rincey's review against another edition
emotional
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
4.0
brianreadsbooks's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
mbincolor's review against another edition
4.0
The ending totally threw me and I haven’t made peace with it. Otherwise, a beautifully written book about connection, loss and trying to find yourself in all of it-big or small. Thanks to Goodreads for this title.
magsisreadingagain's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
hannahk78's review against another edition
emotional
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? It's complicated
3.5
becsmars's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
yagirlvic's review against another edition
3.0
Honestly I didn’t really understand what was going on. Some nice moments but I was mostly just confused. A nice book, just hard to follow for me personally
brianaisgoingplaces's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This was a book that I had to take slow. Over the course of the novel, so much emotion bubbled through the characters and in turn to me. The novel takes place during China’s Cultural Revolution and beyond. While reading, I started to learn more about the time period and many of the things that came with it. It’s hard to imagine a total upheaval of life as you know it, and it was for many. Swimming Back to Trout River does a good job communicating the feelings of worry, fear, unrest, and pain that came along with it.
Throughout the book, we follow a cast of characters, each trying to make sense of their roles in the world and muddling through life in the ways they feel best. They make frustrating decisions and hurt other people, and those qualities are the ones that make them feel especially human. I couldn’t really say that I liked many of the characters in this book (maybe our main residents of Trout River, Junie, Grandma, and Grandpa), but for the most part, I grew to understand them.
I especially loved how this book was written. There were so many lines that actually made me stop and have to reflect, even going as far as having to turn the ideas over with others. The writing was really beautiful throughout, and I think that helped make the book all the more heartwrenching.
While I read the book, I had a sense of foreboding, and the book did not (but really did) disappoint. I get why the ending wrapped up the way it did, but I didn’t want to be sad, and I definitely cried oops.
I think I enjoyed this book infinitely because I read it as a buddy read, and because I read it after living in China for a year. It illuminated so many things for me, and I’m excited to take that knowledge and curiosity into my next year there.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Abandonment, Violence, and Death
kaloughl's review against another edition
5.0
This was a gorgeously written book. I feel like the blurb doesn't do it justice but then again, this book tackles things on so many different levels it's hard to quantify. Basically, we have a interconnected cast of characters that are imperfect and suffering: a young girl born without the bottom half of her legs grow ups with her grandparents because her parents went to America to find a better life, a man who discovered a love of music thanks to a chance encounter at university, a woman who has deep regrets and grievances from her past follows her husband to America but decides to forge her own way, and another woman who's intense love and talent for music is crushed by her home country and finds a new life somewhere else. It's set against China's Cultural Revolution, when all foreign cultural influences were banned and destroyed and people previously associated with those influences alienated, chastised, or killed.
Feng is a beautiful writer. I especially loved her language about music and what the different rhythms and notes mean to different people. Also, having learned about the Cultural Revolution but having never read fiction set during it, it was terrifying to witness the destruction through eyes of artists and citizens. Especially post-Trump, I was aghast by the similarities of these young brutes being told something by their government and then enacting it through violence and meanness. And the hive mindset of believing and acting in stead of the government was disturbing and dystopian (congratulating the artists and intellectuals that died by suicide in the wake of the Cultural Revolution, gah terrifying). I was a little disappointed the wrapping up of the plot though that could have been because I just wanted more of Feng's writing. I felt I wanted more emotional conclusion from Junie though loved that things came full circle between her and other character in the end.
I was super enthralled by the whole book from beginning to end. I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes literary fiction with strong historical context, it would be great for those that enjoyed Pachinko, Girl, Woman, Other, and Homegoing.
Feng is a beautiful writer. I especially loved her language about music and what the different rhythms and notes mean to different people. Also, having learned about the Cultural Revolution but having never read fiction set during it, it was terrifying to witness the destruction through eyes of artists and citizens. Especially post-Trump, I was aghast by the similarities of these young brutes being told something by their government and then enacting it through violence and meanness. And the hive mindset of believing and acting in stead of the government was disturbing and dystopian (congratulating the artists and intellectuals that died by suicide in the wake of the Cultural Revolution, gah terrifying). I was a little disappointed the wrapping up of the plot though that could have been because I just wanted more of Feng's writing. I felt I wanted more emotional conclusion from Junie though loved that things came full circle between her and other character in the end.
I was super enthralled by the whole book from beginning to end. I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes literary fiction with strong historical context, it would be great for those that enjoyed Pachinko, Girl, Woman, Other, and Homegoing.