You'll love this one...!! A book club & more discussion

Can't wait for February to start this one.

Can't wait to discover our thoughts for this book.

That book looks real good. Haha, I have been checking out many threads and now I am tempted to read all the books! Not good. :/

Pragya wrote: "That book looks real good. Haha, I have been checking out many threads and now I am tempted to read all the books! Not good. :/"

I know what you mean...

Ladies, I've checked out an audio book in a local library. First, I was surprised that some chapters are out of the order, but then I found that this structure in the audio version is done on purpose (to show flashbacks to the beginning in the later chapters). Not sure if you are reading a paper version or listening to an audio, but thought I would share this with you.

I only started the first chapter and it`s a mix of back and forth present and past

Dominique wrote: "I only started the first chapter and it`s a mix of back and forth present and past"

I plan to download the audiobook as soon as I am done with my current one, which will probably be sometime tomorrow. I'll catch up soon!

Beth wrote: "Dominique wrote: "I only started the first chapter and it`s a mix of back and forth present and past"

I plan to download the audiobook as soon as I am done with my current one, which will probably..."

No rush!

Great! I will wait for both of you to dig in. Although I should say that this book has a lot of characters with Chinese names that at first I had a hard time memorizing (or at least remembering "who is who"), but then I found a character map on Wikipedia, which I am referring to as I go through the book.

That could be really helpful. I will have to find that. Especially with audio with a lot of background car noise, names can be tricky for me sometimes.

I got started on this yesterday on audio. I am liking it so far, although not enchanted. I'm about a fifth of the way through, so I have met the major characters and am really glad when the author uses the translated names, since in the car it can be hard to picture what Chinese names look like. I was enjoying a brief discussion early in the book about Chinese characters, since I lived in Japan for a while and was learning to write Kanji (it was in 1989, so I have forgotten a lot). I remembered trying to learn radicals and the related Kanji that way. I also am carried back to my one trip to China, which was 1986--so before Tiannemen Square. I think China was very different then than it is today. My recollection was that our travel was very controlled and supervised, that everyone rode bicycles, and that there was a tremendous amount of drab green architecture. There were also extended neighborhoods of very small connected one story houses with alleys in between in Beijing. (view spoiler)[I always find reading about the cultural revolution really painful, and I expect that it may continue to get harder in this book than it has been so far. (hide spoiler)]

Looking forward to hearing what you all are thinking as you read, and if you are listening to the Goldberg variations because of reading it! I am will probably listen to them soon, because if characters are listening to particular music, I tend to listen to it , too.

Beth, thanks for sharing your impressions of the book. I am on the road trip now and am listening while driving. It is a multi-plot story with a lot of musical references. While music is not my strongest suite, am planning to listen to a few pieces discussed in the book.

L'm at chapter 7. L'm liking it so far. L'm reading it and it doesn't have a lot of chapters, they vary between 50 and 115 pages each.
Music was very important and a big part of their and you can feel the closeness.
The story of Wen the Dreamer and Swirl is captivating.

Yes, I like the story of Wen the Dreamer and Swirl. I'm not sure exactly where I am chapterwise, but Swirl's daughter is now in Shanghai. You definitely get a feel for what the cultural revolution and movements like it can do to people, turning them against those around them. Also, well-meaning people can get drawn in to the point that they are doing things they might not have ever intended. Makes me think about the potential for that to happen to any of us if we aren't careful.

Jane, I haven't read this book, but your last sentence sounds like a spoiler. Can you please use spoiler tags?

And also, even when all 3 of you have finished reading, put anything that's about the content of the story in spoilers. Other people check this thread too.

I haven't had the time to read today. By Wednesday, I'll be done

Jane wrote: "I've finished the book today, and would like to ask you a question that does not seem to be addressed in any reviews I read so far. I will wait for everyone to finish the book, but would be interes..."

I've deleted this message due to possible spoilers.

Thanks, Janice! I am on the road, and don't see edit button on my phone.

Janice wrote: "Jane wrote: "I've finished the book today, and would like to ask you a question that does not seem to be addressed in any reviews I read so far. I will wait for everyone to finish the book, but wou..."

Wow. I am about 2/3 of the way through, and I am very moved by this book. I think it is one I will come back to because of the way it makes me think about who I want to be and how I want to live.

Indeed, it is a very deep book. Who is your favorite character, Beth?

Not sure I have a favorite character. At the moment I am very attached to Sparrow and his cousin.

Both Sparrow and Zhuli are very likable.

Beth wrote: "Wow. I am about 2/3 of the way through, and I am very moved by this book. I think it is one I will come back to because of the way it makes me think about who I want to be and how I want to live."

L`m halfway in, it`s not the kind of book that you can rush. The writting is good.

I will probably finish by tomorrow. I have 3 to 4 hours of commute in which to listen...

Beth wrote: "I will probably finish by tomorrow. I have 3 to 4 hours of commute in which to listen..."

Same

Finished it today. Here is my review.

I finished. What a book.

(view spoiler)[I cannot fathom all that happened during that time. Not able to actually live your life the way you want to. Denouncing your family. Sparrow's family denouncing Zhuli and to be in at this age and not being able to cope and the only way out is suicide. I think Kai's sucide in because not only about what he did when he was a rad Guard but his strong feelings he had for Sparrow, to him it was more than an friendship(view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)]

I don't have a favourite character, they each had a love and sadness
that was so beautiful and powerful at the same time. (hide spoiler)]

Dominique wrote: "I finished. What a book.

"

I am SO glad we picked it. My brother-in-law is of Chinese descent, and I am not sure when his parents came to the states. I kept thinking about what his family may have experienced before leaving (although they may have left before what is in the book). My sister's children are adopted from China, girls rejected by their parents because of the one child policy. It also makes me so much more aware of what the extended families they came from must have lived through.

Beth wrote: "Dominique wrote: "I finished. What a book.

"

I am SO glad we picked it. My brother-in-law is of Chinese descent, and I am not sure when his parents came to the states. I kept thinking about what ..."

I heard about the girls being rejected. I went to a french school and a lot of history in different countries were not mentionned in our classes. It makes you aware of what a human being can do and endure

I was shocked by the level of atrocities Chinese version of communism introduced to its people, although I am hailing from the communist country myself. I could not imagine the scale of "re-education" camps China had. Sounds like it was a wide-spread practice complimented by the forceful / mandatory practice of government selecting professions for its citizens... That is a bit more sever than what we saw in the Soviet Union when I was growing up there.

Jane, I was thinking a lot about the comparison when I was reading. My impression was that things were more severe there, but not knowing the USSR from inside, I didn't know if I was correct. Sounds like you are confirming it for me.

Beth wrote: "Jane, I was thinking a lot about the comparison when I was reading. My impression was that things were more severe there, but not knowing the USSR from inside, I didn't know if I was correct. Sound..."

... And may be the time frame had the impact as well. From what I understand the gulags were pretty common in the 30s in the USSR, but in the 70s, the situation got "lighter"...