purplemuskogee's review
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
I loved following Jiaqi, haunted by the death of her father, a poet, scholar and later businessman who left the family home for another woman and died a tragic and early death. She meets his former colleagues and friends, looking for answers. We also follow her childhood friend Cheng Gong as he uncovers the reasons behind his grandfather's injuries and disability. The two families are linked by their history and I liked seeing it intertwine.
I found the translation really well written and the tone dark but poetic and nostalgic. The book was slow at the beginning but gained pace later and became more interesting. A really enjoyable, poignant read.
Free ARC sent by Netgalley.
I found the translation really well written and the tone dark but poetic and nostalgic. The book was slow at the beginning but gained pace later and became more interesting. A really enjoyable, poignant read.
Free ARC sent by Netgalley.
frances_chan's review
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
tej_reads's review
4.0
I like this book, but I wouldn't really consider it a thriller. I think it rather fits in Historical Literary Fiction more and publicising this as a literary thriller could do it a disservice. Like I get there's a murder mystery part but this is more about childhood friends reconnecting as adults in my opinion.
I initially found it hard to get into but after the first few chapters things started to fall into place and I knew what to expect which is multiple POVs between Li Jiaqi and Chen Gong and a dialogue that spans generations which were welcome.
Obviously, with translated fiction, the core essence of any book is lost, I won't feel the same emotions reading this in English as I would if I knew Chinese and could read Cocoon how it was meant to be read, Jeremy Tiang does a wonderful job translating.
I also love that at the end you were told how the cover design related back to the title.
Thanks to Zhang Yueran, Net Galley, and World Editions for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Book #235 of 2022.
I initially found it hard to get into but after the first few chapters things started to fall into place and I knew what to expect which is multiple POVs between Li Jiaqi and Chen Gong and a dialogue that spans generations which were welcome.
Obviously, with translated fiction, the core essence of any book is lost, I won't feel the same emotions reading this in English as I would if I knew Chinese and could read Cocoon how it was meant to be read, Jeremy Tiang does a wonderful job translating.
I also love that at the end you were told how the cover design related back to the title.
Thanks to Zhang Yueran, Net Galley, and World Editions for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Book #235 of 2022.
eena's review
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Thanks to NetGalley and World Editions for the arc.
This is one of the books that I wish I listened the audiobook instead, anyway, let’s start with the pros:
- The writing was sooooo poetic and that’s the one that kept me going
- I loved how the “mystery” unfolded eventually
- I loved the arrangement of the conversations and their stories like I’m going through a family tree while listening to the stories of each member
Why I only gave it 2.75-3 stars/cons:
- It was too slow for me and I know that’s on me but yeah it’s a slow burner
- This is not a thriller book, which I was expecting and was so excited about
- I wanted to love this so much, but I guess it’s just not for me
nethmi's review against another edition
dark
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
aperl1's review
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
musubi_mumma's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Yueran’s prose in Cocoon is to die for. I cannot express how effortless it was to read this book; opening it and laying eyes on the page was all I had to do and Yueran did the rest. It was like being carried on a gentle wave down a winding river.
That said, it was a very long, slow-moving river at times and often I found it hard to track with the direction Cocoon was taking me. I grasped that there was a mystery, but the typical sense of urgency a thriller engenders was missing here, lost in the literary focus on the characters and their interior narratives. It was, for me, both a deeply satisfying for that reason and also frustrating in that it wove around the plot circuitously. I still cannot decide how much I enjoyed the novel or the degree to which I was disappointed by it.
The novel spans three generations of two families, their histories twisted together by the events of China’s Cultural Revolution and communist regime. The characters have fallen into the chasms created by the divisive policies of the Cultural Revolution and it is their reconciliation with that fact which the reader witnesses. There are mundane tragedies: a father and son estranged by the shifting values, a marriage begun out of spite, a wife abused, a child abandoned. Then there is the mutual tragedy — a crime — which threatens both families’ futures, an act that arose out of the political climate of the Cultural Revolution. This is the great mystery of the novel. What was that horrific crime? Why and how could it traverse down through generations?
The two narrators are the 3rd, latest generation of these two families, the grandchildren of the Chinese Old Guard and the children of the “sent down” youths of the revolution. They are childhood friends and enemies simultaneously, caught in the mess of their families’ tragedy. The fallout of China’s cultural and political upheaval is told through their eyes. Through their perspective we see the actions and feel the torments of their parents and grandparents and the effect of these massive cultural shifts on familial cohesion.
They are the generation that grew out of and yet distant to China’s traumatic history. Theirs is a moment of a different upheaval: China’s return to a capitalist society, the abandonment of the austerity of the 1960s and 1970s. The novel dwells on their generation’s angst as well: the shifting ideas of sex, love, and success.
This is an epic multigenerational tale, filled with characters that are so perfectly flawed as to be real. The meandering path through their traumas, their lives, and their losses is well worth the long walk.
That said, it was a very long, slow-moving river at times and often I found it hard to track with the direction Cocoon was taking me. I grasped that there was a mystery, but the typical sense of urgency a thriller engenders was missing here, lost in the literary focus on the characters and their interior narratives. It was, for me, both a deeply satisfying for that reason and also frustrating in that it wove around the plot circuitously. I still cannot decide how much I enjoyed the novel or the degree to which I was disappointed by it.
The novel spans three generations of two families, their histories twisted together by the events of China’s Cultural Revolution and communist regime. The characters have fallen into the chasms created by the divisive policies of the Cultural Revolution and it is their reconciliation with that fact which the reader witnesses. There are mundane tragedies: a father and son estranged by the shifting values, a marriage begun out of spite, a wife abused, a child abandoned. Then there is the mutual tragedy — a crime — which threatens both families’ futures, an act that arose out of the political climate of the Cultural Revolution. This is the great mystery of the novel. What was that horrific crime? Why and how could it traverse down through generations?
The two narrators are the 3rd, latest generation of these two families, the grandchildren of the Chinese Old Guard and the children of the “sent down” youths of the revolution. They are childhood friends and enemies simultaneously, caught in the mess of their families’ tragedy. The fallout of China’s cultural and political upheaval is told through their eyes. Through their perspective we see the actions and feel the torments of their parents and grandparents and the effect of these massive cultural shifts on familial cohesion.
They are the generation that grew out of and yet distant to China’s traumatic history. Theirs is a moment of a different upheaval: China’s return to a capitalist society, the abandonment of the austerity of the 1960s and 1970s. The novel dwells on their generation’s angst as well: the shifting ideas of sex, love, and success.
This is an epic multigenerational tale, filled with characters that are so perfectly flawed as to be real. The meandering path through their traumas, their lives, and their losses is well worth the long walk.
gretel7's review
2.0
This was a tough read and I'm sure I won't remember it. The chapters alternate between MC's and I had difficulty remembering which character was speaking because the voices were very similar. Sometimes books lose alot in translation.
joecam79's review
4.0
“Cocoon” by Zhang Yueran is a complex, lyrical and thoughtful novel – an exploration of the theme of memory and time, set against the backdrop of the recent history of China, particularly the Cultural Revolution.
The novel’s narrative is bookended by a frame story set in the present. Li Jiaqi returns to the town where she was brought up. Her ailing grandfather Li Jisheng is dying, and although he is uncommunicative, she spends his last days with him. Li Jisheng is a mysterious figure – a widely-respected doctor and part of the “establishment”, his past harbours unsavoury mysteries which led to a long-running rift between him and his son Li Muyuan, Li Jiaqi’s father. Jiaqi is obsessed with her family history, and particularly that of her professor father, who abandoned his wife and calling to reinvent himself as a businessman in Beijing. Jiaqi’s return to her roots is, in many respects, the final station on a long journey of (self) discovery. To conclude her investigation, she seeks out Cheng Gong, a childhood friend. These two characters – and their respective families – are connected by a dark thread involving a macabre crime which happened way back in 1967. The main part of the book is divided in segments alternating between the respective narratives of Li Jiaqi and Cheng Gong, both recounted in the first person.
This novel has a strange aura to it, a beguiling mixture of bleakness and nostalgia rendered in poetic prose. It presents an array of broken characters, a panorama of generations marked by cultural upheavals. Yet, it never feels cynical or nihilistic, and, against all odds, it conveys a sturdy belief in the redeeming aspects of friendship and love.
A word of warning though – “Cocoon” is touted as a “literary thriller”, but is more “literary” than “thriller”. This is one of those works which puts you immediately in the middle of things, and expects you to make the effort to piece together the clues and information provided. Indeed, it was only after the half-way mark that the parts of the puzzle started falling into place. Also, I felt that the storylines of the different families were (presumably purposely) so similar, that at times I had some difficulty distinguishing between the various strands of the plot. The final credits section says that Jeremy Tiang’s masterful translation has been “slightly abridged from the original, in agreement with the author”. I wonder whether the longer version would have made it any easier to follow. In any case, this was an intriguing and poignant novel.
https://endsoftheword.blogspot.com/2022/05/Cocoon-Zhang-Yueran-Jeremy-Tiang.html
The novel’s narrative is bookended by a frame story set in the present. Li Jiaqi returns to the town where she was brought up. Her ailing grandfather Li Jisheng is dying, and although he is uncommunicative, she spends his last days with him. Li Jisheng is a mysterious figure – a widely-respected doctor and part of the “establishment”, his past harbours unsavoury mysteries which led to a long-running rift between him and his son Li Muyuan, Li Jiaqi’s father. Jiaqi is obsessed with her family history, and particularly that of her professor father, who abandoned his wife and calling to reinvent himself as a businessman in Beijing. Jiaqi’s return to her roots is, in many respects, the final station on a long journey of (self) discovery. To conclude her investigation, she seeks out Cheng Gong, a childhood friend. These two characters – and their respective families – are connected by a dark thread involving a macabre crime which happened way back in 1967. The main part of the book is divided in segments alternating between the respective narratives of Li Jiaqi and Cheng Gong, both recounted in the first person.
This novel has a strange aura to it, a beguiling mixture of bleakness and nostalgia rendered in poetic prose. It presents an array of broken characters, a panorama of generations marked by cultural upheavals. Yet, it never feels cynical or nihilistic, and, against all odds, it conveys a sturdy belief in the redeeming aspects of friendship and love.
A word of warning though – “Cocoon” is touted as a “literary thriller”, but is more “literary” than “thriller”. This is one of those works which puts you immediately in the middle of things, and expects you to make the effort to piece together the clues and information provided. Indeed, it was only after the half-way mark that the parts of the puzzle started falling into place. Also, I felt that the storylines of the different families were (presumably purposely) so similar, that at times I had some difficulty distinguishing between the various strands of the plot. The final credits section says that Jeremy Tiang’s masterful translation has been “slightly abridged from the original, in agreement with the author”. I wonder whether the longer version would have made it any easier to follow. In any case, this was an intriguing and poignant novel.
https://endsoftheword.blogspot.com/2022/05/Cocoon-Zhang-Yueran-Jeremy-Tiang.html