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A review by ruth_miranda
I Am China by Xiaolu Guo
5.0
Damn.
I related more to this novel than I possible could claim - this is not my story, this is not my reality, this is not my world. But at the same time, it is. So much about it was my world, I saw so many of my own experiences reflected in there. I'm not a refugee, but I too once ran from my country to seek soul asylum elsewhere and was broken by it, finding only the cold and the lonesome empty hours inside my own head. I too, experienced loss such as Mu, I too experienced the horror she did. I too, was once Iona, running from the intimacy of love and longing only for the faceless, emotionless aspect of getting laid. I too, was changed by Tianamen.
This isn't my tale, but it resonated with me far too much, it spoke to me far too much - and the writing felt so close and familiar, like finding home somewhere else. Maybe it's because Jian was born one month after me, maybe I felt a connection to him that I had no right to feel but for the odd coincidences between us.
'Not the state, the people.'
And I too, am a person.
I related more to this novel than I possible could claim - this is not my story, this is not my reality, this is not my world. But at the same time, it is. So much about it was my world, I saw so many of my own experiences reflected in there. I'm not a refugee, but I too once ran from my country to seek soul asylum elsewhere and was broken by it, finding only the cold and the lonesome empty hours inside my own head. I too, experienced loss such as Mu, I too experienced the horror she did. I too, was once Iona, running from the intimacy of love and longing only for the faceless, emotionless aspect of getting laid. I too, was changed by Tianamen.
This isn't my tale, but it resonated with me far too much, it spoke to me far too much - and the writing felt so close and familiar, like finding home somewhere else. Maybe it's because Jian was born one month after me, maybe I felt a connection to him that I had no right to feel but for the odd coincidences between us.
'Not the state, the people.'
And I too, am a person.