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A review by jdscott50
Kinder Than Solitude by Yiyun Li
4.0
When faced with overwhelming difficulty and hardship it may seem easier to run away and not deal with the problem at hand. However, in not facing the problem, it grows large in our imagination. It becomes something insurmountable when if faced at first a better resolution may have come. Thus the characters of Yiyun Li's book, The Kindness of Solitude, all share a terrible secret. A member of their group was struck down soon after the Tiananmen Square massacre. Some have run away from China to the United States, but find no comfort. Another has dealt with the issue for the past 15 years, yet is not closer to any kind of resolution. It is the solitude they seek, a way to sort out what has happened in the quiet of the day when others urge them to move on and not to dwell in the past.
The story moves between the past and the present among four students, Boyang, Moran, Ruyu, and Shaoai, in 1989 China in the aftermath of the Tiananmen Square protests. One of the four will meet a horrible fate possibly at the hands of one of the group. Would it be the privileged Boyang, the jealous Moran or Ruyu, or is it the indefatigable Shaoai? The past is played over and over again, but ultimately no resolution is ever found. Revolutionary change come at the risk of ones own future.
The story focuses on Ruyu, the orphan, the odd person out, and someone who best represents the solitude of the novel. She would rather have no impact on anyone as no one has any impact on herself. She joins this group as a student, but is always held at the outside in reciprocation of her attitude. The one who fixates on her is Shaoai which makes her a suspect in what happens later. Shaoai also represents an aspect of China lost. Those who sought to change the country and overthrow the Communist dictatorship become hollow reminders for so many who just want to forget. It's the dead past haunting them.
In the end, the story doesn't have much resolution. It's a sad story that tries to fool itself into thinking that solitude and dwelling on the past are good endeavors. However, it's revealed later on that moving forward with ones life is the only way to live. One cannot live in the past and the present simultaneously.
Favorite Passages
“These people forget that those who rush to every sweet fruit of life rush to death too.” P. 9
“…death, when it strikes, better completes its annihilating act on the first try.” P. 10
“Already Bejing made her feel small, but worse than that was people’s indifference to her smallness.” P. 25
“Pool gullible Celia, believing, like most people, in a moment called later. Safely removed, later promises possibilities: changes, solutions, rewards, happiness, all too distant to be real, yet real enough to offer relief from the claustrophobic cocoon of now. If only Celia had the strength to be both kind and harsh enough with herself to stop talking about later, that heartless annihilator of now.” P. 34
Her parents should have known by now that her problem, rather than living in the past, was not allowing the past to live on. Any moment that slipped away from the present became a dead moment; and people, unsuspicious, over and over again became the casualties of her compulsive purging of the past. P. 57
“… she was one of those strangers people needed once in a while to make their lives less empty…” p. 60
“Nothing destroys a livable life more completely than unfounded hope.” P. 66
“Life is a battle that the lesser ones do not have the luxury of quitting midway.” P. 82
“Wouldn’t it be nice if she could be his personal temple?” p. 100
"It is easier to hold a person accountable for a tragedy than holding fate, which defeats everyone impartially, accountable. P.121
“…disappointment is for those who begin with a plan, those who sow seeds and refuse to accept the barrenness of life.” P. 143
“The worst is not a moment robbed from one’s life, but what’s left in place of the moment: an abyss where all the other moments could slip in easily. One does not wakt up from a nightmare unhaunted.”p. 155
All young people start with untainted dreams, but how many would retain their capacities to dream? How many could refrain from transforming themselves into corruptors of other untainted dreams? We are all wardens and executors biding our time; what’s taken from us, what’s killed in us, we wait for our turn to avenge.” P. 166
It is not in our nature to expire quietly. P. 177
“…in everyone’s heart, there’s a graveyard for first love.” P. 242
Once and again we lie to ourselves about starting with a clean slate, but even the most diligent wiping leaves streaks—fears, distrusts, the necessities of forever questioning the motives of others.” P. 247
The story moves between the past and the present among four students, Boyang, Moran, Ruyu, and Shaoai, in 1989 China in the aftermath of the Tiananmen Square protests. One of the four will meet a horrible fate possibly at the hands of one of the group. Would it be the privileged Boyang, the jealous Moran or Ruyu, or is it the indefatigable Shaoai? The past is played over and over again, but ultimately no resolution is ever found. Revolutionary change come at the risk of ones own future.
The story focuses on Ruyu, the orphan, the odd person out, and someone who best represents the solitude of the novel. She would rather have no impact on anyone as no one has any impact on herself. She joins this group as a student, but is always held at the outside in reciprocation of her attitude. The one who fixates on her is Shaoai which makes her a suspect in what happens later. Shaoai also represents an aspect of China lost. Those who sought to change the country and overthrow the Communist dictatorship become hollow reminders for so many who just want to forget. It's the dead past haunting them.
In the end, the story doesn't have much resolution. It's a sad story that tries to fool itself into thinking that solitude and dwelling on the past are good endeavors. However, it's revealed later on that moving forward with ones life is the only way to live. One cannot live in the past and the present simultaneously.
Favorite Passages
“These people forget that those who rush to every sweet fruit of life rush to death too.” P. 9
“…death, when it strikes, better completes its annihilating act on the first try.” P. 10
“Already Bejing made her feel small, but worse than that was people’s indifference to her smallness.” P. 25
“Pool gullible Celia, believing, like most people, in a moment called later. Safely removed, later promises possibilities: changes, solutions, rewards, happiness, all too distant to be real, yet real enough to offer relief from the claustrophobic cocoon of now. If only Celia had the strength to be both kind and harsh enough with herself to stop talking about later, that heartless annihilator of now.” P. 34
Her parents should have known by now that her problem, rather than living in the past, was not allowing the past to live on. Any moment that slipped away from the present became a dead moment; and people, unsuspicious, over and over again became the casualties of her compulsive purging of the past. P. 57
“… she was one of those strangers people needed once in a while to make their lives less empty…” p. 60
“Nothing destroys a livable life more completely than unfounded hope.” P. 66
“Life is a battle that the lesser ones do not have the luxury of quitting midway.” P. 82
“Wouldn’t it be nice if she could be his personal temple?” p. 100
"It is easier to hold a person accountable for a tragedy than holding fate, which defeats everyone impartially, accountable. P.121
“…disappointment is for those who begin with a plan, those who sow seeds and refuse to accept the barrenness of life.” P. 143
“The worst is not a moment robbed from one’s life, but what’s left in place of the moment: an abyss where all the other moments could slip in easily. One does not wakt up from a nightmare unhaunted.”p. 155
All young people start with untainted dreams, but how many would retain their capacities to dream? How many could refrain from transforming themselves into corruptors of other untainted dreams? We are all wardens and executors biding our time; what’s taken from us, what’s killed in us, we wait for our turn to avenge.” P. 166
It is not in our nature to expire quietly. P. 177
“…in everyone’s heart, there’s a graveyard for first love.” P. 242
Once and again we lie to ourselves about starting with a clean slate, but even the most diligent wiping leaves streaks—fears, distrusts, the necessities of forever questioning the motives of others.” P. 247