Reviews

This was a very interesting read, that's probably the nicest way to put it. Overall the story had so much potential and had some really strong points, but I think the writing style left a lot of the potential therefore lacking, and the ending just didn't make sense in the last chapter. I think all in all the book was reaching for the plot to be more poetic and meaningful than the writing style and the overall story style just didn't allow. Worth a one time read but not something I would pick up again or recommend. Truly felt like a fever dream

hectaizani's review against another edition

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4.0

The Day the Sun Died isn't a page turner and it's somewhat repetitive. Since I haven't read any of Lianke's other works I'm not sure if that's his style or if it's due to the translation. As an aside I wish I was multilingual and could read books in their original languages but alas I am stuck with English translations which I know don't always capture their brilliance.

This book was recommended to me by one of the bibliologists at mytbr.co who thought I would enjoy it and I did. The story takes place over the course of one night in which all hell breaks loose in the narrator's village. A wave of somnambulism takes over and the majority of people start dreamwalking. During the dreamwalking state, the villagers do all kinds of things that are completely out of character - looting, murder, suicide, sexual assault, and more. This leads to a short lived dystopia which the young narrator, Li Niannian, recounts in what feels like an endless monologue. I enjoyed that the story was told from that single perspective, was the narrator reliable or not? Was he awake or dreamwalking? Did the events Niannian is retelling happen as he is describing them? It isn't always clear. That ambiguity was what kept me reading. I also enjoyed that the author inserted himself as a character in a self deprecating manner.

reina2101's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

bex0's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

dangosaffron's review against another edition

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4.0

“The odd thing was that no one was speaking about the present. No one wanted the present. This was a war over the past and the future. More specifically, this future was the future that was written about in books, and the past was that of the town battle. This great war had erupted over the future and the past. As for the present of this night of this month of this year, it either had been completely forgotten, or had been transformed into a nightmare. There was no present. The present had disappeared.”

took me a while to really get on board with the social satire/commentary aspects—but i really like the idea of “don’t fall asleep” as a political directive. i think china needs more internal/immanent critique like this and not the annoying type from western observers. the james joyce comparisons are very clear from the deja vu-inducing writing style. i also liked how funny yan lianke could be with so little (“the sun was as bright as the sun”).

happyrobotdrea's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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