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ice119's review against another edition
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
imrehg's review against another edition
5.0
Being in Asia (but not from Asia), a lot of this story resonates with me, I see the signs here and there in the everyday life, while (maybe fortunately) not as harshly as it is described. The struggle is real, the end is not in sight, and from to bottom all the way to the top the difference is the magnitude and nature of the problems you have to deal with, not whether you manage to get yourself free of problems.
The main mindsets painted universal, but somehow still feel very Asian in their disregard of consequences. The people at the bottom envy the ones on the top, those on top fear (both reasonably and unreasonably) the ones at the bottom, everyone exploits everyone else (whether family, friend or foe) and everything (natural resources), and corruption & deceit is as natural as clouds or sunshine. It is a picture of how a society looks built around opacity and struggle.
How fast time flies hits home very much too. Shouldn't be surprised that there are more chapters when one's old since the time when one's young passes very quickly.
It is a pretty depressive book, I guess mostly because I can connect it to the reality of the multitude of the people of this continent (and the others). If that is so, how can we change the game?
The main mindsets painted universal, but somehow still feel very Asian in their disregard of consequences. The people at the bottom envy the ones on the top, those on top fear (both reasonably and unreasonably) the ones at the bottom, everyone exploits everyone else (whether family, friend or foe) and everything (natural resources), and corruption & deceit is as natural as clouds or sunshine. It is a picture of how a society looks built around opacity and struggle.
How fast time flies hits home very much too. Shouldn't be surprised that there are more chapters when one's old since the time when one's young passes very quickly.
It is a pretty depressive book, I guess mostly because I can connect it to the reality of the multitude of the people of this continent (and the others). If that is so, how can we change the game?
flow_state's review against another edition
5.0
Short but powerful. It surprised me how engrossed I got with the story.
kassiani's review against another edition
4.0
“We are all refugees from our childhoods. And so we turn, among other things, to stories. To write a story, to read a story, is to be a refugee from the state of refugees. Writers and readers seek a solution to the problem that time passes, that those who have gone are gone and those who will go, which is to say every one of us, will go. For there was a moment when anything was possible. And there will be a moment when nothing is possible. But in between we can create.”
“But when you read a book, what you see are black squiggles on pulped wood or, increasingly, dark pixels on a pale screen. To transform these icons into characters and events, you must imagine. And when you imagine, you create.”
“It is the first visit in many years for your son, finally a citizen of his new country and free to travel, and you try to suppress your undercurrent of resentment at his decision to absent himself from your presence in so devastatingly severe a manner. You feel a love you know you will never be able to adequately explain or express to him, a love that flows one way down the generations, not in reverse, and is understood and reciprocated only when time has made of a younger generation an older one.”
“In the history of the evolution of the family, you and the millions of other migrants like you represent an ongoing proliferation of the nuclear. It is an explosive transformation, the supportive, stifling, stabilizing bonds of extended relationships weakening and giving way, leaving in their wake insecurity, anxiety, productivity, and potential.”
“Writers and readers seek a solution to the problem that time passes, that those who have gone are gone and those who will go, which is to say every one of us, will go. For there was a moment when anything was possible. And there will be a moment when nothing is possible. But in between we can create.”
“But when you read a book, what you see are black squiggles on pulped wood or, increasingly, dark pixels on a pale screen. To transform these icons into characters and events, you must imagine. And when you imagine, you create.”
“It is the first visit in many years for your son, finally a citizen of his new country and free to travel, and you try to suppress your undercurrent of resentment at his decision to absent himself from your presence in so devastatingly severe a manner. You feel a love you know you will never be able to adequately explain or express to him, a love that flows one way down the generations, not in reverse, and is understood and reciprocated only when time has made of a younger generation an older one.”
“In the history of the evolution of the family, you and the millions of other migrants like you represent an ongoing proliferation of the nuclear. It is an explosive transformation, the supportive, stifling, stabilizing bonds of extended relationships weakening and giving way, leaving in their wake insecurity, anxiety, productivity, and potential.”
“Writers and readers seek a solution to the problem that time passes, that those who have gone are gone and those who will go, which is to say every one of us, will go. For there was a moment when anything was possible. And there will be a moment when nothing is possible. But in between we can create.”
francescomartini's review against another edition
2.0
L'interessante esperimento di un romanzo scritto in seconda persona si rivela purtroppo l'unico punto di forza di questo libro. Scarna la trama, scarna la caratterizzazione dei personaggi. Un libro al quale non mi sono affezionato.
scotteabbott's review against another edition
4.0
Funny, interesting style with the self-help conceit “you will…”, and some touching nostalgia to close.
sop345's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
nooneyouknow's review against another edition
4.0
I didn't expect to like this one as much as I did. A love story, a life story, a human story. There were chapters that fell a little flat for me, but the last two chapters were beautiful and beautifully written. They were so worth it.
I do wish, though, that I had read some of the other reviews before I decided to read this on an airplane - public crying is embarrassing.
I do wish, though, that I had read some of the other reviews before I decided to read this on an airplane - public crying is embarrassing.
kathi_liest's review against another edition
dark
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75