Scan barcode
emergencily's review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Just finished speeding thru this in like 3 hours and cried so hard I got sweaty and choked a bit on my spit.
Historical fiction following the life of a spoiled rich son who gambles away his family's hereditary fortune, and follows him and his family's life as they live through the Japanese invasion of China, the civil struggle btwn the communists and nationalists, the cultural revolution, and the great leap forward and the famine.
Halfway thru I was like this isn't that sad why did every online review wax on about how tragic it was. Then everything started hitting one after the other. Every time I thought "my god this is sad," it would find a way to get sadder.
I think the saddest part was recognizing some elements from my mom's own stories about her childhood and the stories her own parents told her about their lives. For example during the famine when people start eating leaves & bark out of desperation, and dig everything in the dirt out looking desperately for even a seed or piece of plant root to eat -- my mother told me about how her parents told her stories about that time.
But in the end the book is never pessimistic, despite its telling of human suffering, class struggle, war, trauma, and mass hysteria. It always remains hopeful and oriented towards the future. It tells us unequivocally to live, even if it's just to live an ordinary life. As long as we lived and had people we loved and can cherish our memories, long after we are gone.
Historical fiction following the life of a spoiled rich son who gambles away his family's hereditary fortune, and follows him and his family's life as they live through the Japanese invasion of China, the civil struggle btwn the communists and nationalists, the cultural revolution, and the great leap forward and the famine.
Halfway thru I was like this isn't that sad why did every online review wax on about how tragic it was. Then everything started hitting one after the other. Every time I thought "my god this is sad," it would find a way to get sadder.
I think the saddest part was recognizing some elements from my mom's own stories about her childhood and the stories her own parents told her about their lives. For example during the famine when people start eating leaves & bark out of desperation, and dig everything in the dirt out looking desperately for even a seed or piece of plant root to eat -- my mother told me about how her parents told her stories about that time.
But in the end the book is never pessimistic, despite its telling of human suffering, class struggle, war, trauma, and mass hysteria. It always remains hopeful and oriented towards the future. It tells us unequivocally to live, even if it's just to live an ordinary life. As long as we lived and had people we loved and can cherish our memories, long after we are gone.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Physical abuse, and Suicide
More...