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3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
One person online summed this novel up very astutely in one sentence: Ming Tsu rides horses and he kills. There's a lot more to it than that, of course, otherwise Lin wouldn't have won the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction, nor would it have been possible to fill three whole pages with quotes from people who adore this debut novel. But this person wasn't wrong either, because that's essentially the whole plot.
Ming Tsu falls in love and elopes with a rich white girl. Her father sends his henchmen after them, however, and Ada is married off to someone else, while Tsu is conscripted into the service of the Central Pacific Railroad. The thing is, Tsu, orphaned at a young age, was trained to be a deadly enforcer for a crime syndicate, and he wants revenge. With the help of a blind prophet and a troupe of supernatural magic show performers, he sets out to find Ada and the men who destroyed his happiness.
I've never been a fan of the western genre, but I've never really thought about why. And as it turns out, it's because Western heroes are typically people I wouldn't consider my heroes. They're colonists and racists and there's this weird romantic aspect to killing indigenous people. Not in this book, though, because our (anti)hero is a 'Chinaman', which lends credibility and necessity to his murderous actions. The book is not very explicit about this, but I think it does raise the question of identity. Of course, racism is rampant in the characters' interactions with each other, as it is in the genre, but it actually stings more because you get to see what it's like for a person who doesn't see himself as a foreigner and at the same time uses this perceived foreignness to his advantage.
It's also a brutal read and you should look out for trigger warnings. I'd say it's the perfect book for anyone who loves Tarantino films, but with a bit more depth and a touch of magical realism.
Find me on Instagram @nisanatreads
Ming Tsu falls in love and elopes with a rich white girl. Her father sends his henchmen after them, however, and Ada is married off to someone else, while Tsu is conscripted into the service of the Central Pacific Railroad. The thing is, Tsu, orphaned at a young age, was trained to be a deadly enforcer for a crime syndicate, and he wants revenge. With the help of a blind prophet and a troupe of supernatural magic show performers, he sets out to find Ada and the men who destroyed his happiness.
I've never been a fan of the western genre, but I've never really thought about why. And as it turns out, it's because Western heroes are typically people I wouldn't consider my heroes. They're colonists and racists and there's this weird romantic aspect to killing indigenous people. Not in this book, though, because our (anti)hero is a 'Chinaman', which lends credibility and necessity to his murderous actions. The book is not very explicit about this, but I think it does raise the question of identity. Of course, racism is rampant in the characters' interactions with each other, as it is in the genre, but it actually stings more because you get to see what it's like for a person who doesn't see himself as a foreigner and at the same time uses this perceived foreignness to his advantage.
It's also a brutal read and you should look out for trigger warnings. I'd say it's the perfect book for anyone who loves Tarantino films, but with a bit more depth and a touch of magical realism.
Find me on Instagram @nisanatreads
Wierd in all the best ways. Incredibly violent and sometimes described very graphically. Not sorry I read it, but unsure who or how to recommend it. A bit magical realism or maybe eastern spiritualism mixed with a heavy dose of western?
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Interesting story with tons of potential, plateaued with a predictable end.