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A review by rbharath
A Single Swallow by Zhang Ling
3.0
I picked up this book as I like historical fiction and the story was of a kind I had not read before. The story traces the lives of a few principal characters from the time of the Second World War in China, and is certainly very different from any I have read.
The narrative is from the viewpoints of three men – Pastor Billy (an American missionary & doctor), Ian Ferguson (an American soldier fighting the Japanese) and Liu Zhaohu (part of local resistance working with the American forces). The story starts with a promise each made to the others that they would all meet even as spirits when they pass. And that is how they relate their stories of the past many years. After the initial sections, the character of a woman who each of the three refer by different names – Ah Yan (for Zhaohu), Wende (for Ian) and Stella (for Pastor Billy) looms large. All three get to be close to her and each of them have something in mind for the future. These are challenging times under Japanese occupation and life is especially difficult for Ah Yan. The story traces the events from the time of the war till the death of the key characters.
Somehow, I never felt close to the characters in the story. The writing came across as if they were enacting a contrived plot entirely mechanically. Just maybe the translation contributed to that. But, I suspect that can only be part of the reason.
I realize most other reviews are more favourable than mine. There are some instances when a book seems to speak differently to you than to many others. This is one such instance.
The narrative is from the viewpoints of three men – Pastor Billy (an American missionary & doctor), Ian Ferguson (an American soldier fighting the Japanese) and Liu Zhaohu (part of local resistance working with the American forces). The story starts with a promise each made to the others that they would all meet even as spirits when they pass. And that is how they relate their stories of the past many years. After the initial sections, the character of a woman who each of the three refer by different names – Ah Yan (for Zhaohu), Wende (for Ian) and Stella (for Pastor Billy) looms large. All three get to be close to her and each of them have something in mind for the future. These are challenging times under Japanese occupation and life is especially difficult for Ah Yan. The story traces the events from the time of the war till the death of the key characters.
Somehow, I never felt close to the characters in the story. The writing came across as if they were enacting a contrived plot entirely mechanically. Just maybe the translation contributed to that. But, I suspect that can only be part of the reason.
I realize most other reviews are more favourable than mine. There are some instances when a book seems to speak differently to you than to many others. This is one such instance.