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goodlegs's review against another edition
5.0
An easy and very satisfying and thought provoking read.
stevenyenzer's review against another edition
3.0
I feel like The Fat Years gave me a perspective on China that I haven't gotten from a lot of nonfiction. The plot itself is nothing special but the characters are varied and interesting.
jamesb0926's review against another edition
3.0
Part 1 was interesting and kept me intrigued.
Part 2 dragged on a little and I almost gave up.
Part 3: epilogue got my interest back up and made the book an enjoyable read!!
Part 2 dragged on a little and I almost gave up.
Part 3: epilogue got my interest back up and made the book an enjoyable read!!
aquiciseviva's review against another edition
2.0
This book was okay. It was a gift, and it sounded interesting, but political style books aren't really what I enjoy reading. I had read a review that said it was sci-fi and tbh, it's not really what I would classify as sci-fi.
Yes, parts of it are (what you would hope) a little farfetched with the mass amnesia and the drugged water, but realistically it could happen. Maybe not to the same extent as a whole country, but an entire town or city for sure.
I give this book 2 stars for being decently written, but not holding my interest enough for me to say I enjoyed it.
Yes, parts of it are (what you would hope) a little farfetched with the mass amnesia and the drugged water, but realistically it could happen. Maybe not to the same extent as a whole country, but an entire town or city for sure.
I give this book 2 stars for being decently written, but not holding my interest enough for me to say I enjoyed it.
tsharris's review against another edition
3.0
Thinly veiled treatise on the nature of state power in contemporary China - really hard to describe it as fiction. Basically asks the question, "What if the CCP has succeeded in finding a new source of legitimacy over the past several decades?"
eososray's review against another edition
2.0
Oh God, was this Boring (yes, with a capital B).
The story goes round and round in circles. It's not clever and not entirely convincing as science fiction.
It really read like a contemporary political commentary with a few semi-fictional characters thrown in. It was like the author decided that if it got classed in a fiction genre more people would read it, so created a little love story to throw in between the commentary.
It's also not that in depth, I am aware of the political, social and economic issues in China and this didn't add anything to my knowledge of the country.
The story goes round and round in circles. It's not clever and not entirely convincing as science fiction.
It really read like a contemporary political commentary with a few semi-fictional characters thrown in. It was like the author decided that if it got classed in a fiction genre more people would read it, so created a little love story to throw in between the commentary.
It's also not that in depth, I am aware of the political, social and economic issues in China and this didn't add anything to my knowledge of the country.
luisvilla's review against another edition
2.0
Tough read. Plotting was plodding; character development non-existent; style lacking. Some interesting ideas but not worth reading for them.
jazzypizzaz's review against another edition
3.0
worthwhile perspective on Chinese politics and history, interesting ideas
gabesteller's review against another edition
4.0
This book was bananas, the epilogue is 100 pages. also lots of weird clunky phrasing like "“as the early-spring evening fell, the atmosphere of their outdoor candlelit dinner was very conductive to happiness” Chinese is just especially difficult to translate to english or if its intentiaonally that way to evoke the ~artificiality~ of the dystopia.
Pretty good tho!
Pretty good tho!
frooblie's review against another edition
4.0
The ending somehow turned into a lecture on economics that took away from the rest of the book. Still, all but the end was great! While the jacket portrays the book as a commentary on China, its relevance has application to the whole modern world. The US definitely can learn from this book's portrayal of a populace that is willing to put up with a significant intrusion of the government into daily life in exchange for a comfortable life.