A review by chorvereads
Dream of the Red Chamber by Cao Xueqin

3.0

What a tragedy! This took me over a couple of days to read but I am not going to lie and say that this book was an easy read. I almost gave up in the middle but battled through just like Pao-yu but without the deus ex machina. It's very plot driven more than character driven. I mostly remember the events more than a particular character and let me tell you, there were A LOT of characters. The story itself, is like an afternoon telenovela. Take a bunch of characters all related to each other, a.k.a. a huge extended family with servants and put them all together in an enclosed space. What do you get? Drama, drama, and drama. It has everything from family politics, arranged marriages, young rebels, etc. There were moments for me when it was, heartwarming, truly exciting, and just plain sad. It was basically a whirlwind. There's the usual confusion of who's related to who but with as you delve in more with the story you understand more that there are more important characters than others. So you learn to focus on who pushes the story to move.
Overall, it was quite an experience. I do understand why this is a fiction classic as it may have opened the door to more plot-driven novels. It may seem like a close sameness to The Tale of Genji because of how it's like a fairytale. There's a chosen one, Pao-yu and believe it or not, he comes with a fairy-god mother. He definitely, like Genji, has special favours from 'the most high.' On the other hand, it's different because family drama is more highlighted here than in Genji's court. The Dream of the Red Chamber is not my 'cup of tea' but it does prove that life's complexities really makes a good story.