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A review by itsgs
Border Town by Jeffrey C. Kinkley, Congwen Shen
4.0
Review of the English translation by Jeffrey Kinkley:
A bittersweet tale of life in yesteryear rural China (Hunan/ Sichuan region during the end of imperial rule). The crux of the story is the relationship between a young girl, Cuicui, who is coming of age; and her grandpa, who is the village ferryman. There isn’t much by way of a story, but that is not a shortcoming for this book. The focus is the simple life and beliefs/ customs of the unsophisticated characters, and the village of Chadong itself with the river and bamboo-rich mountains that pan it. My enjoyment from reading this book just came from the beauty in these simple things.
Not sure why this book was banned in China.. would love to understand what was unacceptable about this gentle unsophisticated book..
A bittersweet tale of life in yesteryear rural China (Hunan/ Sichuan region during the end of imperial rule). The crux of the story is the relationship between a young girl, Cuicui, who is coming of age; and her grandpa, who is the village ferryman. There isn’t much by way of a story, but that is not a shortcoming for this book. The focus is the simple life and beliefs/ customs of the unsophisticated characters, and the village of Chadong itself with the river and bamboo-rich mountains that pan it. My enjoyment from reading this book just came from the beauty in these simple things.
Not sure why this book was banned in China.. would love to understand what was unacceptable about this gentle unsophisticated book..