Reviews

Our Story: A Memoir of Love and Life in China by Rao Pingru, Nicky Harman

fedecato's review against another edition

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5.0

A little honest and pure book about a story of life and love between two normal individuals. This book is so nice in its simplicity, and it's drawings are absolutely lovely.

qqbear's review against another edition

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4.0

Intimately and candidly written, Rao Pingru illustrates with both his prose and paintbrush his life and love story, in tribute to his wife who passed away from Alzheimer's in 2008. Discovering that he himself had passed away earlier this year in April 2020, made me feel like I had lost a good friend I just got to know. A real gem.

florizona's review against another edition

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informative lighthearted reflective slow-paced

5.0

annie_reads_books's review against another edition

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reflective medium-paced

3.5

heart_288's review against another edition

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emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

cae's review against another edition

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4.0

Fairly unremarkable, but interesting.

helen88's review against another edition

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informative reflective sad medium-paced

3.5

ziyuelan's review against another edition

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This was a really awesome read that gave me so much insight on my country’s history through the eyes of an actual person who lived through those difficult years.

lauren_endnotes's review against another edition

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▫️ OUR STORY: A Memoir of Love and Life in China by Rao Pingru, tr. Nicky Harman, 2013.


OUR STORY is quite a special artifact in itself, beautifully bound with a simple and elegant cover design. The story and art inside continues this careful and simplistic form.

Written when Rao was 93 years old, this is a love letter to his deceased wife and graphic memoir of their life during much of the 20th century in China. The writing is detailed and mundane - in the best possible way. The small moments that lead to a full life: first date, wedding, how the sun comes in the window of their first apartment... Rao's art graces nearly every page alongside the translated text.

Much detail is spent in their early years together, but very little in the 20 years of separation, when Rao was sent to a re-education camp in the Cultural Revolution. Reunited in 1979, and with a full family, they move into later life, recording till the end of his wife's life in 2008 with kidney failure. Rao Pingru passed away in Shanghai in 2020 at the age of 99.

bookslovejenna's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful informative reflective relaxing fast-paced

5.0