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jnowal's review against another edition
2.0
I'm almost embarrassed to critique this book, because I felt like I was reading the first noveling effort of a very young author. It had every cliche of both historical fiction and poor storytelling, and about halfway through the book I was reading it only to see how much more ridiculous it would become before the end. All the characters are flat stereotypes, either completely good or fully evil; there's an attempt to explain the Bad Guy's fall, which isn't convincing, and there's an even more improbable suggestion of redemption. The Good Guy, on the other hand, is entirely good - and also rich and intelligent and unbelievably lucky. The woman they both love is also perfect: beautiful, smart, and a bestselling author after her first writing attempt. Everything in the book seems to happen because Da Chen needs it to happen, not because it's the logical outcome of what's gone before, and what were supposed to be plot twists or important revelations felt like weak attempts at surprising the reader.
More inexcusable than weak plot development is the "historical" setting of the book. China in the 1960s through the 1990s is not just the background of the story, oh no - of course, the characters are each intimately involved in pretty much everything that happened during that period. One character is the grandson of Mao's two closest advisors, the other effortlessly becomes "Heng Tu's" right-hand man, and their personal battles are what provoked the Tiananmen Square incident. Okay, sure.
The icing on the cake is Da Chen's frequently peculiar word choices. I don't mind unusual metaphors or creative language, but words like "unforetelling" and "creeked" (a small sample of what I can remember) were odd enough to take me right out of the story while I pondered what they actually meant.
I'm giving this two stars rather than one because I admit it was entertaining. It reminded me of a poorly-written, big-budget Hollywood costume piece, having little to do with history or storytelling but everything to do with its creator's ego and self-indulgent fantasies.
More inexcusable than weak plot development is the "historical" setting of the book. China in the 1960s through the 1990s is not just the background of the story, oh no - of course, the characters are each intimately involved in pretty much everything that happened during that period. One character is the grandson of Mao's two closest advisors, the other effortlessly becomes "Heng Tu's" right-hand man, and their personal battles are what provoked the Tiananmen Square incident. Okay, sure.
The icing on the cake is Da Chen's frequently peculiar word choices. I don't mind unusual metaphors or creative language, but words like "unforetelling" and "creeked" (a small sample of what I can remember) were odd enough to take me right out of the story while I pondered what they actually meant.
I'm giving this two stars rather than one because I admit it was entertaining. It reminded me of a poorly-written, big-budget Hollywood costume piece, having little to do with history or storytelling but everything to do with its creator's ego and self-indulgent fantasies.
jerihurd's review against another edition
1.0
Ugh! Avoid, avoid, avoid. I couldn't even finish it. Life's too short--though this book will make it seem infinitely longer! I do not understand all the fours and fives! This is the most hackneyed, melodramatic, shallowly written piece of drivel it's been my misfortune to read.
psykobilliethekid's review against another edition
4.0
I've finished this book some time ago and just now have some time to write my review.
This was a very interesting book in the end. I won't give anything away, but it was more or less a combination of the War of the Roses and the Prince and the Pauper without the switching of the main characters to their other worlds, all set to the back drop of the end of Mao China and ending with the Tiananmen Square incident and its after effects. It's also a story of love lost, found and turned traitor through the outside influences of family members and government officials.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in Contemporary Chinese history or for someone who loves read the stories of several people, who do not seem to be related at all, finally coming together in the most unexpected of ways.
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So far so good. It's a novel about two brothers-one brought up in the high society of late Mao China, and the other a bastard brought up in the jungles near Vietnam. Their only link between each other is their father-a high ranking general in Mao's army.
It's not the typical book of two tales though-it's more like the graphic novels I read where the characters have nothing or near to nothing related to each other, but end up meeting together in a certain way or event in/near the end. Not that I know this will actually happen of course since I'm not finished with the book yet. But it has kept my attention and has become a page turner and like to return to.
This was a very interesting book in the end. I won't give anything away, but it was more or less a combination of the War of the Roses and the Prince and the Pauper without the switching of the main characters to their other worlds, all set to the back drop of the end of Mao China and ending with the Tiananmen Square incident and its after effects. It's also a story of love lost, found and turned traitor through the outside influences of family members and government officials.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in Contemporary Chinese history or for someone who loves read the stories of several people, who do not seem to be related at all, finally coming together in the most unexpected of ways.
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So far so good. It's a novel about two brothers-one brought up in the high society of late Mao China, and the other a bastard brought up in the jungles near Vietnam. Their only link between each other is their father-a high ranking general in Mao's army.
It's not the typical book of two tales though-it's more like the graphic novels I read where the characters have nothing or near to nothing related to each other, but end up meeting together in a certain way or event in/near the end. Not that I know this will actually happen of course since I'm not finished with the book yet. But it has kept my attention and has become a page turner and like to return to.
lesliesewcrafty's review against another edition
4.0
Great novel set in China's cultural revolution. Highly recommended!
canuckmum's review against another edition
3.0
A pretty solid debut novel. Yes, the coincidences are implausible. Yes, it dragged in places. However, I kept wanting to read to find out if Shento would evolve or not. You will have to read for yourself to find out if he did or not.
kaneebli's review against another edition
dark
sad
- Loveable characters? No
1.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, and Violence
sushai's review against another edition
3.0
An epic story with compelling characters devolved into a Hollywood-style jumble of unrealistic heroism and villainy, too many suspenseful situations "solved" by deus ex machina, and a fairy-tale-like plot where all the women and girls are beautiful and there mainly to serve as love interests for the male leads.
It's really too bad, because the setup of the book is really interesting, and I thought it would be more about how reversals of fortunes lead people to have empathy and kindness. Instead, the lead characters only crave power and money and fight for the love of the beautiful conquest.
It's really too bad, because the setup of the book is really interesting, and I thought it would be more about how reversals of fortunes lead people to have empathy and kindness. Instead, the lead characters only crave power and money and fight for the love of the beautiful conquest.
rlbasley's review against another edition
5.0
I liked this story the most because it did not have the ending where the brothers ended up meeting at patching everything up. That both faced their own trials and came to their own peace individually without having to solve the conflict among themselves. This is the way it is for my husband and his brother..
posadafan's review against another edition
4.0
Ok, for all the "wrongness" in this book, 4 stars is probably a little high...but it was so darned absorbing! And the storyline is nicely woven, in and out, with unpredictable twists the whole way. I couldn't put the thing down, and it's a rather heavy book.
Though this is a novel, it's set in a certain well-documented period of time in China, and within that there seems to be more than a few inaccuracies. (Yes, it's fiction, but you'd at least expect the historical details to be genuine.)
Also, some of the gruesome and heartless violence throughout was a bit over-the-top. And I really did not understand the internal deterioration and senselessness of the military brother in the last part of the book.
Would like to hear others' comments...
Though this is a novel, it's set in a certain well-documented period of time in China, and within that there seems to be more than a few inaccuracies. (Yes, it's fiction, but you'd at least expect the historical details to be genuine.)
Also, some of the gruesome and heartless violence throughout was a bit over-the-top. And I really did not understand the internal deterioration and senselessness of the military brother in the last part of the book.
Would like to hear others' comments...