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A review by rikuson1
A Madman's Diary, and Other Stories by Lu Xun
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.75
I Did Not Like It 😕
-★✭☆☆☆- (1.75/5.00)
My Grading Score = 35% (E+)
Now, there is a reason I read this book and a shallow one nonetheless.
I am a Dynasty Warriors fan (a video game franchise), and I have been since the early 2000s. My favorite character on there is Lu Xun. When I was young, I remember googling to look up details about Lu Xun, and usually, the first hit would be this author right here. At first, I was confused because I knew this wasn't the person I was trying to look up. Back then, I wasn't a reader of books, so I cared not for this person but knew of them because of the mistake of always running into his name because he shared names with the tactician of Wu. Now that I am a reader of books I thought it would be interesting to check out what he's wrote for the sake of him sharing the same name as Lu Xun who by the way I used Lu Xun's Japanese name as my overall online alias name Rikuson, so I felt a tad bit of obligation to at least see what he's written. I did find it interesting that Romance of the Three Kingdoms is mentioned twice or so within this book, so it comes full circle in that aspect in some way.
Getting to the actual book, though. Unfortunately, for the most part, every single story in the collection of short stories was either okay or I simply did not like it and/or just did not understand the philosophical meaning or themes that the specific story was trying to go for. I understand that there are heavy historical and political context that underline most of if not all of the short stories in this collection and I unfortunately do not, nor did I or do I care not to know about the context behind it.
Doing so did severely hinder my appreciation for whatever Lu Xun was trying to go for because without context, I do not think these short stories hold up on their own without it. So, fair warning going into them, if you want to enjoy it more, research beforehand definitely seems to be recommended.
With that being said, I did rate each of the stories out of five, round them up together, and gave an overall score based on all of their points.
1) Regrets for the Past = 3.75/5
2) The Flight to the Moon = 2.75/5
2) Diary of a Madman = 2.50/5
3) Kung I-Chung = 2.50/5
4) The True Story of Ah-Q = 2.50/5
6) Forging of Swords = 2.50/5
7) SOAP = 2.25/5
8) The Divorce = 2.25/5
9) My Old Home = 2.25/5
10) The Misanthrope = 2/5
11) The New Year's Sacrifice = 2/5
13) A Happy Family = 1.75/5
14) Storm in a Teacup = 1.50/5
15) Medicine = 1.25/5
16) Village Opera = 1.25/5
17) Tomorrow = 1/5
18) Incident = 1/5
Verdict
Like stated before, if you want to get the best experience out of these short stories, do your research on the political context and history behind it all because most of the stories just as they are in my opinion do not hold up without it, so overall, unfortunately,
I Did Not Like It
-★✭☆☆☆- (1.75/5.00)
My Grading Score = 35% (E+)
Now, there is a reason I read this book and a shallow one nonetheless.
I am a Dynasty Warriors fan (a video game franchise), and I have been since the early 2000s. My favorite character on there is Lu Xun. When I was young, I remember googling to look up details about Lu Xun, and usually, the first hit would be this author right here. At first, I was confused because I knew this wasn't the person I was trying to look up. Back then, I wasn't a reader of books, so I cared not for this person but knew of them because of the mistake of always running into his name because he shared names with the tactician of Wu. Now that I am a reader of books I thought it would be interesting to check out what he's wrote for the sake of him sharing the same name as Lu Xun who by the way I used Lu Xun's Japanese name as my overall online alias name Rikuson, so I felt a tad bit of obligation to at least see what he's written. I did find it interesting that Romance of the Three Kingdoms is mentioned twice or so within this book, so it comes full circle in that aspect in some way.
Getting to the actual book, though. Unfortunately, for the most part, every single story in the collection of short stories was either okay or I simply did not like it and/or just did not understand the philosophical meaning or themes that the specific story was trying to go for. I understand that there are heavy historical and political context that underline most of if not all of the short stories in this collection and I unfortunately do not, nor did I or do I care not to know about the context behind it.
Doing so did severely hinder my appreciation for whatever Lu Xun was trying to go for because without context, I do not think these short stories hold up on their own without it. So, fair warning going into them, if you want to enjoy it more, research beforehand definitely seems to be recommended.
With that being said, I did rate each of the stories out of five, round them up together, and gave an overall score based on all of their points.
1) Regrets for the Past = 3.75/5
2) The Flight to the Moon = 2.75/5
2) Diary of a Madman = 2.50/5
3) Kung I-Chung = 2.50/5
4) The True Story of Ah-Q = 2.50/5
6) Forging of Swords = 2.50/5
7) SOAP = 2.25/5
8) The Divorce = 2.25/5
9) My Old Home = 2.25/5
10) The Misanthrope = 2/5
11) The New Year's Sacrifice = 2/5
13) A Happy Family = 1.75/5
14) Storm in a Teacup = 1.50/5
15) Medicine = 1.25/5
16) Village Opera = 1.25/5
17) Tomorrow = 1/5
18) Incident = 1/5
Verdict
Like stated before, if you want to get the best experience out of these short stories, do your research on the political context and history behind it all because most of the stories just as they are in my opinion do not hold up without it, so overall, unfortunately,
I Did Not Like It
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism and Grief
Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Racial slurs, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Cannibalism, and Abandonment
Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Suicide, Violence, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Classism