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A review by theeuphoriczat
Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien
4.0
"People aren't made to float through the air. Unless we know the weight of our bodies, unless we feel the force of gravity, we'll forget what we are, we'll lose ourselves without even noticing"
The story beings with Ai-ming who moves to Canada following the Tiananmen Square Massacre to live with a family friends. As her relationship with the Daughter (of the house) - Marie deepened, Ai-ming begins to recount the events of the last few years including stories of revolutionary attempts that have been passed down in whispers, lest the hand of power hears.
.
In telling her story, we are taking back decades where we are introduced to a group of music students whose dream to perform symphonies was quieted by the roar of communism, leading to them partaking in cultural revolutions. What follows is a tale of courage, revolutionary idealism, music and silence and intimacy. These three students, Violin prodigy Zhuli, brilliant composer Sparrow and enigmatic pianist Kai are at every turn tested to the limits of human endurance as they are forced to choose between their love for the arts and communal survival.
With each scene of intimacy, Madeleine creates a constant looming threat of decimation as the characters grapple with an ever changing technological and political landscape. More importantly, at least to me, is how Madeleine discusses communal betrayal and destruction. The constant fear made people unwilling to support and protect people who were fighting against oppression; it made it really evident that politician rarely ever have to do anything to handpick and kill off policital opposition as they leave the revealing and lynching of their opponents to people within communities who feel vulnerable within the system of oppression. That is where you hear things like "The Party says only the guilty try to escape punishment.", where in the idea of running and hiding is cowardly rather than a tone of self-preservation. Oppressors even being police thoughts and isolate people and make people believe that "We must take responsibility for our minds" as revolution begins with a thought and an awakening. They make loving and being loved a privilege that need to be begged for and fought for. " Love is a revolutionary act". There is lots of discussion on floating, flying or more specifically being free, unburdening from the pressures of societal conformity.
I really enjoyed reading this book and I look forward to other books by Madeleine.
The story beings with Ai-ming who moves to Canada following the Tiananmen Square Massacre to live with a family friends. As her relationship with the Daughter (of the house) - Marie deepened, Ai-ming begins to recount the events of the last few years including stories of revolutionary attempts that have been passed down in whispers, lest the hand of power hears.
.
In telling her story, we are taking back decades where we are introduced to a group of music students whose dream to perform symphonies was quieted by the roar of communism, leading to them partaking in cultural revolutions. What follows is a tale of courage, revolutionary idealism, music and silence and intimacy. These three students, Violin prodigy Zhuli, brilliant composer Sparrow and enigmatic pianist Kai are at every turn tested to the limits of human endurance as they are forced to choose between their love for the arts and communal survival.
With each scene of intimacy, Madeleine creates a constant looming threat of decimation as the characters grapple with an ever changing technological and political landscape. More importantly, at least to me, is how Madeleine discusses communal betrayal and destruction. The constant fear made people unwilling to support and protect people who were fighting against oppression; it made it really evident that politician rarely ever have to do anything to handpick and kill off policital opposition as they leave the revealing and lynching of their opponents to people within communities who feel vulnerable within the system of oppression. That is where you hear things like "The Party says only the guilty try to escape punishment.", where in the idea of running and hiding is cowardly rather than a tone of self-preservation. Oppressors even being police thoughts and isolate people and make people believe that "We must take responsibility for our minds" as revolution begins with a thought and an awakening. They make loving and being loved a privilege that need to be begged for and fought for. " Love is a revolutionary act". There is lots of discussion on floating, flying or more specifically being free, unburdening from the pressures of societal conformity.
I really enjoyed reading this book and I look forward to other books by Madeleine.