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3.93 AVERAGE
3.93 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
challenging
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
this was definitely an interesting read... I think the premise was definitely interesting bc it showed all different stories from chinese people from all walks of life. some of the stories were personally very interesting to me, and I really wanted to know more... but bc the stories were so short, it ended up getting to the good part/highlight, then just moving on to the next story without any resolution which I hated. the story about the passengers trapped in the train station and the one about his sister protesting and getting arrested were all very interesting but I just wish their stories were built on more ðŸ˜
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
hopeful
informative
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
adventurous
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Minor: Suicide
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
Not my favorite collection of stories. A few standouts, but I can't remember much about them now. The pacing was too sporadic and it felt like the stories didn't "build" off of each other.
A collection of short stories all related to the lives of ordinary people in modern China.
I really enjoyed this collection which covers many aspects of life in modern China and is not only set in the big cities. I found it to be a particularly interesting look at China’s societal changes and how ordinary people are grappling with them, but there’s also a lot of reflection on the party system, identity and culture clashes (both within and outside China). Chen manages to distill the essence of a vast country which is not as uniform as it likes to present itself into stories of individuals, which is no mean feat (I should probably clarify that I am referring to socio-economic differences and generational and city-rural divides, not to ethnic minorities, which are not the focus of this collection). The two stories that I most enjoyed reading were Beautiful Country, which explores identity and the feeling of being stuck between two different cultures, not feeling like you fully belong to either, and New Fruit, a fantastical story of hope and longing, and ultimately the ephemeral nature of life and joy. That said, the story that has unexpectedly stuck with me was Gubeiko Spirit, about a group of commuters that get stuck in an underground metro station, which was distinctly unsettling and yet felt perfectly plausible - I wasn’t blown away by the story whilst actually reading it, but I keep thinking about it and all the repercussions of the situation. An observant collection of short stories, exploring societal changes, identity and cultural differences, all imbued with the essence of a China in flux.