lizard800's review
challenging
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abortion, Rape, Racism, and Sexual assault
dutchtineke's review against another edition
3.0
First I had some problems with the poor English, but I just had to get used to it. I found it to be an okay read. Sometimes I found it to whiny. That's probably because I have no clue or idea of how it is to experience and learn an entirely different culture and language.
foggy_rosamund's review
5.0
A thought-provoking, inventive novel about a young Chinese woman coming to London in order to learn English. The story is told through Zhuang, the main character's, notebooks, in which she writes vocabulary and notes in order to improve her English and to try to understand English culture, and Western culture more generally. Zhuang is very isolated, and goes to the cinema in order to feel less alone, and it's during one of her cinema trips that she meets her lover, a man only referred to as "you". Zhuang finds the closeness she is seeking through sex and physical affection with this man, but her lover is very different from her, and won't try to see things from her point of view. I was frustrated throughout reading this by how far Zhuang was prepared to go in order to please this man, and how little he would do to try to see things from her perspective. However, it's a very believable book, at times painfully so. The narrative voice really worked for me: I loved Guo's use of English, the playfulness with which she expresses herself, and the ways in which Zhuang's narrative develops as her ability to express herself in English improves. It's a great story about learning a language, and a commentary on English itself, and the ways in which English is a difficult or ridiculous language. It's also an insightful look at Western culture, and the vulnerability of young women. Guo is always funny rather than preachy, but she gets her points across. I enjoyed reading this a lot, and was impressed by its inventiveness.
brujaverde's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
mdxxviii's review
adventurous
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
krishna0507's review
2.0
Was very easy to read but I really disliked the characters and didn't get enough out of them
sseug's review
1.0
I don’t see how this could be acceptable. Reading this, I thought about Nabokov and others who really took it seriously, and found this a true blasphemy to those struggling but proceeding with writing in their second language.
lapeppina's review against another edition
3.0
sembra un libro complicato o estremamente semplice e in qualche modo è entrambi. la storia (autobiografica) è semplice: una ragazza cinese si trasferisce in un paese occidentale con la speranza di una vita migliore rispetto a quella che avrebbe nel suo paese di origine e qui ha una serie di esperienze che la allontanano dall'infanzia per avvicinarla alla vita adulta.
il vero centro del libro però rimane la riflessione sulla lingua come costrutto antropologico, che attraverso le varie culture si sviluppa in maniera diverse. diventa evidente sia per come sono strutturate le due lingue (cinese/inglese) già dal loro punto di partenza, l'alfabeto, fino alla forma che dà alla realtà - parole censurate e parole che si possono dire. per chi lo legge in italiano, ancora una volta dà la possibilità di riflettere su una lingua in più (anche se, come nel mio caso, non sono molto ferrata in cinese).
il vero centro del libro però rimane la riflessione sulla lingua come costrutto antropologico, che attraverso le varie culture si sviluppa in maniera diverse. diventa evidente sia per come sono strutturate le due lingue (cinese/inglese) già dal loro punto di partenza, l'alfabeto, fino alla forma che dà alla realtà - parole censurate e parole che si possono dire. per chi lo legge in italiano, ancora una volta dà la possibilità di riflettere su una lingua in più (anche se, come nel mio caso, non sono molto ferrata in cinese).
faorink's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75