Reviews

The Four Books by Yan Lianke

l_settembrini's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

blairmahoney's review against another edition

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3.0

I get the satire in this account of a re-education camp during the 'Great Leap Forward' in China, but the book is built around tedium and pedantic detail. It's interesting but boring.

ellielep's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I had to read this for uni but wow did it leave an impression! Yan’s writing is a fascinating critique of the Great Famine resulting from the Cultural Revolution. It’s definitely not for those who are easily disturbed, but should be essential reading for anyone interested in modern Chinese history. Just be warned it’s extremely graphic
especially in the second half of the book set during the famine.

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sidharthvardhan's review against another edition

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4.0

Not a review. This book could have been far more enjoyable, if I wasn't so ignorant about Chinese history. But that last chapter still made the book so worth it. If you too find yourself struggling with symbolism, the following link might be of help:

http://www.rochester.edu/College/translation/threepercent/index.php?id=17422

minguyen's review against another edition

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4.0

Đúng chuẩn kiểu sách viết ra không phải để xuất bản

n_o's review against another edition

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challenging dark slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

katykelly's review against another edition

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4.0

I've read Wild Swans. And loved it. But there isn't a lot of material out there that shows us what happened inside China's Cultural Revolution, about those sent for 're-education'. This book helps with that.

It felt insane enough to be compared to books such as Catch-22, the absurdity of it all. It felt brutal and demeaning and somehow hilarious at the same time.

Inside a huge labour camp set up to house and re-educate 'criminals' (i.e. intellectuals such as teachers and writers), one group becomes our focus, those of the 99th district. Forced away from jobs and families to slave away for the state, the Musician, Theologian, Scholar and Author are each part of the unnamed group watched by a faceless Child, their gaoler, who has the power to bestow red flowers and stars that can send them home. The Child sets them to work, growing (or declaring) increasingly ridiculous quotas of crops, or smelting steel. Informing on each other brings reward, spying on each other brings rewards. The criminals themselves write about each other (and their own true feelings) to make up the four books of this story. Eventually famine arrives and we see just how a state does or doesn't take care of its people.

So ridiculous you hardly believe it could ever have happened, and all the more shocking when you realise that it did. The ideology is terrifying, the 99th's experiences incredibly moving and appalling. It's an eye-opening read.

The Child is a sinister creation, who wouldn't be the same as a character if he was an adult - mature yet childlike in his delight at punishing and rewarding, his story did confuse me somewhat, the arc it took.

I wasn't always sure which of the four books I was reading, and who was narrating, but the story flowed seamlessly despite this, and I really wanted to see what would happen to the group. It's not a beach read.

If you are interested in (Chinese) social history, this may interest you. It's not comfortable reading but there is no extreme violence. It's horrific only because it is based on life.

Darkly funny but bleak, I'm glad I read this. A good choice for book groups with plenty to discuss.

Review of a NetGalley advance copy.

_blueberry_pie_'s review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

The book started off with a very interesting premise of a re-education camp for intellectuals. It started off feeling a lot like 1984 and Brave New World but in China. I also really liked the Biblical allegory throughout, and how it was written in a style that very much mimicked the Bible. I was hooked throughout, because there was no way to really predict what would happen next. It was all fine until the scene where the author grew ears of wheat and fed the plants his blood and whatnot. Things got a bit whack afterwards. As with any and all survival tale, this too featured cannibalism. It was a good book overall but had some weird moments. That probably had a lot to do with the Biblical allegories. I wasn't a huge fan of the last third of the book. It was okay overall. 

jennylomax's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Incredible but brutal. 

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sammymus's review

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5