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Liked It “The book revealed the very adverse society sceneries of China. From the conservative and uncivilised society to the modern, materialistic and money-minded society, it all happened in 40 years, as opposed to 4 decade in the western society.” see full review » see other reviews » |
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“The book revealed the very adverse society sceneries of China. From the conservative and uncivilised society to the modern, materialistic and money-minded society, it all happened in 40 years, as opposed to 4 decade in the western society. ”
Mei Ling N wrote this review Tuesday, September 15 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“An absolutely asoundiong series! I found myself truly connected to the characters, and it was as if I had known them all my life. I wept at Song Gang's -spoiler-, and was truly enraged at the actions of the citizens during the Communist Revolution. I would not recommend this for anyone under 14 due to some graphic scenes, but it is an essential read for literature lovers.”
Priscilla E wrote this review Wednesday, September 2 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“A long but enjoyably fun book to read. The brother's story reminds me of John Irving's improbable and humerous stories.”
Yvette D wrote this review Monday, July 20 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Funny, serious, great narrative, satiric. The novel deals with two stepbrothers, one serious and poor, the other impudent and successful in a small village in China during and after the Cultural Revolution. The characters are marvelous and the plot holds one. The last one hundred pages are less strong than the rest, perhaps because the narrative moves away from the village, perhaps because events happen that seem less probable...It's still a wonderful read.”
flashflood59 wrote this review Wednesday, July 15 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“A bestseller in China, recently short-listed for the Man Asian Literary Prize, and a winner of France’s Prix Courrier International, Brothers is an epic and wildly unhinged black comedy of modern Chinese society running amok.
Here is China as we’ve never seen it, in a sweeping, Rabelaisian panorama of forty years of rough-and-rumble Chinese history that has already scandalized millions of readers in the author’s homeland. Yu Hua, award-winning author of To Live, gives us a surreal tale of two brothers riding the dizzying roller coaster of life in a newly capitalist world. As comically mismatched teenagers, Baldy Li, a sex-obsessed ne’er-do-well, and Song Gang, his bookish, sensitive stepbrother, vow that they will always be brothers--a bond they will struggle to maintain over the years as they weather the ups and downs of rivalry in love and making and losing millions in the new China. Their tribulations play out across a richly populated backdrop that is every bit as vibrant: the rapidly-changing village of Liu Town, full of such lively characters as the self-important Poet Zhao, the craven dentist Yanker Yu, the virginal town beauty (turned madam) Lin Hong, and the simpering vendor Popsicle Wang.
With sly and biting humor, combined with an insightful and compassionate eye for the lives of ordinary people, Yu Hua shows how the madness of the Cultural Revolution has transformed into the equally rabid madness of extreme materialism. Both tragic and absurd by turns, Brothers is a monumental spectacle and a fascinating vision of an extraordinary place and time.F YU”
Independence Public Library New Fiction Books wrote this review Friday, June 5 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“I desperately wanted to get into this book. The view of the Cultural Revolution and subsequent times through the eyes of a small town was very intriguing. However, whether it was the author himself or the translators, the resulting stilted prose was difficult to read. Also, I kept waiting for the story to go somewhere. It finally did, but very slowly. Overall, I was disappointed. The author could have done so much more, and it felt like the story itself was squandered.”
Steve Yohn wrote this review Wednesday, April 22 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“This book is split into two volumes. The first focuses on a two families brought together through a marriage and it takes place during the Cultural Revolution. This volume is taut, gripping and very emotional. I will remember many scenes from this volume for a long time. But then the second volume jumps ahead a few years and follows the step brothers as China advances into capitalism. This volume was sorely in need of an editor. At times funny, it often went overboard into the indulgent and absurd. Whole subplots seemed unnecessary. Overall, I enjoyed the book but there were too many instances when it seemed like it was just dragging.”
JimYung wrote this review Friday, April 17 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
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