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cordiallychloe's review
4.0
- i liked the dual timeline between violet’s young adult years and then juxtaposing with violet as a great-aunt to ophelia telling the story
- the book talks about hong kong pre and during the japanese invasion and how violet’s sister emily’s marriage to tak-wing causes problems between their families
- i liked the way the book was written. it was a bit dense at times and sometimes i forgot who was who but there’s a formal and almost regal way that the book was written?
- emily and tak-wing were married 3 times: first eloping at the courthouse, then a party held by the british at the cricket club, then a proper chinese wedding. ting-yan curses their first child because she was in love with tak-wing but honestly ting-yan gets the better end of the deal by marrying tak-tam because tak-wing eventually becomes abusive.
- emily and tak-wing’s families hate each other because emily’s dad had a heroin company and tak-wing’s grandfather died due to one of the heroin products and there was a lawsuit and everything
- the thing that absolutely boggles my mind is that like?? tak-wing was out of his mind in love with emily? and once she is raped by the japanese general (forgot his name) he becomes vengeful and abusive?? like he’s mad emily was raped (also that the japanese general raped her) but like sir seriously she didn’t ask to be raped. he’s just pissed constantly and he basically blames her for getting pregnant by the general and she’s traumatized both by being raped and also by her husband being physically abusive to her. when her water breaks she shows up to the hospital violet works at with a bloody nose and bruised eyes. as if she is not in enough pain. like lowkey absolutely downright hated tak-wing what the fuck is it with men blaming women for things they didn’t ask for. also near the end tak-wing is pissed and drunk and literally just like?? locks emily and raymond in a closet?? like i don’t even want to know what goes through your mind.
- the plot twist that raymond (emily and tak-wing’s child) was actually tak-wing’s child because tak-tam found out that the japanese general doesn’t finish when he rapes?? like tak-wing and his dad were throwing a fit for absofuckinglutely nothing.
- tak-tam was one of my favourite characters. he loves ting-yan and he treats her well and he’s smart and obedient (but not in a bad way) and caring and he didn’t deserve to be thrown in jail and rot there for years
- i also really liked violet. i like that she kept struggling between old traditions and new values, between what her family has been raised on and what it is to be a “modern Chinese woman”. she becomes a doctor instead of getting married and she does good work and she tries her best to take care of emily. she’s sweet and caring but also stands her ground.
- i like that we got to see into the lives of almost every character.
- coucherne was an indigenous soldier and he came to hong kong and he and emily fall in love. i liked coucherne he was helpful and nice. but after the war he goes back to canada and he had been in love with a girl in canada but that girl liked another guy but that other guy died so coucherne married her and emily’s devastated and raymond doesn’t recognize tak-wing as his actual father so he leaves to canada to find coucherne. like ting-yan’s curse clearly worked.
- tak-wing and his dad hatch a plan to poison emily and raymond because emily had sex with the enemy and raymond is the product of that?? like emily has some of the old heroin product that killed tak-wing’s grandfather and tak-wing and his dad plan on using that like are you fucking insane. what kind of fucking plan is that. can you open your goddamn eyes and realize that you are all victims and in fact emily is probably the biggest victim of all.
- emily and tak-wing never really divorce but when she and violet move back home with their dad’s second wife’s family it becomes messy so emily moves back in with tak-wing. i’m glad she stood her ground and reminded him that he was abusive to her and there’s no excuse but they do get back together which is a bit disheartening. they try to have more kids to fill in the loss of raymond but they have i think 5 girls? luck really was not on their side.
- in the end emily and violet and raymond and coucherne and ting-yan and ting-yan’s dad and some other people try to escape in the boat. they are successful but ting-yan’s dad dies. which is sad because i did like ting-yan’s dad.
- i’ve never really read about this part of history and obviously it’s fictional but it did feel real and i’m glad i got to get a “first-hand” account of what it was like living during this time.
goolaina's review
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
nini23's review
emotional
informative
tense
5.0
Feckless girl marries son of her father's nemesis is the start of two intertwined families' fates against sprawling background of Hong Kong history in all its vibrancy. 'Doubly colonized' by the British and Japanese, now on the year of Hong Kong handover to China (1997), great-aunt Violet recounts to her grandniece Ophelia what happened in those upheaval years.
Familiarity with Hong Kong coupled with conscientious research makes the little intricate details such as the Tanka people's way of life on boats, Wong Nai Chung Village and the iconic Hong Kong Cricket Club come alive. The effects of colonialism, imperialism and war on the Hong Kong people is heartbreaking. Larissa Lai describes so well the ambiguous feeling they felt during that time, having been abandoned by the cowardly British and ravished cruelly by the Japanese; the KMT and communists working in hiding to repel the occupying Japanese. Some supported the East River Communists while others' sympathies lay with the nationalist Kuomintang. The civilians just tried to survive. That cricket match was riveting, not because of the sport itself, but the stakes at hand and what those on the 'British' team were trying to achieve with delaying tactics in the middle of war. The alluring idea of a 'Pan-Asia' free of white European colonialism was met with the reality of a brutal Japanese occupation.
The cast of characters is quite large but each of their unique personalities and backgrounds are distinctive. Some are based off actual historical figures. Captain Lee, Old Cheung, Tak Tam, Tak Wing, Ting Yan, Violet, Emily, Horace, Noma, Courchene and so many others, their stories lodge into the heart and imagination. The two intertwined families are the Mah and Cheung families, the feud due to deadly 'anti-opium' pills. William Courchen is an intriguing Black Métis Canadian character with the Winnipeg Grenadiers, who having imbibed Du Bois's ideas, travels to HK to get ideas on throwing off the shackles of imperialism for his people. The setting and description of the early Hakka, Tanka and Punti people are really evocative.
All the ghosts of the Qing Dynasty clearances,...,were layered beneath the traces of the thousands murdered during the Hakka-Punti wars and the Red Turban and Taiping Rebellions.
Highly recommend this historical fiction novel. The title, I reckon, harkens back to the time of the end of the Qing Dynasty, aftermath of the Opium wars, the triads, colonization by the British and then the Japanese, later the Chinese civil war. Wonder what is in store for Hong Kong this century?
Familiarity with Hong Kong coupled with conscientious research makes the little intricate details such as the Tanka people's way of life on boats, Wong Nai Chung Village and the iconic Hong Kong Cricket Club come alive. The effects of colonialism, imperialism and war on the Hong Kong people is heartbreaking. Larissa Lai describes so well the ambiguous feeling they felt during that time, having been abandoned by the cowardly British and ravished cruelly by the Japanese; the KMT and communists working in hiding to repel the occupying Japanese. Some supported the East River Communists while others' sympathies lay with the nationalist Kuomintang. The civilians just tried to survive. That cricket match was riveting, not because of the sport itself, but the stakes at hand and what those on the 'British' team were trying to achieve with delaying tactics in the middle of war. The alluring idea of a 'Pan-Asia' free of white European colonialism was met with the reality of a brutal Japanese occupation.
The cast of characters is quite large but each of their unique personalities and backgrounds are distinctive. Some are based off actual historical figures. Captain Lee, Old Cheung, Tak Tam, Tak Wing, Ting Yan, Violet, Emily, Horace, Noma, Courchene and so many others, their stories lodge into the heart and imagination. The two intertwined families are the Mah and Cheung families, the feud due to deadly 'anti-opium' pills. William Courchen is an intriguing Black Métis Canadian character with the Winnipeg Grenadiers, who having imbibed Du Bois's ideas, travels to HK to get ideas on throwing off the shackles of imperialism for his people. The setting and description of the early Hakka, Tanka and Punti people are really evocative.
All the ghosts of the Qing Dynasty clearances,...,were layered beneath the traces of the thousands murdered during the Hakka-Punti wars and the Red Turban and Taiping Rebellions.
Highly recommend this historical fiction novel. The title, I reckon, harkens back to the time of the end of the Qing Dynasty, aftermath of the Opium wars, the triads, colonization by the British and then the Japanese, later the Chinese civil war. Wonder what is in store for Hong Kong this century?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation and War
Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Rape, Torture, Murder, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Racial slurs and Medical content
madalinagram's review
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
jess_gb's review
challenging
dark
informative
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? Yes
4.0
greyreads's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
guitarpotato's review
4.0
I received this book as a gift from my girlfriend so that makes it even more special to me. Kudos to her for finding me a book that pretty much includes everything I like.
An aspect I really enjoyed about this novel are the various perspectives it offered regarding colonialism and pan-asianism. Lai effectively criticizes Japan’s colonization of East Asian territories in what is described as an effort to drive out Western powers – only to result in further suffering and oppression by the hands of the Japanese.
The cast is diverse and the majority of the narration is told by a character who is hinted at being queer.
The cricket match was a bit long though and I still have no clue how it is played.
I really enjoyed this read!
mgmotley's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail
kimuchi's review
4.0
I looove Larissa Lai, and I liked this book. It was different from her others, more a historical novel and less cool legendary and mythical like When Fox is a Thousand or Salt Fish Girl. I’m sick to death of war stories. No, specifically sick of WWII stories. So I appreciated learning a bit more about the China-Japan conflict. I liked it but I didn’t love it. A solid 4.5 stars but I’m stingy and so must round down.
kimmag92'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? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
I usually don't read big sweeping family epics as I find we never spend enough time on any one character for me to become invested in them and how the story impacts them and their family. How Lai structured The Lost Century really resolved a lot of the issues I have with family epics by having Violet tell the story to Ophelia. The only issue I had with this book was how quickly everything wrapped up. The last 25-30 pages felt really rushed and I think an extra 100 pages would have fixed that.