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A review by imkate_sand
Bronze and Sunflower by Cao Wenxuan
emotional
hopeful
4.25
While I did enjoy this translated children's book, it did have some issues for me. One is that I didn't quite care for Sunflower always being the "chosen" or "special" person constantly in the whole novel. It got quite annoying that she was basically helpless every time something came up, and then when she did try to help, it always ended in disaster, and her family has to go behind her and fix what she messed up. That happened a lot in the book. Another being that this novel was basically almost a set of short stories with the same characters. I don't know if that was lost in translation or not.
What I did like were some of the things I learned throughout the book. The May Seventh Cadre School being one. Especially in Westernized history, I had never really learned about any of those things before, which is what is leading me towards translated literature and literature from people of color. Another thing I liked was the connections of fate that are intertwined throughout the story. Not a spoiler, but the fact that Sunflower's father was an artist that made Bronze Sunflowers, and then Bronze and Sunflower are brought together by fate as if with her late father's blessing was impressive. That does bring me to Bronze and Sunflower's relationship. It was so sweet the love they had for each other. It genuinely made me so happy the loyalty and unconditional love and caregiving that they gave to one another. It was very wholesome. One last thing that I loved in the story was the language. The translation was fantastically done. I have not read that much translation fiction, and I am by no means an expert, but the language and metaphors were beautiful, especially the ones that involved nature.
Overall, I would recommend it for a sweet and childlike read with some heartfelt topics.
What I did like were some of the things I learned throughout the book. The May Seventh Cadre School being one. Especially in Westernized history, I had never really learned about any of those things before, which is what is leading me towards translated literature and literature from people of color. Another thing I liked was the connections of fate that are intertwined throughout the story. Not a spoiler, but the fact that Sunflower's father was an artist that made Bronze Sunflowers, and then Bronze and Sunflower are brought together by fate as if with her late father's blessing was impressive. That does bring me to Bronze and Sunflower's relationship. It was so sweet the love they had for each other. It genuinely made me so happy the loyalty and unconditional love and caregiving that they gave to one another. It was very wholesome. One last thing that I loved in the story was the language. The translation was fantastically done. I have not read that much translation fiction, and I am by no means an expert, but the language and metaphors were beautiful, especially the ones that involved nature.
Overall, I would recommend it for a sweet and childlike read with some heartfelt topics.
Content Warnings
Minor: Grief and Death of parent