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solvader's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
jvmpbvndles's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Last story is 5/5. Others are 3.5ish.
elizafiedler's review against another edition
Maybe there's a lot lost in translation, but the characters seem to be doing things at random, without clear reasons behind them. There are a lot of non-sequiturs. The characterization is also rather flat at times.
w8godot32's review against another edition
4.0
A Chinese American Wild West
Read about unfamiliar places and the assumptions you developed over time dissolve as reality comes into focus-- for better or for worse. Shuang Xuetao's "Rouge Street" sets three novellas in the area around Shenyang, referred to as China's Rust Belt. Of course they have had a rust belt, of course there are neighborhoods riddled with crime and financial hardship... this is a country transitioning through the same problems as everyone else: there is no escaping the iron swing of the economic pendulum. It is a given the poor never have a chance, but as ideologies change and revolutionary dogma is no longer in vogue, many formerly in respected positions tumble into disgrace. These falls through the cracks in the system are brutal, inevitable.
In Colin Barrett's recent short story collection, "Homesickness," we see the Irish people of County Mayo dealing with the repercussions of their Celtic Tiger crash, people swept off their feet in the social collapse. What both books share is the spirit, wit, and humor characters show in dealing with overwhelming adversity and bleak circumstances. Shuang's Shenyang and Yanfen Street settings are rougher and more cut-throat than Barrett's Mayo. While Barrett's people are small town country folk, the souls here are the victims of industrial abandonment, collateral damage.
The "Rouge Street'' stories are told from different characters' points of view. In "The Aeronaut" a young man invents a personal flying machine to escape this world. The second novella, 'Bright Hall', finds a young man tracking down the assassin of a preacher, only to be interrogated by a bizarre fish-man. In "Moses On the Plain" there is an investigation of the murder of taxi drivers... and it ties into a young girl's dream to set fire to a large field. The book's value goes far beyond these plotlines. This is a character driven journey with surprising humor and the occasional element of magic mixed in. In the Preface, the translator quotes Shuang, "For me, Yanfen Street was like the American Wild West, a place inhabited by the downtrodden, lawless and free, and therefore full of life.”
"Rouge Street" is a challenging read, with all its twists and turns, but a rewarding one.
Thank you to Henry Holt & Company, Metropolitan Books, and NetGalley for providing an Advance Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review.
#RougeStreet #NetGalley
Read about unfamiliar places and the assumptions you developed over time dissolve as reality comes into focus-- for better or for worse. Shuang Xuetao's "Rouge Street" sets three novellas in the area around Shenyang, referred to as China's Rust Belt. Of course they have had a rust belt, of course there are neighborhoods riddled with crime and financial hardship... this is a country transitioning through the same problems as everyone else: there is no escaping the iron swing of the economic pendulum. It is a given the poor never have a chance, but as ideologies change and revolutionary dogma is no longer in vogue, many formerly in respected positions tumble into disgrace. These falls through the cracks in the system are brutal, inevitable.
In Colin Barrett's recent short story collection, "Homesickness," we see the Irish people of County Mayo dealing with the repercussions of their Celtic Tiger crash, people swept off their feet in the social collapse. What both books share is the spirit, wit, and humor characters show in dealing with overwhelming adversity and bleak circumstances. Shuang's Shenyang and Yanfen Street settings are rougher and more cut-throat than Barrett's Mayo. While Barrett's people are small town country folk, the souls here are the victims of industrial abandonment, collateral damage.
The "Rouge Street'' stories are told from different characters' points of view. In "The Aeronaut" a young man invents a personal flying machine to escape this world. The second novella, 'Bright Hall', finds a young man tracking down the assassin of a preacher, only to be interrogated by a bizarre fish-man. In "Moses On the Plain" there is an investigation of the murder of taxi drivers... and it ties into a young girl's dream to set fire to a large field. The book's value goes far beyond these plotlines. This is a character driven journey with surprising humor and the occasional element of magic mixed in. In the Preface, the translator quotes Shuang, "For me, Yanfen Street was like the American Wild West, a place inhabited by the downtrodden, lawless and free, and therefore full of life.”
"Rouge Street" is a challenging read, with all its twists and turns, but a rewarding one.
Thank you to Henry Holt & Company, Metropolitan Books, and NetGalley for providing an Advance Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review.
#RougeStreet #NetGalley
diadorim's review against another edition
2.0
Throughout all three novellas it is really the urban decay of post-industrial northern China that feels like the main protagonist, a maize of streets, dilapidated houses and factories with its own unique reverberance. Beyond this unsettling background I personally struggled to connect with the novel: the many characters often felt anonymous, the narrative too fractured and disjointed, and the sparse use of surrealist elements never really landed and felt oddly out of place rather than complementary, and even the more traditional noir plot points were not enough to keep me engaged.
kate_cunningham's review against another edition
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
2.0
xtie's review against another edition
4.0
My kind of book thru and thru!! Some magical realism, darkness, sharp and cutting writing and also some tender and heart wrenching moments too
jackalop3's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-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? It's complicated
4.0