Scan barcode
A review by robforteath
Soul Mountain by Gao Xingjian
2.0
You know somebody with an interesting philosophy of life, and he says he'll tell it to you. For some reason, the way he goes about communicating it to you is by taking out a box of photographs from his life, extracting them one by one, and telling a rambling story about each, in excruciating detail. They don't seem to lead one into the other or follow any overall plan.
Eventually, about 90% of the way through, he tells you that he is aware of how absurd and pointless the whole thing has been.
I made the mistake of reading carefully for the first third of the book, until I realised I was avoiding reading, forcing myself to read a few chapters every couple of days. From then, I skimmed quickly through the rest, probably missing out on a bunch of liquor being drunk in every village, more and more tales of the countryside that all have women being raped basically to set the mood, and something about trees or a panda.
Eventually, about 90% of the way through, he tells you that he is aware of how absurd and pointless the whole thing has been.
I made the mistake of reading carefully for the first third of the book, until I realised I was avoiding reading, forcing myself to read a few chapters every couple of days. From then, I skimmed quickly through the rest, probably missing out on a bunch of liquor being drunk in every village, more and more tales of the countryside that all have women being raped basically to set the mood, and something about trees or a panda.