A review by mirrorofneptune
The Story of the Stone, Volume V: The Dreamer Wakes, Chapters 99-120 by Gao E, Cao Xueqin

reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Now that we’ve finally finished Dream of Red Chambers/红楼梦/Story of the Stone/石头记, I can finally say: yeah I get why this has been such an influential part of the Chinese literary canon.

It’s a fairly challenging book/set of books to read– the pace is slow, there are about 30 named characters running around at any given time who need to be kept track of, and many of the conflicts (at least in the early volumes) are internal/emotional rather than external– but there’s an abundance of themes to explore and analyze. Buddhism, feminine/masculine roles, karma, dreams vs reality, morality, wealth, and the meaning of family are just a handful of essay topics I could pull from this book. I understand why China has entire courses dedicated solely to studying it.

I shockingly did enjoy the writing style of the book, despite the slow pacing, though maybe I’m just the kind of person who enjoys hearing about all the drama taking place within a massive ancient Chinese household. For me personally I think it helps that the majority of the characters are women (not exactly typical for literature from this period) and while some of them have their moral complexities, all have their strengths. The two major female characters, Baochai and Daiyu, are each interesting in their own right, but I also really enjoyed reading about Xifeng (my problematic fave), Aroma, and some of the more minor female characters. It definitely takes some work to get through the book, but in my opinion it’s worth it, both due to the story itself and also to appreciate the non-Western literary canon.