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I'm not sure how I feel about this one. I've just now finished it so maybe I'll know more with some time to reflect on it. This is set in China during the time of its "Cultural Revolution" when educated people were sent to live in remote mountain villages for "re-education." Luo and his friend have been sent to live in a tiny village on a mountain known as the Phoenix of the Sky. The only reminders of home and civilization they are allowed to keep is a violin and a clock - mostly because the vil
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I thoroughly enjoyed this small book.
It is the story of two young men whose parents have found themselves for one reason or another in trouble with the government during the Chinese Cultural Revoution. The young men are sent into the countryside to be "re-educated", a sentence which for many is never rescinded.
They end up going to a mining village on a mountain where the meager belongings they do have are amazing and suspicious to the local folk. They are made to do the menial degrading work th ...more
It is the story of two young men whose parents have found themselves for one reason or another in trouble with the government during the Chinese Cultural Revoution. The young men are sent into the countryside to be "re-educated", a sentence which for many is never rescinded.
They end up going to a mining village on a mountain where the meager belongings they do have are amazing and suspicious to the local folk. They are made to do the menial degrading work th ...more
Luo and the unnmaed narrator are sent to a remote mountain for re-education. While there Luo falls for the daughter of the only tailor on the mountain. The two also get there hands on a stash of frobidden western books which helps open their eyes to the world. I found this to be an enjoyable story with good humor in parts. I did think the ending was a bit abrupt.
This book suffers from a problem common to first-time novelists -- the author has no idea how to get off stage and ends what was a lovely book with a ridiculous ending. I quite enjoyed the first three quarters or so of the book, then the story ran off the rails and left me wanting either two hundred more pages or a totally different ending. That said, the tale of the two city boys sent to a rural mountain village for "re-education" by Mao's regime was compellingly drawn. The spare prose and conv
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As educated young city men, being re-educated on Mt Phoenix was not only hard physically but also mentally. One of the things they mist most is novels. And so, here's a story of 2 young men who is sharing an accomodation (house on stilts) who through some daring acts, obtaines a suitcase full of novels which includes a favorite of theirs by Balzac. Being young men, of course, they couldn't help but be attracted to the princess of the mountain (ie. the prettiest girl) with whom they shared their
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I thought this was a nice little story about friendship and love In China. This was the first book I have read that was set in China when they were reeducating some of their citizens. I thought the story felt fresh and the characters vivid. I especially liked the man who sang the folk songs. I could not help but smile when they got away with some of things they did.
It was one of those books that makes me appreciate what books give us. The way a book can transport and allow a little refuge from ...more
It was one of those books that makes me appreciate what books give us. The way a book can transport and allow a little refuge from ...more
Two teenaged boys are sent to a remote mountain village in the early 70's to be re-educated during Chinese Chairman Mao's Cultural Revolution. The main message is the power of books. It's a good book, but not a great one. There were too many episodes that served no purpose toward deepening our understanding or advancing its narrative. Those parts were boring for me.
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I don't know why I didn't like this book more. I feel like I should have... but it never truly drew me in. Maybe it was that the arc of a journey didn't feel too strong? I don't know. I'm pretty sure that I'm in the minority on this one, though.
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I read this last year and really enjoyed it. I don't know much about Chinese history and found it very interesting from a history point of view. I really liked the characters and still find myself thinking of the book from time to time.
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3 1/2 stars. Quick and interesting read. I found myself chuckling through a good bit of it. I almost wish it hadn't been so short, but it got the story told.
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Nov 17, 2009
Arlene
marked it as to-read
Dec 06, 2009
Stephen
marked it as to-read
Mar 16, 2012
Micha
added it
Jul 07, 2012
Carrie
marked it as wishlist
Jul 12, 2012
Sabrina
marked it as to-read
