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Liked It3 of 3 members found this review helpful “"A Concise Chinese English dictionary for lovers" is a story about love between two cultures. |
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“A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers has to be one of the quirkiest novels I have read this year. I have read other books Xiaolu Guo, namely Twenty Fragments of a Ravenous Youth, and the Village of Stone, and enjoyed both immensely. A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers (phew, could not the publishers come up with a shorter title, please?!) is Zhuang's coming-of-age tale in England.”
bunnychip9 wrote this review Monday, September 28 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“A typical chinese girl who does not know English, studying in UK ”
Reynolds T wrote this review Thursday, September 17 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Interesting, okay read. I've read enough bittersweet love stories lately, I'm ready for some happy ever afters.”
amnbdad wrote this review Saturday, July 4 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Rarely is the work of a young, international writer so vibrant and free of the pretentious weight of globe-trotting generational history. Guo's A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers chooses to focus on its protagonist Z alone. The novel (no pun intended) foil of compiling a dictionary of ambiguous terms successfully hides Z's increasing articulateness, a knowledge which closely parallels the many small cultural awakenings which devastate her initial optimism. A great work in its own right, Guo's every book from now on should be met with much anticipation from lovers of good fiction.”
Bhupash wrote this review Friday, June 12 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“i loved the juxtaposition of the two cultures.
rebecca alexis f wrote this review Wednesday, June 10 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
the love story itself was well told and touching.
i admired the way the author repaired the broken english gradually throughout the book and the way the main character used chinese sayings.”
“I am an ESL teacher and this book reads like my students' essays. That is how painful it is to read this book. I couldn't even focus on the plot because the poor English was simply too distracting. I read to enrich myself and suffice to say, after the first quarter of the book, I only felt that I had wasted my time. I know the poor grammar is deliberate and serves to punctuate the clash of culture and language, but it failed to enchant me or sustain my interest. It was a waste of one week of my life, one week's reading time that I will never be able to get back again.”
Peen wrote this review Saturday, May 30 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Only realised I loved it until we discussed it at book club. Her ability to write as an ESL student from the beginning stages until near fluency is a remarkable skill that left me in awe. ”
Bec T wrote this review Thursday, May 28 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“I loved it. Read it over and over again.
Shazemeen wrote this review Friday, April 17 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
And I eventually gave my copy to a dear friend of mine when she visited me in London.
I hope she enjoyed it as much as I did.
”
“Strong but also moving, features really intense characters. The cultural contrasts are very well represented and are interesting to read about. ”
Marta A wrote this review Thursday, March 26 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“This is the story of Chinese Zhuang, 23 years old, who has come to live in London for a year to study English. Written in broken English, her troubles are easy to relate to, and yet the differences between East and West are always present. At first she feels very alone, and then she meets an interesting Englishman...
mjacobs wrote this review Tuesday, November 18 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
I thought the broken English might become irritating after a while, but it did not, it really became the voice of Zhuang for me - and of course, as she becomes better at it, it gets easier to follow too.
The plot could easily be one for a chick-lit book, but the juxtaposition of the values and expectations of what life should/could be, of Chinese Zhuang and her English lover make it a lot more interesting than that.
I liked it.”
