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shaylala's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
3.75
rikuson1's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.75
I Did Not Like It 😕
-★✭☆☆☆- (1.75/5.00)
My Grading Score = 35% (E+)
Now, there is a reason I read this book and a shallow one nonetheless.
I am a Dynasty Warriors fan (a video game franchise), and I have been since the early 2000s. My favorite character on there is Lu Xun. When I was young, I remember googling to look up details about Lu Xun, and usually, the first hit would be this author right here. At first, I was confused because I knew this wasn't the person I was trying to look up. Back then, I wasn't a reader of books, so I cared not for this person but knew of them because of the mistake of always running into his name because he shared names with the tactician of Wu. Now that I am a reader of books I thought it would be interesting to check out what he's wrote for the sake of him sharing the same name as Lu Xun who by the way I used Lu Xun's Japanese name as my overall online alias name Rikuson, so I felt a tad bit of obligation to at least see what he's written. I did find it interesting that Romance of the Three Kingdoms is mentioned twice or so within this book, so it comes full circle in that aspect in some way.
Getting to the actual book, though. Unfortunately, for the most part, every single story in the collection of short stories was either okay or I simply did not like it and/or just did not understand the philosophical meaning or themes that the specific story was trying to go for. I understand that there are heavy historical and political context that underline most of if not all of the short stories in this collection and I unfortunately do not, nor did I or do I care not to know about the context behind it.
Doing so did severely hinder my appreciation for whatever Lu Xun was trying to go for because without context, I do not think these short stories hold up on their own without it. So, fair warning going into them, if you want to enjoy it more, research beforehand definitely seems to be recommended.
With that being said, I did rate each of the stories out of five, round them up together, and gave an overall score based on all of their points.
1) Regrets for the Past = 3.75/5
2) The Flight to the Moon = 2.75/5
2) Diary of a Madman = 2.50/5
3) Kung I-Chung = 2.50/5
4) The True Story of Ah-Q = 2.50/5
6) Forging of Swords = 2.50/5
7) SOAP = 2.25/5
8) The Divorce = 2.25/5
9) My Old Home = 2.25/5
10) The Misanthrope = 2/5
11) The New Year's Sacrifice = 2/5
13) A Happy Family = 1.75/5
14) Storm in a Teacup = 1.50/5
15) Medicine = 1.25/5
16) Village Opera = 1.25/5
17) Tomorrow = 1/5
18) Incident = 1/5
Verdict
Like stated before, if you want to get the best experience out of these short stories, do your research on the political context and history behind it all because most of the stories just as they are in my opinion do not hold up without it, so overall, unfortunately,
I Did Not Like It
-★✭☆☆☆- (1.75/5.00)
My Grading Score = 35% (E+)
Now, there is a reason I read this book and a shallow one nonetheless.
I am a Dynasty Warriors fan (a video game franchise), and I have been since the early 2000s. My favorite character on there is Lu Xun. When I was young, I remember googling to look up details about Lu Xun, and usually, the first hit would be this author right here. At first, I was confused because I knew this wasn't the person I was trying to look up. Back then, I wasn't a reader of books, so I cared not for this person but knew of them because of the mistake of always running into his name because he shared names with the tactician of Wu. Now that I am a reader of books I thought it would be interesting to check out what he's wrote for the sake of him sharing the same name as Lu Xun who by the way I used Lu Xun's Japanese name as my overall online alias name Rikuson, so I felt a tad bit of obligation to at least see what he's written. I did find it interesting that Romance of the Three Kingdoms is mentioned twice or so within this book, so it comes full circle in that aspect in some way.
Getting to the actual book, though. Unfortunately, for the most part, every single story in the collection of short stories was either okay or I simply did not like it and/or just did not understand the philosophical meaning or themes that the specific story was trying to go for. I understand that there are heavy historical and political context that underline most of if not all of the short stories in this collection and I unfortunately do not, nor did I or do I care not to know about the context behind it.
Doing so did severely hinder my appreciation for whatever Lu Xun was trying to go for because without context, I do not think these short stories hold up on their own without it. So, fair warning going into them, if you want to enjoy it more, research beforehand definitely seems to be recommended.
With that being said, I did rate each of the stories out of five, round them up together, and gave an overall score based on all of their points.
1) Regrets for the Past = 3.75/5
2) The Flight to the Moon = 2.75/5
2) Diary of a Madman = 2.50/5
3) Kung I-Chung = 2.50/5
4) The True Story of Ah-Q = 2.50/5
6) Forging of Swords = 2.50/5
7) SOAP = 2.25/5
8) The Divorce = 2.25/5
9) My Old Home = 2.25/5
10) The Misanthrope = 2/5
11) The New Year's Sacrifice = 2/5
13) A Happy Family = 1.75/5
14) Storm in a Teacup = 1.50/5
15) Medicine = 1.25/5
16) Village Opera = 1.25/5
17) Tomorrow = 1/5
18) Incident = 1/5
Verdict
Like stated before, if you want to get the best experience out of these short stories, do your research on the political context and history behind it all because most of the stories just as they are in my opinion do not hold up without it, so overall, unfortunately,
I Did Not Like It
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Sexism
Moderate: Bullying, Cannibalism, Body horror, Abandonment, Xenophobia, Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, and Racial slurs
Minor: Animal cruelty, Classism, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Death, Confinement, Violence, Gore, Child abuse, Gaslighting, and Emotional abuse
hades9stages's review against another edition
5.0
audio book review: it’s great. the reviews for the individual stories will be on their unique goodreads page :)
100reads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
informative
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Need to reread. Most of it went over my head.
sarapalooza's review against another edition
4.0
NOTE - I have only read Kong Yiji, Ah Q, and Madman!
Enjoyed reading one of the fathers of modern Chinese literature for the first time!
I’m sad to say, I hadn’t heard of him before and first discovered his work through some article or other online. Chinese literature is something I’d like to dive deeper into some day. My first introduction to him was “Diary of a Madman,” which was modeled after Gogol’s work of a similar title and which Lu used to critique traditional society of the time. It was “Kong Yiji” that spoke to me the most. Fascinating and sad, it tells the story of a man who does not belong in the modern time. “Ah Q” was ironic and tragic and I’m told comments a lot of Chinese culture at the time. This isn’t something I know much about and would be curious to learn more. I’m told many of his works are still taught in curriculum in his home country. That’s some staying power! A pioneer of written vernacular Chinese, Lu Xun is closely associated with the May 4th Movement.
Enjoyed reading one of the fathers of modern Chinese literature for the first time!
I’m sad to say, I hadn’t heard of him before and first discovered his work through some article or other online. Chinese literature is something I’d like to dive deeper into some day. My first introduction to him was “Diary of a Madman,” which was modeled after Gogol’s work of a similar title and which Lu used to critique traditional society of the time. It was “Kong Yiji” that spoke to me the most. Fascinating and sad, it tells the story of a man who does not belong in the modern time. “Ah Q” was ironic and tragic and I’m told comments a lot of Chinese culture at the time. This isn’t something I know much about and would be curious to learn more. I’m told many of his works are still taught in curriculum in his home country. That’s some staying power! A pioneer of written vernacular Chinese, Lu Xun is closely associated with the May 4th Movement.
arveparve's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
shanviolinlove's review against another edition
4.0
For my World Lit survey class; coupling this with my recent rendez-vous of Scorcese's Shutter Island, I must say it is intriguing the position that this protagonist finds himself. Because we are employed in his mind and narrative only, we can easily see from where his accusations and suspicions arise; it makes everyone else look sinister. At times, it helps to remind oneself of the title, lest everyone is an enemy in this story.