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53rd out of 53 books
—
64 voters
Village of Stone
by
Xiaolu Guo
A bewitching novel about memory, loss and the search for redemption, from one of China’s freshest voices.
Coral and her frisbee-obsessed boyfriend, Red, live in a cramped tower block in the megalopolis that is modern-day Beijing. The epitome of disaffected youth, their already fragile existence is shattered by the arrival of a mysterious fishy package. As the smells of the...more
Coral and her frisbee-obsessed boyfriend, Red, live in a cramped tower block in the megalopolis that is modern-day Beijing. The epitome of disaffected youth, their already fragile existence is shattered by the arrival of a mysterious fishy package. As the smells of the...more
Mass Market Paperback, 196 pages
Published
September 27th 2005
by Vintage Books
(first published January 1st 2003)
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Though the sea overlooked by the Village of Stone in Guo Xiaolu's novel is the colour of soil, little grows in the village but loneliness and desolation. From the perspective of Coral, the girl at the centre of the story who grows up there a virtual orphan, the villagers' hearts might as well have been made of the same material as their houses.
When the novel opens, Coral has escaped the stone prison of her home town. She is in her late 20s, living in Beijing in a comfortable, if emotionally aloo...more
When the novel opens, Coral has escaped the stone prison of her home town. She is in her late 20s, living in Beijing in a comfortable, if emotionally aloo...more
The arrival of a dried, salted eel from her home village triggers the reminiscence of a young Beijing woman’s childhood in a tiny fishing town on the central coast of China in the 1980s. Though the details are almost overwhelmingly tragic—abandonment by both parents in infancy, kidnapped and serially raped at age 7, raised by uncaring grandparents, loneliness and the harshness of daily life in a remote fishing community—the book is hopeful rather than depressing. The language is concise, poetic...more
A book about overcoming life and rising from it. Very nice, I will be reading Xiaolu again.
I like to read Asian and African authors when I can, because the methods of storytelling can be so different from culture to culture and continent to continent. I enjoyed this book, but it was hard for me to become completely engaged in it--it was so dreamlike and foggy that it's already hard for me to remember all the details.
As in the previous books I read, there is an appealing underlying subtlety to a naive (meant as a positive character property) narrative voice, and a story with unexpected turns evolves. An eel is eaten and a childhood is remembered, nothing more, but difficult enough.
Lovely prose - or a combination of lovely prose and an equally good translator. Despite the grimness of some parts of the story, the shifts between past and present helped to lighten it. The story is unpredictable and kept me turning the pages.
Moving evocation of a desolate childhood and also
a reflection on the transience of things. Harrowing
in places. Ultimately hopeful but not in an overly
sentimental way. Probably the best of her books
and close to five stars.
a reflection on the transience of things. Harrowing
in places. Ultimately hopeful but not in an overly
sentimental way. Probably the best of her books
and close to five stars.
And the last for my Asian trip, need a real-live one, and I'm on my way...
and...as with most Asian novels I have attempted in my life, this was another that simply did not come alive for me. I find Asian stories particularly, strangely void and emotionless in their centers. Some nice touches here, a little eccentric flavor there, but, in all, I have never and still do not "get" Asian fiction. All very foreign, and faint.
and...as with most Asian novels I have attempted in my life, this was another that simply did not come alive for me. I find Asian stories particularly, strangely void and emotionless in their centers. Some nice touches here, a little eccentric flavor there, but, in all, I have never and still do not "get" Asian fiction. All very foreign, and faint.
May 17, 2008
T.J.
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
dreamy romantic types, those interested in international voices
Shelves:
international-reading
Beautiful, tender, chaotic, confusing, heart-breaking, aloof, and ultimately satisfying all describe Village of Stone.
The protagonist is a distant, disconnect urban woman living with her boyfriend in a crowded Beijing flat. Yet that all comes apart when she mysteriously receives a package from her old home village. The secrets that lie within are intriguing, and are played out in a way that isn't stickily sentimental, but rather beautiful and complex.
I read this book while waiting for my laundry...more
The protagonist is a distant, disconnect urban woman living with her boyfriend in a crowded Beijing flat. Yet that all comes apart when she mysteriously receives a package from her old home village. The secrets that lie within are intriguing, and are played out in a way that isn't stickily sentimental, but rather beautiful and complex.
I read this book while waiting for my laundry...more
The beautiful bleakness of both style and content wonderfully contrasts with the vivid descriptions of both the city of Beijing and the village from the title. Although the ending offers thematic redemption, it also offers a thematic shift which I sadly cared less for, which makes this novel not "flawless", but "beautiful with a flaw".
This was a bewitching story. A new author for me and one I would wholeheartedly recommend. I will certainly read more by this author.
I loved this book. Then I read Akira Yoshimura's "Shipwrecks" and it's almost an identical story Hasn't anyone else discovered this?
kind of forced myself through this. it was sort of an inherently dullish story.
One of the best most heartwrenching books I have ever read.
good story, atmosphere and writing
I really enjoyed this book, especially as I had just seen a documentary on Beijing called 'Concrete Revolution' that the author had made. The present day narrative interspersed with the memories of childhood of the main character drew me in and got me involved in their well being and their lives very easily. Her style has evolved a little since then, but the theme of memory and relationships are still prevalent and the idea of the past intruding on the present.
A very moving story and a beautiful novel about a girl's struggle to build a life to herself against all odds. With a very inspiring ending as it is written: "Everyone has a past life, future life and a present life. If that is true, I feel as if my present life has only just begun."
A young Chinese woman is confronted with her past and the sexual abuse she suffered when growing up in a remote fishing village. This is a very moving story that gives hope despite its difficult content.
Highly Recommend!!!! The first book in a long time I can say I completely fell in love with.
Not as enjoyable as her other books, just because of the subject matter. But I still loved it.
It sounds quite maudlin on the inside cover but it is not - it's lovely.
surprisingly quite boring - but in general a well thought out story.
Probably 3.5 stars. If you are interested in a somewhat heartwarming tale of a young orphan who is sexual abuse in a coastal village set against her current life in Beijing it is certainly worth a read.
May 24, 2013
David
marked it as to-read
May 15, 2013
Maria
marked it as to-read
May 09, 2013
Alejandra Bize
is currently reading it
May 09, 2013
For~The~Floods
marked it as to-read
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Xiaolu Guo (Simplified Chinese: 郭小櫓 pinyin:guō xiǎo lǔ, born 1973) is a Chinese novelist and filmmaker. She utilizes various media, including film and writing, to tell stories of alienation, introspection and tragedy, and to explore China's past, present and future in an increasingly connected world.
Her novel A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary For Lovers was nominated for the 2007 Orange Prize f...more
More about Xiaolu Guo...
Her novel A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary For Lovers was nominated for the 2007 Orange Prize f...more
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“Red's world, you see, is a closed circle. Not that it matters. I know that I'm a closed circle, too, and it's all I can do to find some starting point from myself, while at the same time trying to find my own terminus. There's no way I'm ever going to find my beginning or end in somebody else's circle. Two people together never add up to anything more than one person added to another. That we continue to add ourselves up in this way is the reason human beings will always be lonely.”
—
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