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A review by sbnich
A Single Swallow by Zhang Ling
3.0
3.5, for a unique story with solid literary quality.
Three ghosts narrate a story of a woman they refer to by three different names over the course of a few years in the deep Chinese countryside during WWII.
The premise is interesting, the audio narration and writing is solid, but I struggled with the subject. A woman, whose life is told by 3 men (and 2 dogs!), who never gets to say what her name is or what she feels for each of the three who pay a monumental part in her life - a father figure, the father OF her child, and the father TO her child. Her voice is entirely silent, told only via the lens of the men around her.
Worth a read if only for the value of reading a a great translation about a piece of history and a country and culture of which I know little about.
Three ghosts narrate a story of a woman they refer to by three different names over the course of a few years in the deep Chinese countryside during WWII.
The premise is interesting, the audio narration and writing is solid, but I struggled with the subject. A woman, whose life is told by 3 men (and 2 dogs!), who never gets to say what her name is or what she feels for each of the three who pay a monumental part in her life - a father figure, the father OF her child, and the father TO her child. Her voice is entirely silent, told only via the lens of the men around her.
Worth a read if only for the value of reading a a great translation about a piece of history and a country and culture of which I know little about.