disreputabledog's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
ahsansenan's review against another edition
5.0
Soul Mountain is rooted in a journey that Gao made through the wilderness of China. A mis-diagnosis of lung cancer, the ailment that killed his father, forced him to confront what he believed to be his imminent death. He spent 2 weeks hanging around graveyards, reading books and eating the best food he could afford. Shortly afterward, he came under attack in a Communist Party campaign against 'spiritual pollution'. Facing the threat of labor camp, he fled for the mountains and spent 5 months roaming around 1,500 kilometers of the countryside until it was safe to return to the capital.
Soul Mountain is a historically- and culturally-aware travel memoir interspersed with magical and fantastical flights of fancy, moralistic musings, reportage on rural folklore and fables, the I,the you, and the we.
There is no plot. No character development. Only loose threads connecting each of the 81 chapters. Much like Gao's travels, without any purpose or rush, the pages of this book meanders, not always linearly. This is rural China, bureaucratic, bucolic, barbaric, and benign, all superimposed on top of one another.
Soul Mountain is a historically- and culturally-aware travel memoir interspersed with magical and fantastical flights of fancy, moralistic musings, reportage on rural folklore and fables, the I,the you, and the we.
There is no plot. No character development. Only loose threads connecting each of the 81 chapters. Much like Gao's travels, without any purpose or rush, the pages of this book meanders, not always linearly. This is rural China, bureaucratic, bucolic, barbaric, and benign, all superimposed on top of one another.
superfamoustia's review against another edition
5.0
This is barely a book. It's the at once epic and intimate journey of one man, told in different persons and with feelings sometimes instead of words (somehow), almost miraculously bound together and made tangible.
I am prone to exaggeration. But I have such specific remembrances--memories of feelings and moments of hyper-awareness--tied to this book.... For all the incredible books I have come across so far, NONE of them gave me what this book did. None of them made me so viscerally part of their story.
I am prone to exaggeration. But I have such specific remembrances--memories of feelings and moments of hyper-awareness--tied to this book.... For all the incredible books I have come across so far, NONE of them gave me what this book did. None of them made me so viscerally part of their story.
velozebra's review against another edition
1.0
I'm going to admit I didn't finish this book. I can't finish this book. Some story lines are captivating and surreal, but when I read more and more chapters, every other one has another story of a horrible rape. Judging by most of the reviews here, most people never seemed to let that bother them, further cementing for me the conviction that rape is way too "normal." Well, I'm not buying it. It's disturbing and upsetting, so I can't finish the book. I don't have time in my life anymore for upsetting triggers.
books_nate_0760's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
robforteath's review against another edition
2.0
You know somebody with an interesting philosophy of life, and he says he'll tell it to you. For some reason, the way he goes about communicating it to you is by taking out a box of photographs from his life, extracting them one by one, and telling a rambling story about each, in excruciating detail. They don't seem to lead one into the other or follow any overall plan.
Eventually, about 90% of the way through, he tells you that he is aware of how absurd and pointless the whole thing has been.
I made the mistake of reading carefully for the first third of the book, until I realised I was avoiding reading, forcing myself to read a few chapters every couple of days. From then, I skimmed quickly through the rest, probably missing out on a bunch of liquor being drunk in every village, more and more tales of the countryside that all have women being raped basically to set the mood, and something about trees or a panda.
Eventually, about 90% of the way through, he tells you that he is aware of how absurd and pointless the whole thing has been.
I made the mistake of reading carefully for the first third of the book, until I realised I was avoiding reading, forcing myself to read a few chapters every couple of days. From then, I skimmed quickly through the rest, probably missing out on a bunch of liquor being drunk in every village, more and more tales of the countryside that all have women being raped basically to set the mood, and something about trees or a panda.
spencerguo's review against another edition
2.0
A lot of interesting insight into the effects of the Cultural Revolution and the spectre of history in China, but marred by an utter disregard for organization/plot and rather boring digressions on various obscure historical figures.
spiralnode's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
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
3.0
Mostly an autobiographical journey, 'Soul Mountain' is a meditative tale told through the steps within Chinese nature in Szechuan. The main protagonist has recently found out that he was misdiagnosed as having lung cancer, and would now like to explore his surroundings and document the folk songs, myths and legends from his region.
The writing was beautiful, especially at the beginning of the book I was really taken by the descriptions of forests, mountains and villages in the middle of nowhere. It is lyrical, but not to the point that you'd think it was over the top. An interesting choice was that the recurring characters don't have names, we have an 'I', a 'you' and a 'she', occasionally also a 'he'. The narrator explains the second person later on in the book, and it was as a I suspected, but still an original choice that got me thinking.
The reason why I wasn't entranced by 'Soul Mountain' until the very end was the disconnection of various fragments. Because we follow a trip and the narrator means many people along the way, each with their own stories, it ends up feeling more like a loosely blended collection of short stories. And naturally some are more compelling than others. Most of the stories are based on local myths and legends, yet there are also parts where the narrator considers the importance of family, love, coming back to one's hometown, being in nature versus an urban environment, to name a few.
But there was one thing that irked me. All the women that appeared are described in relation to a man. Whether it's a crush, a father, a husband or a brother, they are depicted as dependent and weak. There is even character where it's strongly hinted that she's lesbian, and she is also described in relation to various men in her life. I am aware this is something specific for the time of the story, but it didn't sit well with me how much focus this was given.
It was an interesting book, it gave me an escapism through being in the Szechuan mountains, but I just couldn't get into the flow of it.
The writing was beautiful, especially at the beginning of the book I was really taken by the descriptions of forests, mountains and villages in the middle of nowhere. It is lyrical, but not to the point that you'd think it was over the top. An interesting choice was that the recurring characters don't have names, we have an 'I', a 'you' and a 'she', occasionally also a 'he'. The narrator explains the second person later on in the book, and it was as a I suspected, but still an original choice that got me thinking.
The reason why I wasn't entranced by 'Soul Mountain' until the very end was the disconnection of various fragments. Because we follow a trip and the narrator means many people along the way, each with their own stories, it ends up feeling more like a loosely blended collection of short stories. And naturally some are more compelling than others. Most of the stories are based on local myths and legends, yet there are also parts where the narrator considers the importance of family, love, coming back to one's hometown, being in nature versus an urban environment, to name a few.
But there was one thing that irked me. All the women that appeared are described in relation to a man. Whether it's a crush, a father, a husband or a brother, they are depicted as dependent and weak. There is even character where it's strongly hinted that she's lesbian, and she is also described in relation to various men in her life. I am aware this is something specific for the time of the story, but it didn't sit well with me how much focus this was given.
It was an interesting book, it gave me an escapism through being in the Szechuan mountains, but I just couldn't get into the flow of it.
mjhorn's review against another edition
4.0
An unusual book, one I found quite difficult to read, largely because of its complete lack of forward momentum. There is no strong narrative running throughout, and the characters are similarly muddled. I felt like the book could be equally well enjoyed reading the chapters in random order.
But this muddling is clearly all deliberate, and in small doses it can be wonderfully enjoyable.
The writing is always very good and often really quite beautiful.
In the end, I was left mainly with the feeling that something had probably been lost in translation, and that the story in the original Chinese was likely much richer.
But this muddling is clearly all deliberate, and in small doses it can be wonderfully enjoyable.
The writing is always very good and often really quite beautiful.
In the end, I was left mainly with the feeling that something had probably been lost in translation, and that the story in the original Chinese was likely much richer.