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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
I did not expect my interest in Chinese history (and the Tang Dynasty era in particular), long-lasting general fascination with myth and legends from around the world, and recently revitalized interest in fantasy to all come together in only one book. But lucky me, here I am. Historical fiction, folk Daoism and Buddhism, and Chinese mythology combine here beautifully in a tale that was so rich and such a delight to get fully absorbed into that even before I was able to return my finished library copy, I was already looking to purchase a copy of my own to enjoy and get lost in again and again.
One of the blandest books I've ever read.... nothing seemed to happen at all, ever. I had to give up halfway through or I would have gone insane
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Silk Road is a strange and unique book. It feels almost like patchwork, a beautiful quilt made of lots of varied parts (different points of view, a variety of narrators, poetry and “historic” texts). It tells the story of Parrot/Greenpearl on her quest to find her mother, and a lot of the story is told by her, but the machinations of a wide range of divine beings from Chinese mythology are also involved in her story. The book often steers off to distant realms to follow these divine beings, so Silk Road is constantly zooming in and out, mostly in space but occasionally in time too. It’s bizarre and disorienting, but also fascinating. A chapter narrated by Parrot morphs into a monologue by the anonymous narrator about how the story could continue, which flows into a collection of wild (but mostly true) tales describing what happened after, which turns into a description of what the nearby deities and silk weavers are up to, then on to a description of the local geography with flora and fauna listed… it’s madness.
Often it feels like the reader is only getting glimpses into the true story, particularly in the second half, which becomes more a fairy tale. In that regard, the first half is overly long and detailed in comparison, and much darker in tone. The book really lightens the more you read it.
When I started this book, I was hoping for a glimpse into life on the Silk Road during that time (Tang dynasty). This is not that. This is a book that whisks the reader off to China, steeped in mythology and natural beauty, for a story of how a general’s daughter goes from slave to concubine to swordswoman to weaver to immortal . Worth a read if you want something different and poetic. I hope to read it again now I know how the story ends.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence
Such a beautiful, and intricate story, unlike anything I’ve read before! The highest praise I can give a book is by rereading it, and I just know that I’ll have to visit these mountains, rivers, and celestial planes again! Hoping some talented soul stumbles across this gem and makes a visual masterpiece for the ages!!
I got about halway through the book and decided that perhaps I'd placed a little too much faith in it. It's not a terrible book, please don't misunderstand; it just wasn't something that could hold my interest long enough for me to finish it. I had a similar problem with the Twilight series. lol
[b:Silk Road|701596|Shadow of the Silk Road|Colin Thubron|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1177409819s/701596.jpg|1443190] is a beautifully written, richly descriptive, meandering story of a young woman who is trying to find her family and who, along the way, finds her own power. It weaves together history, story, mythology, and poetry. Interspersed with the story (the chapters named "Parrot Speaks") are a number of fragmentary 8th-century Chinese texts, translated by the author, along with prose poems that address the reader directly.
The story itself and its writing style kinda scratched the same itch for me that Little, Big by [a:John Crowley|52074|John Crowley|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1223869920p2/52074.jpg] does. I'm failing to come up with the right words to describe the similarities, though.
In Silk Road's descriptions of the life of a courtesan I am reminded a bit of the popular [b:Memoirs of a Geisha|930|Memoirs of a Geisha|Arthur Golden|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1157749066s/930.jpg|1558965] (which was written quite a while later). But Memoirs of a Geisha is in the end a thoroughly conventional romance novel. Silk Road isn't conventional and isn't a romance-genre novel at all.
I don't know very much about Chinese culture, history, or mythology, except what I learn from watching Yimou Zhang (House of Flying Daggers) and Jet Li movies. I expect people who know more about those things would get more out of this book.
Finally, I'm going to describe how I found out about this book, because it amuses me. I am involved with a Buddhist sangha called Insight Meditation Center. A frequent guest speaker at this sangha is Thanissaro Bhikkhu, abbot of Metta Forest Monastery in California. I really like his dharma talks. So I was reading about him on the Web one day and I came across this interview with him in the Oberlin alumni magazine:
http://www.oberlin.edu/alummag/spring2004/feat_monk.html
In the interview, he was asked whether he reads for pleasure and he said that the only fiction he reads is [a:Jeanne Larsen|35009|Jeanne Larsen|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1219701209p2/35009.jpg] and Harry Potter. That seemed like a good reason for me to check out Jeanne Larsen's books!
The story itself and its writing style kinda scratched the same itch for me that Little, Big by [a:John Crowley|52074|John Crowley|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1223869920p2/52074.jpg] does. I'm failing to come up with the right words to describe the similarities, though.
In Silk Road's descriptions of the life of a courtesan I am reminded a bit of the popular [b:Memoirs of a Geisha|930|Memoirs of a Geisha|Arthur Golden|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1157749066s/930.jpg|1558965] (which was written quite a while later). But Memoirs of a Geisha is in the end a thoroughly conventional romance novel. Silk Road isn't conventional and isn't a romance-genre novel at all.
I don't know very much about Chinese culture, history, or mythology, except what I learn from watching Yimou Zhang (House of Flying Daggers) and Jet Li movies. I expect people who know more about those things would get more out of this book.
Finally, I'm going to describe how I found out about this book, because it amuses me. I am involved with a Buddhist sangha called Insight Meditation Center. A frequent guest speaker at this sangha is Thanissaro Bhikkhu, abbot of Metta Forest Monastery in California. I really like his dharma talks. So I was reading about him on the Web one day and I came across this interview with him in the Oberlin alumni magazine:
http://www.oberlin.edu/alummag/spring2004/feat_monk.html
In the interview, he was asked whether he reads for pleasure and he said that the only fiction he reads is [a:Jeanne Larsen|35009|Jeanne Larsen|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1219701209p2/35009.jpg] and Harry Potter. That seemed like a good reason for me to check out Jeanne Larsen's books!