A review by cactusmotif
The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo
reflective
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
2.0
½ - awful, unserious, thoughtless
★- mediocre, crude, incoherent
★½ - unrealized potential, underdeveloped, disappointing
★★- fine, coherent, technically proficient
★★½ - good, enjoyable, well-crafted
★★★ - great, favorable, thoughtful
★★★½ - profound, inventive, original
★★★★ - exceptional, genius, thought-provoking
★★★★½ - masterpiece
★★★★★- unparalleled, revelatory, revolutionary
the prose is quite good, the structure fairly compelling and well-suited to the narrative, and it communicates much while remaining concise and clear. utilizing a frame narrative to discuss the relationship between oral history, culture, memory, nation and statecraft was a great choice, and i particularly enjoyed its emphasis on the material as sites of memory. with that said: I feel it wasn't everything it could've been. to clarify, i don't mean it should've been longer or more detailed: i think the text owes a lot of its impact to its short, sparse sentences. in fact, its because of the volume of information provided in each sentence that the lack of political and philosophical depth becomes all the more striking. as a result, i couldn't fully enjoy the work. it felt as though it just barely did enough to be coherent. i'll be reading the next one, and I'm curious to see how this series continues, but it's far from a new favorite.
the prose is quite good, the structure fairly compelling and well-suited to the narrative, and it communicates much while remaining concise and clear. utilizing a frame narrative to discuss the relationship between oral history, culture, memory, nation and statecraft was a great choice, and i particularly enjoyed its emphasis on the material as sites of memory. with that said: I feel it wasn't everything it could've been. to clarify, i don't mean it should've been longer or more detailed: i think the text owes a lot of its impact to its short, sparse sentences. in fact, its because of the volume of information provided in each sentence that the lack of political and philosophical depth becomes all the more striking. as a result, i couldn't fully enjoy the work. it felt as though it just barely did enough to be coherent. i'll be reading the next one, and I'm curious to see how this series continues, but it's far from a new favorite.