Welcome to Litsy!

Fast-paced, direct, breezy humor in Beijing. Dust storms, police crackdowns, pirated DVDs, migration, urban survival, economic inequality, desperation, entrepreneurialism, living by your wits. “Making it.” Wild final scene. Great trans. Eric Abrahamsen. 2014

43 “Ha, people were all too vain to withstand love.”

6 “ the sun was dropping steadily in the sandpaper sky […] looking more and more like a giant millstone weighing on Beijing‘s shoulders.”

I drank my first rice lager tonight, and it was delicious! The rice came through good and strong, with the same character it gives to sake, while the elderflower added a subtle citrus note.

I also read another little chunk of THE STORY OF THE STONE, which I‘ve gotta finish tomorrow morning before I make a library run. I wanted to go the day after tomorrow so I‘d have more time with my loans, but I totally forgot about Good Friday closures. Sigh.

A collection of essays on diffuse subjects - clothing trends, music, opera, vegetable markets, apartment life, naming conventions, riding the tram, etc. - that make up daily urban life, specifically in Shanghai. Ever-present in the background (and sometimes the foreground) is the war with Japan. Like any essay collection some parts were stronger than others, but overall it was enjoyable and full of insightful and quotable observations.

It used to be that when people celebrated Chinese New Year, they would paste red straps of paper on the wall with maxims like THINGS ARE LOOKING UP and FROM THE MOUTHS OF BABES written across them.

#DoubleSpin #BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

I'm very thankful that this book came with a character list otherwise I would have given up on it. There are a lot of characters and dynamic, complex relationship and family structures in this read.

It's a slow read, but you will definitely learn a lot about Chinese culture. Julie's character was well-developed, but I was just left feeling sad for her throughout most of this book.

It has taken me a while to get to (and through) Volume 2 of this family saga. I do enjoy the goings on of this privileged Chinese family when I do get stuck in but sometimes other more fast paced books do take precedence.
Finally finished this for #setinchina for #booked2022
In this volume the unraveling of the family's finances are hinted of.
@Cinfhen @BarbaraTheBibliophage @4thhouseontheleft

This took me a while to get into, due to the style of writing. It felt very distanced and remote, plus there are so many odd relationships that I kept having to refer to the character list at the back of the book. (And then I still didn‘t understand… how can your Mum also be your third Auntie?! 🤣)

I‘m giving it a soft pick as I did find it fascinating learning about a different culture. Thank you for sending it to me @BarbaraBB 😘

Yu Hua forces us to know his characters; we like them, we root for them, we understand them. They persevere and persevere again and again. All of them accept who they are and make lemonade. Hardships, death, and estrangements happen but they merely delay,he doesn't let them become showstoppers. Yu is exemplary in developing families, villages, and relationships - he uses this ability to explore, power privilege and the lack of both.

Bailed. After 17 days, I had read 22 pages. I know what the issue is. Not the writing-that was good. Similarly, the style was interesting. The issue - it‘s the 1990s, in China, where a mother waits outside a surgical unit for her adult daughter to come out of surgery from a lobotomy that her mother organized because she wants her daughter to be happy. Me: I just need more kindness in this world. Viciousness I can get anywhere.