol, Classism

ingridwergeland's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced