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claudiatralenuvole's review against another edition
dark
sad
slow-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? It's complicated
2.75
Ho avuto un po' di difficoltà a dare un voto a questa lettura. Ammetto che è molto lontana dai miei gusti per il modo in cui è scritta (le descrizioni così lunghe e dettagliate non fanno per me. Sarà l'adhd) e probabilmente senza la spinta del gdl per cui l'ho letta l'avrei abbandonata abbastanza presto. Detto questo, ho apprezzato le nozioni apprese sul periodo visto che non ne sapevo quasi niente, e per quanto alcune scene mi abbiano suggestionato molto non mi è dispiaciuto che non si glissi sull'orrore della guerra, anzi ti fa stare male quasi fossi stato presente.
Però non sono mancati momenti che ho trovato grottescamente divertenti (il nonno che esulta perché il figlio non è sterile mi ha fatto veramente ridere).
Dei personaggi non ho amato particolarmente nessuno, ma ho apprezzato la nonna per il suo essere avanti su certe cose, e il suo non mandarle a dire. Il finale mi ha lasciato un po' insoddisfatta, mi è parso sgonfiarsi e perdere d'impatto.
Però non sono mancati momenti che ho trovato grottescamente divertenti (il nonno che esulta perché il figlio non è sterile mi ha fatto veramente ridere).
Dei personaggi non ho amato particolarmente nessuno, ma ho apprezzato la nonna per il suo essere avanti su certe cose, e il suo non mandarle a dire. Il finale mi ha lasciato un po' insoddisfatta, mi è parso sgonfiarsi e perdere d'impatto.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Murder, Rape, War, and Torture
elishabird's review
dark
sad
tense
- 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
1.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, War, Blood, Sexual content, Death, Gore, Animal death, Sexual violence, Rape, Murder, Mental illness, Child death, Suicide, and Death of parent
witheredflower's review against another edition
dark
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Animal cruelty, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Violence, War, Blood, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Animal death, Excrement, Suicide, Torture, Sexual assault, and Vomit
seanml's review
challenging
dark
informative
sad
medium-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? No
3.75
Red Sorghum was very casually the most graphic thing I’ve ever read. Its backdrop is 20th century China, jumping around between the early 1920s and through the intense Japanese occupation of 1939 and 1940. If you want a story where things get bad and then they get worse and then become entrenched in misfortune, this may be for you. 7.5/10.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Medical content, Miscarriage, Gore, Sexual assault, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Violence, Rape, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Abortion, Animal cruelty, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, Physical abuse, Vomit, Death, Death of parent, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Genocide, and War
Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicidal thoughts, Excrement, Pregnancy, Infidelity, Misogyny, and Abandonment
Minor: Alcohol, Body shaming, Classism, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Drug use, Addiction, Incest, and Suicide
schwambibambi's review
The misogyny was honestly traumatizing to read and I don't want to spend my time reading about shitheads excusing rape and trying to force the victim to marry her rapist. I don't care how culturally significant this book is, I don't need this in my life.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Police brutality, Violence, War, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence
andra_mihaela_s's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
What's the biggest crime against the victims of an atrocious time? Forgetfulness.
This book follows the tumultuous history of the North-Est Gaomi region, Shandong prefecture in China during the Japanese invasion in the Second Sino-Japanese War through the lens of 3 family generations, in which Dai Fenglian-an unexpected heiress and her lover, comander Yu Zhan'ao - both a bandit and a hero of the peasants, stand out as cornerstones of the narrative.
I will not list a slew of content warnings, but I want to underline that we get to experience the reason why between Chinese and Japanese people is such a deep hatred that only now starts to fade into history's pages.
<b>Please approach this book with extreme caution and be prepared to read about war crimes and cultural diferences(traditions, customs, and "this is how it was done here back then") that may/will affect you! </b>
Despite the fact that "Red Sorghum" is such a reality-level cruel story given to us most of the time through a child's perspective, the writing style is the most beautiful one I've read to date!
It's a dens book with a lot of description, but in no way it drags. The length at which Mo Yan went to express atmosphere and emotions through colors, sounds and light is phenomenal. For the entire book we get to see the red of the sorghum, the red sky at dawn and the heavy atmosphere reeking of blood and death. We get to be the child seeing all these and understand the trauma they experienced during the Japanese invasion of Manchuria. We hear, see and breathe what is happening in the story. It will shock you speechless.
<b>If you enjoy reading Tolstoy and Garcia Marquez, Mo Yan will be right up your alley...having ideas and themes just like Tolstoy and a writing style similar to Garcia Marquez, only dialed up to 100.</b>
Going back to the actual review, we have multiple timelines that are created using memories and visual keys for a character connecting feelings or situations. The narrator is cleverly used to express why the scene is perfectly normal or accepted in Chinese culture, and gives you the desired impact for each instance he adresses the reader. This non-chronological first person style combined with elements of magical realism and bare-bones reality is most unnervingly great.
I believe that each chapter is representative of it's title and manages to surprise you with a variety of possible meanings and scenes connecting it all.
My favorites are also the most shocking for me, so I will mention them in a way only someone who read the book will know: uncle Luohan's punishement, the exhumation scene, the attack on the funeral, the weighing scene for the flower name, the last chapter as a whole.
<b>Mo Yan represents life and nature(through the red sorghum fields) as givers of life and unstoppable forces that are above humans and animals, without mercy or care for the ones that it's feeding; an apathetic bystander in history.
As themes explored, we have forgetfulness of history and it's victims, human nature, the meaning of heroism and life.</b>
As for the plot, we don't have a concrete ending, but all the important parts in creating and cementing the characters we get to know are really well done, so if you enjoy reading a snapshot during the most important part of someone's life, and don't necessary need every detail, I think you will appreciate the story more.(this is especially true if you are not used to reading literary and historical fiction)
The characters we have are complex, multilayered ones that I both love and hate..especially comander Yu. Most of the cast has big flaws and quite few traits, so this is a challenging read in this aspect as well.
Not to mention the trauma children are undergoing mostly due to their parents...looking at you comander..>..>
When I say complex and multilayered I'm refering to the vast array of responses to different situations and the emotions portrayed in each and every action. Again, this is very common in literary fiction - we rarely have thoughts and explicit motivations on the page, but more subtle ways in which the author gives each character a way to be themselves (what role it's playing in the narrative, the connections it has, social status, archetype, the meaning that is conveyed through them, etc. )
I recommend this book, and this author in general, to every curious reader (and to Tolstoy and Garcia Marquez fans in particular) wanting to experience a different culture with stories very much based in reality rich in existential themes and motifs, delivered through a beautiful movie-like writing style with descriptions that will impact you deeply.
Enjoy!
This book follows the tumultuous history of the North-Est Gaomi region, Shandong prefecture in China during the Japanese invasion in the Second Sino-Japanese War through the lens of 3 family generations, in which Dai Fenglian-an unexpected heiress and her lover, comander Yu Zhan'ao - both a bandit and a hero of the peasants, stand out as cornerstones of the narrative.
I will not list a slew of content warnings, but I want to underline that we get to experience the reason why between Chinese and Japanese people is such a deep hatred that only now starts to fade into history's pages.
<b>Please approach this book with extreme caution and be prepared to read about war crimes and cultural diferences(traditions, customs, and "this is how it was done here back then") that may/will affect you! </b>
Despite the fact that "Red Sorghum" is such a reality-level cruel story given to us most of the time through a child's perspective, the writing style is the most beautiful one I've read to date!
It's a dens book with a lot of description, but in no way it drags. The length at which Mo Yan went to express atmosphere and emotions through colors, sounds and light is phenomenal. For the entire book we get to see the red of the sorghum, the red sky at dawn and the heavy atmosphere reeking of blood and death. We get to be the child seeing all these and understand the trauma they experienced during the Japanese invasion of Manchuria. We hear, see and breathe what is happening in the story. It will shock you speechless.
<b>If you enjoy reading Tolstoy and Garcia Marquez, Mo Yan will be right up your alley...having ideas and themes just like Tolstoy and a writing style similar to Garcia Marquez, only dialed up to 100.</b>
Going back to the actual review, we have multiple timelines that are created using memories and visual keys for a character connecting feelings or situations. The narrator is cleverly used to express why the scene is perfectly normal or accepted in Chinese culture, and gives you the desired impact for each instance he adresses the reader. This non-chronological first person style combined with elements of magical realism and bare-bones reality is most unnervingly great.
I believe that each chapter is representative of it's title and manages to surprise you with a variety of possible meanings and scenes connecting it all.
My favorites are also the most shocking for me, so I will mention them in a way only someone who read the book will know: uncle Luohan's punishement, the exhumation scene, the attack on the funeral, the weighing scene for the flower name, the last chapter as a whole.
<b>Mo Yan represents life and nature(through the red sorghum fields) as givers of life and unstoppable forces that are above humans and animals, without mercy or care for the ones that it's feeding; an apathetic bystander in history.
As themes explored, we have forgetfulness of history and it's victims, human nature, the meaning of heroism and life.</b>
As for the plot, we don't have a concrete ending, but all the important parts in creating and cementing the characters we get to know are really well done, so if you enjoy reading a snapshot during the most important part of someone's life, and don't necessary need every detail, I think you will appreciate the story more.(this is especially true if you are not used to reading literary and historical fiction)
The characters we have are complex, multilayered ones that I both love and hate..especially comander Yu. Most of the cast has big flaws and quite few traits, so this is a challenging read in this aspect as well.
Not to mention the trauma children are undergoing mostly due to their parents...looking at you comander..>..>
When I say complex and multilayered I'm refering to the vast array of responses to different situations and the emotions portrayed in each and every action. Again, this is very common in literary fiction - we rarely have thoughts and explicit motivations on the page, but more subtle ways in which the author gives each character a way to be themselves (what role it's playing in the narrative, the connections it has, social status, archetype, the meaning that is conveyed through them, etc. )
I recommend this book, and this author in general, to every curious reader (and to Tolstoy and Garcia Marquez fans in particular) wanting to experience a different culture with stories very much based in reality rich in existential themes and motifs, delivered through a beautiful movie-like writing style with descriptions that will impact you deeply.
Enjoy!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, and Xenophobia
More...