Reviews tagging 'War'

A Single Swallow by Zhang Ling

3 reviews

applepie10's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

2.0

Ugh. This book is promising but I had a hard time slogging through it. Interesting concept but I got so tired of the three male protagonists. They were so selfish and I just didn't like this book.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

elenamarmiroli's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional reflective sad
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Premetto di essermi approcciata a questa lettura, senza averne mai sentito parlare, ma soprattutto senza neanche conoscerne minimamente la trama, e devo dire che questo libro è riuscito a sorprendermi positivamente.

Per quanto lo stile di scrittura tenda a essere un po' troppo lirico rispetto alle mie preferenze, leggere di come le vite dei protagonisti si sono intrecciati durante la guerra in Cina nella seconda mondiale e come le loro vite abbiano impattato quella Ah Yan, modificandone la storia.

Un libro altamente interessante in quanto raccontato attraverso i punti di vista dei tre protagonisti maschili a posteriori, dopo che tutti e tre si ritrovano nell'oltretomba.

Un libro che a causa delle tematiche trattate può sicuramente risultare pesante a livello emotivo, ma che a mio parere vale la pena di leggere.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

woolgatherer's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

2.75

I had mixed feelings about this one. Bryant did a fantastic job with translation because it read wonderfully, and I can only imagine how it must have read in the original language. However, this can only go so far and I felt as though there was a lot left to be desired.

I think my biggest gripe was how there was a fixation on one woman from three perspectives (all men) and the complex feelings—a lot manifesting into love—they have for her. For a story so focused on one woman, it’s kind of incredible that the reader would be so detached from her. Maybe it’s because they were all through the lens of men and pretty much gave her no voice since it was all about what they thought of her. It would have been so interesting to have gotten her perspective on all of this but, alas, that wasn’t the case. Also, why is that each man was calling her by a different name, two of them just giving her one that they felt “suited” her? Ugh.
Another thing that really bothered me was how slow it was. It took me much longer than I would have liked to get through this book because the pacing was too slow for my taste. There was a lot of meandering, especially since each chapter was made up of reflective ramblings on the past from one of the three men. I lost interest pretty quickly and found myself skimming towards the end.

I have to commend Zhang for creating such a strong setting. Everything was clearly well-researched and she laid everything out well. Everything was well-detailed, which included particularly dark scenes that might leave some squeamish; I definitely grimaced at a couple. I think the decision to write unflinchingly was a deliberate one, though, just to show how bad it was during the Second World War in China. It was by no means a pleasant time in East Asia due to the Japanese— I can understand why she would want to highlight this to remind her reader of this.

It’s possible I wasn’t the right audience, because I think it’s objectively not a bad book. It just didn’t work for me is all and I found it somewhat boring. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
More...