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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I will read this book again in coming months. There is so much I feel, so much to retrospect...its absolutely overwhelming.
Samadrita's review sums up everything I felt, feel and agree with. Brilliant review. I don't think I can add anything more.
Samadrita's review sums up everything I felt, feel and agree with. Brilliant review. I don't think I can add anything more.
First of all, let me say that this is a beautiful cover.
Second of all, let me say that I didn't pick it up because of the cover. I picked it up because I read Guo's UFO in Her Eyes earlier this year and loved it. And if I loved that book, I adored this one even more.
The premise really intrigued me. A young Scottish translator reading a jumble of letters and diary entries between two lovers -- Mu and Jian. I love the structure of this novel, the translator (Iona) picks up a page and starts to translate and gets completely absorbed in the story. All throughout the book I had questions. I was hungry to read this book, hungry for the answers.
I love Guo's writing style. She's witty and hopeful and a little bit of a romantic and a cynic all at once. This book is steeped in politics but it isn't dry, for even a minute. I love that this book explores identity and immigrants and migrants and everything in between.
I loved Iona's backstory and how Xiaolu wrote her story like a dealer laying out her cards. This is an incredible feat of a novel and I feel like I was so invested in it, in the story within the story, from the very beginning. I loved that some parts and some words were untranslatable. I loved that this book had so many little pictures and photographs of Jian's writing -- that of an angry, drunken calligrapher.
I loved the massive plot points and the tiny details, all slowly unfurling like a blooming tea ball, petals uncurling and to reveal a red centre.
I read this book's acknowledgements. I didn't want it to end.
Thank you, Xiaolu Guo. This book will stay with me for a long time.
Second of all, let me say that I didn't pick it up because of the cover. I picked it up because I read Guo's UFO in Her Eyes earlier this year and loved it. And if I loved that book, I adored this one even more.
The premise really intrigued me. A young Scottish translator reading a jumble of letters and diary entries between two lovers -- Mu and Jian. I love the structure of this novel, the translator (Iona) picks up a page and starts to translate and gets completely absorbed in the story. All throughout the book I had questions. I was hungry to read this book, hungry for the answers.
I love Guo's writing style. She's witty and hopeful and a little bit of a romantic and a cynic all at once. This book is steeped in politics but it isn't dry, for even a minute. I love that this book explores identity and immigrants and migrants and everything in between.
I loved Iona's backstory and how Xiaolu wrote her story like a dealer laying out her cards. This is an incredible feat of a novel and I feel like I was so invested in it, in the story within the story, from the very beginning. I loved that some parts and some words were untranslatable. I loved that this book had so many little pictures and photographs of Jian's writing -- that of an angry, drunken calligrapher.
I loved the massive plot points and the tiny details, all slowly unfurling like a blooming tea ball, petals uncurling and to reveal a red centre.
I read this book's acknowledgements. I didn't want it to end.
Thank you, Xiaolu Guo. This book will stay with me for a long time.