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skzats_we's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
tense
medium-paced
foggy_rosamund's review against another edition
4.0
An amazing portrait of Guo's life, and a vivid, nuanced exploration of the China in which she grew up. Guo's first memories are of an impoverished fishing village, where her grandparents eke out a living from selling scraps they find on the beach. Guo is constantly malnourished, and witness to much hardship, including her grandfather's suicide, but is very loved by her grandmother. At seven, she moves back to a larger city with the parents who had abandoned her, and she feels unwanted and largely neglected. Guo's story is bleak, but her writing style makes it very engaging, and her frankness and straightforwardness is admirable. We follow her through her university years in Beijing, and her emigration to England. Guo's talent and tenacity are incredible: she gets into a film school which has 11 places for 7000 applicants, and publishes novels while still in university. I found her vivid story really moving, and loved the tone of her work. My only caveat would be that sometimes her prose wanders, and that the book could have been edited a little more.
thegrandnarrative's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
bibliobethreads's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
katrinky's review against another edition
4.0
A younger, fiercer, feminist Wild Swans. Blunt language, which was sometimes jarring and created distance, but was often refreshing. (Especially when Guo makes the choice to name the man who sexually abused her as a child. There's no great explanation, no apparent fear. A simple naming, a stripping of the anonymity that this man is maybe still living behind, somewhere in Wenling, China.)
This book probably won't be of interest to anyone who isn't already interested in China, but I highly recommend it regardless.
This book probably won't be of interest to anyone who isn't already interested in China, but I highly recommend it regardless.
milesjmoran's review against another edition
5.0
I often imagine myself as a fern, growing in a cool climate under the filtered sunlight. Most of the time there is deep shade and plenty of heavy raindrops falling from the sky onto my leaves. These are conditions for flourishing - perfect conditions for ferns, and how they have lived for millions of years. Perhaps I could learn something from them.
In 2019, I read and fell in love with a novel called Village of Stone; it was the first book that I'd read by the author Xiaolu Guo. If you asked me to summarise how it made me feel, I wouldn't be able to translate those emotions into words, and to say that it moved me would be an extreme understatement. When I learned that it was a semi-autobiographical novel, I knew I had to pick up this author's memoir and see what she'd included as well as what she'd reserved.
Once Upon a Time in the East comes straight from the heart...a brave, honest, and moving account of self-discovery and the importance of art. Each section is broken up into fragments, which reminded me of the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, as though Guo had poured out the contents of her life story, mulling over it and putting it slowly back together again. She gives each poignant moment and piece of her history time to breathe, to sit with the reader as she explores how it affected her and allows herself to ruminate on what was pivotal for her and what matters to her now in hindsight as an adult.
Guo is wonderful at capturing the complexities of family, never veering into over-sentimental territory just for the sake of making something 'pretty' or 'nice. Her relationship with her grandmother and father stood out the most to me - Guo beautifully writes about the subtle, quieter acts of love that tend to go unnoticed at the time that they're happening but become more distinct and valuable over time, be it her father sharing books that moved him when he was younger or her grandmother buying her something sweet with money that she doesn't have. I found her difficult relationship with her mother interesting and startlingly frank at points to read about. I also have to applaud Guo for her bravery when concerning her experiences with sexual abuse and naming the man who assaulted her as a child.
Reading this memoir deepened my love of The Village of Stone so I urge you to read both if you haven't already, and I can't wait for her new book to come out later this year.
In 2019, I read and fell in love with a novel called Village of Stone; it was the first book that I'd read by the author Xiaolu Guo. If you asked me to summarise how it made me feel, I wouldn't be able to translate those emotions into words, and to say that it moved me would be an extreme understatement. When I learned that it was a semi-autobiographical novel, I knew I had to pick up this author's memoir and see what she'd included as well as what she'd reserved.
Once Upon a Time in the East comes straight from the heart...a brave, honest, and moving account of self-discovery and the importance of art. Each section is broken up into fragments, which reminded me of the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, as though Guo had poured out the contents of her life story, mulling over it and putting it slowly back together again. She gives each poignant moment and piece of her history time to breathe, to sit with the reader as she explores how it affected her and allows herself to ruminate on what was pivotal for her and what matters to her now in hindsight as an adult.
Guo is wonderful at capturing the complexities of family, never veering into over-sentimental territory just for the sake of making something 'pretty' or 'nice. Her relationship with her grandmother and father stood out the most to me - Guo beautifully writes about the subtle, quieter acts of love that tend to go unnoticed at the time that they're happening but become more distinct and valuable over time, be it her father sharing books that moved him when he was younger or her grandmother buying her something sweet with money that she doesn't have. I found her difficult relationship with her mother interesting and startlingly frank at points to read about. I also have to applaud Guo for her bravery when concerning her experiences with sexual abuse and naming the man who assaulted her as a child.
Reading this memoir deepened my love of The Village of Stone so I urge you to read both if you haven't already, and I can't wait for her new book to come out later this year.
crypticmeg's review
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
Well written, and I learned a lot about Chinese history and culture. But it was drainingly depressing.
spiderfelt's review against another edition
4.0
Memoirs offer a fascinating insight into a time and place, one that can not be fully recreated by historical fiction. Guo's memoir dropped the reader into China after the end of the Cultural Revolution, amid the poverty of rural life in a rocky fishing village where her grandparents struggled to scrape together a life with few resources. I was captivated by her description of the time and place as she aged.
ggrayce's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
5.0
mondovertigo's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Sexual violence, Abortion, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Violence, Child death, Domestic abuse, and Misogyny
Moderate: Animal death, Excrement, and Alcoholism