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xtie's review
3.0
this was a slog at times but by the end I deeply appreciated how Eileen Chang captures the bitter sweetness of large and bickering (and bitter) traditional Chinese families - I finished it while in bed in my mothers home and felt a weird synchronicity, even though materially our families aren’t much alike. That being said, this feels like a posthumously published work - temporally unfocused, with a sense of futurity introduced that ended up being dropped and never expanded upon. I wonder how it would have read if it could have been worked on with an editor.
erboe501's review
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
My main gripe with this book is how the back cover copy mislead me. This is not primarily, at least in my reading, a dark romance. There are lovers, and the women in this book are constantly identified by their liaisons with men or lack thereof. But at least to my Western expectations of romance, this was not it.
I appreciate that this book in translation made me acutely aware of my Western assumptions while reading. It made me question if my difficulty connecting with the characters was because of my Western outlook, with very different behavioral and relationship expectations compared to 1940s China.
More than the romantic entanglements, I felt the book focused on Julie's relationship to her mothers. Those relationships appear to have shaped her the most. Those passages, and the early sections about Julie's school days, were most compelling to me. Otherwise I had a really hard time keeping the timeline straight, as Chang wove multiple timelines into each chapter--even each page--with very few chapter/section breaks.
I appreciate that this book in translation made me acutely aware of my Western assumptions while reading. It made me question if my difficulty connecting with the characters was because of my Western outlook, with very different behavioral and relationship expectations compared to 1940s China.
More than the romantic entanglements, I felt the book focused on Julie's relationship to her mothers. Those relationships appear to have shaped her the most. Those passages, and the early sections about Julie's school days, were most compelling to me. Otherwise I had a really hard time keeping the timeline straight, as Chang wove multiple timelines into each chapter--even each page--with very few chapter/section breaks.
zimmerea's review
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
jacobinreads's review
funny
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? Yes
3.0
Beautiful but fragmentary, and like memory itself-- non-linear. I enjoyed this book but I found it hard to follow.
I ended up liking the characters, especially the independent and rebellious Shengs, however I found myself ambivalent about their relationships with one another.
Chang certainly wrote a wonderful autobiographical novel, I'm just not sure how I feel about it, I think.
I ended up liking the characters, especially the independent and rebellious Shengs, however I found myself ambivalent about their relationships with one another.
Chang certainly wrote a wonderful autobiographical novel, I'm just not sure how I feel about it, I think.
zenarcade's review
3.0
Somewhat difficult to follow due to the long list of characters to keep track of (many are referred to by different names which further confuses things), as well as the complex web of relationships between all these characters. The effort wasn't really worth it as there just wasn't much for me to get invested in (characters weren't super well defined, not a very coherent storyline). A large portion of the book felt like exposition about the protagonists's relatives, without much to really keep you grounded in the novel. From what I can tell this book was published posthumously, so I won't judge it alongside Chang's more well-developed novels published in her lifetime. I'd recommend anyone interested in Eileen Chang read Half a Lifelong Romance instead
awen_mair's review
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Started strong but got bored halfway through
addison_reads's review
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
I'm very thankful that this book came with a character list otherwise I would have given up on it. There are a lot of characters and dynamic, complex relationships and family structures in this read.
It's a slow read, but you will definitely learn a lot about Chinese culture. Julie's character was well-developed, but I was just left feeling sad for her throughout most of this book.
It's a slow read, but you will definitely learn a lot about Chinese culture. Julie's character was well-developed, but I was just left feeling sad for her throughout most of this book.