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mmullerm 's review for:
The Golden Days is the first part of the Story of the Stone which is apparently one of the most famous stories in Chinese literature.
This story follows a young man (probably about 13 years old) named Bao-yu. He is torn between two girls, Bao-Chai, who his parents have chosen for him and his fantasy crush, Dai-yu.
Bao-yu is precocious and impetuous and has overbearing parents who are trying their best to raise him right, but he's not really interested in that and he constantly gets into trouble and is always disappointing them. He can be described as a "Lover" not a "Fighter", and his head is in the clouds.
There were some interesting characters in this novel, my favorite being Bao-Yu's Grandmother Jia, the old lady dowager who reminds me of Maggie Smith's character in Downton Abbey. If there is anyone in charge, it would be Grandmother Jia!
I liked how the story was laid out with poems, quatrains, and couplets blended into the narrative. It was also interesting how there were labels and signs throughout the story.
The plot was interesting but it did get tedious and boring in parts so I knocked off a couple stars for that.
So, overall 3 stars for The Golden Days. It was a pretty good, and enjoyable read but it wasn't great.
P.S. Finishing this allows me to mark the "X" (Cao Xuegin) off of my A-Z author list I'm working through this year. This has been a fun way for me to read different kinds of books!
This story follows a young man (probably about 13 years old) named Bao-yu. He is torn between two girls, Bao-Chai, who his parents have chosen for him and his fantasy crush, Dai-yu.
Bao-yu is precocious and impetuous and has overbearing parents who are trying their best to raise him right, but he's not really interested in that and he constantly gets into trouble and is always disappointing them. He can be described as a "Lover" not a "Fighter", and his head is in the clouds.
There were some interesting characters in this novel, my favorite being Bao-Yu's Grandmother Jia, the old lady dowager who reminds me of Maggie Smith's character in Downton Abbey. If there is anyone in charge, it would be Grandmother Jia!
I liked how the story was laid out with poems, quatrains, and couplets blended into the narrative. It was also interesting how there were labels and signs throughout the story.
The plot was interesting but it did get tedious and boring in parts so I knocked off a couple stars for that.
So, overall 3 stars for The Golden Days. It was a pretty good, and enjoyable read but it wasn't great.
P.S. Finishing this allows me to mark the "X" (Cao Xuegin) off of my A-Z author list I'm working through this year. This has been a fun way for me to read different kinds of books!