saraxuherondale's review against another edition
funny
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
It's almost 1AM (12:56 to be precise) July 12th, year 2023. On this very fine night, I have finally done something I should've done months before, finally finished this book. During the last 100 pages I was really thinking about giving it 4 stars for all these months I've been dragging this book but in the end I just couldn't do it. It's a phenomenal book, a fantastic Serbian translation (bravo Zoki), and I just couldn't bring myself to lower the rating.
This book is something I would have never picked up on my own, solely because the title has word "dictionary" in it and idk about you but that does not sound like a fun time to me. Turns out, after getting through the first few boring words (geography related) I started to get really invested. The writing of this book is actually insane, I can't believe someone is able not only to write a novel in which the language itself is a main character, but also freaking translate it into another language?? I'm very pleased I decided to start reading this book right before I've heard the author himself talk about it (back in October), but I'm also extremely happy that I was familiar enough with Chinese history to understand where these characters were coming from and what was happening around them at the time. That way you can fully get inside Han Shaogong's brain and understand his thoughts and feelings about the stories he's trying to tell to the readers. Also one of the things that I absolutely loved was the fact that a couple of the words Maqiao people used can also be found in my native language too! My mother read around 50 pages and we had a very nice talk about it, she was really surprised and pleased to see some language similarities.
Overall, I really really enjoyed this book, I wish I hadn't read it for almost a year but better late than never. I also think that it's a very important novel about language, generation gaps, culture, and just simply about life and how a certain time can shape people (and how quickly almost all of it could go away).
This book is something I would have never picked up on my own, solely because the title has word "dictionary" in it and idk about you but that does not sound like a fun time to me. Turns out, after getting through the first few boring words (geography related) I started to get really invested. The writing of this book is actually insane, I can't believe someone is able not only to write a novel in which the language itself is a main character, but also freaking translate it into another language?? I'm very pleased I decided to start reading this book right before I've heard the author himself talk about it (back in October), but I'm also extremely happy that I was familiar enough with Chinese history to understand where these characters were coming from and what was happening around them at the time. That way you can fully get inside Han Shaogong's brain and understand his thoughts and feelings about the stories he's trying to tell to the readers. Also one of the things that I absolutely loved was the fact that a couple of the words Maqiao people used can also be found in my native language too! My mother read around 50 pages and we had a very nice talk about it, she was really surprised and pleased to see some language similarities.
Overall, I really really enjoyed this book, I wish I hadn't read it for almost a year but better late than never. I also think that it's a very important novel about language, generation gaps, culture, and just simply about life and how a certain time can shape people (and how quickly almost all of it could go away).
bored_and_confused's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
lesliebeach's review against another edition
One of the best things I've read this year.
spacestationtrustfund's review
3.0
Han Shaogong's unusual book was published in 1996 and translated into English a decade later in 2006. The translator, Julia Lovell, relates in her introduction that she asked Han Shaogong for permission to translate the book, whereupon he responded, "I am very happy that you wish to translate the book, but I'm afraid it will be terribly difficult." She did it anyway. My kind of book exactly.
kellyelizabeth27's review against another edition
2.0
There were pages of this that I liked, pages that explored how language is rooted in place. There were small stories within the larger novel that were fascinating. But on the whole, it felt like work to finish it, like an unfinished promise.
mslaura's review against another edition
4.0
This was such a unique book; part novel, part short story collection, part memoir, part treatise on language and culture. The author was one of the "Educated Youth" relocated to the countryside, specifically the village of Maqiao, in the 1950's as part of Mao's Cultural Revolution. The author presents his somewhat fictionalized experiences in Maqiao as vignettes, each revolving around a particular word, name, or phrase from the Maqiao dialect. Through these we are introduced to a cast of eccentric and entertaining characters and grow to appreciate the unique culture of the village. There is a rough chronology to the entries, so that by the end we are able to feel some degree of resolution. This is just such a smart book; by turns humorous and heartbreaking and through it all informative and enlightening. My favorite entry was "This Him", which explains the two different words for "him" in the Maqiao dialect: "qu" or "this him" and "ta" or "that him". It is unexpectedly touching and poignant, as was this book as a whole.
aweekinthelife's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
valette's review against another edition
1.0
So slow and boring. The few bits of story that happened in some of the definitions were kind of interesting, but the history of the people and the lands an the words was uninteresting and just couldn't finish.
frankkasell's review against another edition
4.0
An interesting book, this. When I discovered it, the immediate comparison that came to mind was with the [b:Dictionary of the Khazars|321566|Dictionary of the Khazars (Male edition)|Milorad Pavić|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173743451s/321566.jpg|1025689] by Milorad Pavić. Ultimately, though, outside of the main structural conceit (eschewing a conventional linear plot in favor of short, interconnecting "dictionary" entries), the connections are limited. In Han's fictionalized dictionary (it's unclear to me where the line is between the fiction and the reality, to be honest...not that I think it's important to know) of the Maqiao dialect (one of hundreds of dialects in China, many of which are incomprensible to one another), he cheerfully employs vignettes, anecdotes, personal musings, and essays to describe both a particular moment in Chinese history (30 years is basically a moment in a culture with a 5000 year history) and the nature of language. Unlike Pavić's book, the dictionary structure is just a framework. It would behoove a reader to read this straight through as if it were a linear novel, as later entries rely on the reader having read the earlier ones (as opposed to the Pavić book, which actively encourages the reader to flip through and read at random).
As historical fiction, the book does a fine job of sweeping the reader headlong into a tiny farming village in China. The small details about the culture and the landscape, along with the political climate at the time, allow readers to peek through a porthole into what is likely an unfamiliar setting. The (mostly) well outlined (and deeply Chinese) characters add a lot of heart to the narrative.
Equally important, though, are Han's musings on the nature of language. He spends a lot of time reflecting on the way language is a tool for power (for example, certain villagers have "speech rights" that automatically grant their words more importance than others'), but that power is limited. Those in control can't really control language, particularly when you include time as a factor. The moment words become static in people's minds, the moment they try to pin them down in time, is the moment that they lose their power. In the end, they are just words--you can't assume that the signifier is the signified. You can't turn words into sacred, untouchable relics or they die.
Beyond these thoughts on language and power, Han takes some time to explore the close connections between apparent opposites. As he demonstrates, opposite ideas often share more connections that one suspects at first glance (see, for example, his entries on "awakened" and "dream woman").
Overall, an interesting book. I suspect it was even better in Chinese (and presumably in the cultural context of China), but Julia Lovell does a terrific job of translating what the author himself considered to be nearly untranslatable. I certainly recommend it for people interested in language or in China (or, as in my case, in both).
As historical fiction, the book does a fine job of sweeping the reader headlong into a tiny farming village in China. The small details about the culture and the landscape, along with the political climate at the time, allow readers to peek through a porthole into what is likely an unfamiliar setting. The (mostly) well outlined (and deeply Chinese) characters add a lot of heart to the narrative.
Equally important, though, are Han's musings on the nature of language. He spends a lot of time reflecting on the way language is a tool for power (for example, certain villagers have "speech rights" that automatically grant their words more importance than others'), but that power is limited. Those in control can't really control language, particularly when you include time as a factor. The moment words become static in people's minds, the moment they try to pin them down in time, is the moment that they lose their power. In the end, they are just words--you can't assume that the signifier is the signified. You can't turn words into sacred, untouchable relics or they die.
Beyond these thoughts on language and power, Han takes some time to explore the close connections between apparent opposites. As he demonstrates, opposite ideas often share more connections that one suspects at first glance (see, for example, his entries on "awakened" and "dream woman").
Overall, an interesting book. I suspect it was even better in Chinese (and presumably in the cultural context of China), but Julia Lovell does a terrific job of translating what the author himself considered to be nearly untranslatable. I certainly recommend it for people interested in language or in China (or, as in my case, in both).