Reviews

If you pick this up in a bookshop based solely on the blurb you aren't going understand the novel, in my opinion you need at least a basic understanding of Mao's China, particularly The Great Famine. If you know nothing you aren't going to appreciate The Four Books as more than a piece of fiction and it deserves to be understood in relation to the history it deals with.

lukuisa's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.5

n0silla's review against another edition

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4.0

I felt obligated to read this title from "China's most controversial writer" after finishing Dream of Ding Village, an equally disturbing and thought-provoking book. The beginning is a bit slow, but before you know it Yan is rapidly unfolding the true depravity and grotesque conditions of the Great Leap Forward and resulting famine. Some episodes were so upsetting that I had to set the book down for half an hour or so before I could pick it up again, but I also found once I was about halfway through that I couldn't stop reading it. This book stands as a tremendous fable of individual morality and the search for meaning (or humor in the lack of meaning) in the face of senseless brutality.

One star off for the translation, which felt a little heavy-handed at times.

ruusaer's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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