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The Middle Kingdom
The Middle Kingdom Barrett, Andrea
288 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1991
About the author
Andrea Barrett
43 books334 followersAndrea Barrett is the author of The Air We Breathe, Servants of the Map (finalist for the Pulitzer Prize), The Voyage of the Narwhal, Ship Fever (winner of the National Book Award), and other books. She teaches at Williams College and lives in northwestern Massachusetts.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
April 15, 2018
This is a fine novel about an American woman's experience of China in the 1980s and how that helped her change her life.
I am drawn to books about China and read most that I learn about. But I haven't before seen a novel by an American about China in the post-Mao, pre-Tienanmen Square period (the Tienanmen Square suppression is the beginning and end of the story). In addition to being a sensitive, well-drawn novel about China, this book is also the story of a middle-class, white American woman trying to understand her own life.
Grace, the protagonist, has suppressed her own interests for two husbands. Her current husband, Walter, is an expert on acid rain. Though she has always longed to go to China, Grace doesn't go until her husband is invited to preside at an international conference on acid rain in Beijing.
Grace loves China without idealizing it. She meets Dr. Yu, a kind-hearted environmental specialist who is often ignored because she is a woman. Dr. Yu and her family have barely recovered from having their lives destroyed in the Cultural Revolution because they were "stinking intellectuals." She helps Grace realize that she needs to change her life.
The author is equally good at describing nature, academia, and a stultifying marriage. The American and Chinese characters are well developed. I strongly recommend this book.
I am drawn to books about China and read most that I learn about. But I haven't before seen a novel by an American about China in the post-Mao, pre-Tienanmen Square period (the Tienanmen Square suppression is the beginning and end of the story). In addition to being a sensitive, well-drawn novel about China, this book is also the story of a middle-class, white American woman trying to understand her own life.
Grace, the protagonist, has suppressed her own interests for two husbands. Her current husband, Walter, is an expert on acid rain. Though she has always longed to go to China, Grace doesn't go until her husband is invited to preside at an international conference on acid rain in Beijing.
Grace loves China without idealizing it. She meets Dr. Yu, a kind-hearted environmental specialist who is often ignored because she is a woman. Dr. Yu and her family have barely recovered from having their lives destroyed in the Cultural Revolution because they were "stinking intellectuals." She helps Grace realize that she needs to change her life.
The author is equally good at describing nature, academia, and a stultifying marriage. The American and Chinese characters are well developed. I strongly recommend this book.
July 14, 2008
First person narrative (with flashbacks) of drifting, unfulfilled academic, overweight wife, inappropriately named Grace.
Things are brought to a crux at a conference in China, echoing her bond with her dead Uncle Owen who had strong ties to the place. Not as much about China as I'd hoped (though a fair bit of recent history is thrown in), but the psychological self-analytical slant makes it interesting. However, I didn't really like any of the characters. Even though Grace blames herself for all sorts of things (especially emotionally-related weight problems), it also feels as if she blames all the problems in her life on everyone but herself.
Things are brought to a crux at a conference in China, echoing her bond with her dead Uncle Owen who had strong ties to the place. Not as much about China as I'd hoped (though a fair bit of recent history is thrown in), but the psychological self-analytical slant makes it interesting. However, I didn't really like any of the characters. Even though Grace blames herself for all sorts of things (especially emotionally-related weight problems), it also feels as if she blames all the problems in her life on everyone but herself.
December 27, 2016
I liked this novel better than her previous novels, but not as well as her short stories. This book did a good job of integrating some science and scientists into the main story line, which is what I enjoyed about her short fiction. The evocation of China during Tiananmen Square, the interplay of the Chinese and American characters, the difficulties of intellectuals in China during the Cultural Revolution were all quite good. The love story, or rather lack of love, hearkened back to her early novels and were what I was not crazy about. While it definitly rose above the usual chick lit, it was still pretty ho hum. If I want to read that kind of thing, there are plenty of authors who specialize in it. Be that as it may, I didn't dislike this book, and actually liked parts of it, so overall I would probably give it a B-.
March 23, 2008
This tale -- of a woman who finds solace from her unhappy relationships in China -- is not one of Barrett's best. In fact, her depiction of Chinese nationals as enjoying a self-knowledge that escapes the protagonist evokes the specter of the "mysterious Oriental." But her rendering of American unhappiness, especially the desire of a woman for purposeful work of her own, makes the book worth reading.
April 20, 2015
I loved the tragedy of this book and the road to self discovery. Loved it!!
August 23, 2024
This is a beautifully written book about a woman in a terrible marriage who goes to China with her husband and decides to stay there and strike out on her own. Truth be told, I didn’t enjoy it very much, but that’s only because I expected it to be something different than what it was. I gave it three stars because I don’t want to discourage people from reading it.
May 9, 2017
The main character was an interesting woman. I was not always comfortable with her life choices.
December 19, 2017
Fat academic who goes to China and finds a new life.
February 18, 2022
Will recommend
January 1, 2023
Middle of the road more like.
March 4, 2023
Started promisingly, but got worse. I read on for plot, but it was a bit unpersuasive with a whiny protagonist. NOTHING like her fantastic, crystal gem-like short stories and novellas.
April 19, 2023
Barrett writes entirely too much about science & scientists! I do admire her writing however. Perhaps someday she can write a novel without all the scientific claptrap?
July 10, 2023
Enjoyable read. I would have liked a bit more on China and less in America but interesting story.
April 23, 2014
After a prologue taking place in Beijing, China during events connected to the Tiananmen Square protests, the narrative starts about 10 years back with Grace, an American, telling her story from a viewpoint that matures gradually over the years as she matures, including flashbacks back into her childhood which increasingly gaining in insight for Grace and for us, the readers. This is a very rich character study: As the novel progresses, you slowly learn more and more about Grace, the person she evolves into during her first decade or so of adulthood. The steady, slow build-up caused me to become more and more invested in Grace's life to the point I could not put down the book during the last 1/4 of it. Barrett's writing is a perfect balance between rich, descriptive language, and events and scenes that move along at a pace that holds your interest. The flashbacks are woven smoothly and seamlessly into the present events, revealing more and more bits about who Grace is and where she is in life.
I love novels that further my understanding of history. Though this book centers on Grace's personal journey, the historical content was a bonus. It also included vivid impressions of sights, smells sounds and the feel of what it would be like to be in China both as a tourist and if you were to stay with a family in the general population; what kind of struggles you would have if you tried to learn some of the language; and the lifestyles and living conditions of the people in that country through the various regime changes.
Much of the novel takes place during Grace's time working for and then married to a scientist. The topic of science is woven throughout in detail, so it practically becomes a character itself.
Many important details about various characters are revealed in pieces, leaving a number of surprises in each chapter.
I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 because:
1) Personally, I dislike a lot of mystical stuff -- she keeps hearing the voice of a dead childhood playmate.
2) Barratt fluffed over Grace's brief and successful career as a home rehabber. Grace, her family and friends, had 0 previous background in this or any business or investment venture and a result there should have been a huge learning curve on this for her, fraught with stress and struggle that should have significantly impacted her character development. The surge in popularity of home renovation (evidenced by publications, TV shows, new Home Depot stores, etc.) that came about around the time of the publication date of this book, 1991, indicates a strong readership interest in this topic. In this novel her venture was treated as if it were a mere phase engaging in a small scale hobby. In any case, anyone with a contractor in the family, or who purchased an investment home, or rehabbed and tried to sell their own home would know differently.
3) (Listed as spoiler at the end below.)
This is the 2nd book by this author I have read. I chose it, because the first book of hers which I read years ago, The Voyage of the Narwhal, is among my favorite fiction reads of all time.
I love novels that further my understanding of history. Though this book centers on Grace's personal journey, the historical content was a bonus. It also included vivid impressions of sights, smells sounds and the feel of what it would be like to be in China both as a tourist and if you were to stay with a family in the general population; what kind of struggles you would have if you tried to learn some of the language; and the lifestyles and living conditions of the people in that country through the various regime changes.
Much of the novel takes place during Grace's time working for and then married to a scientist. The topic of science is woven throughout in detail, so it practically becomes a character itself.
Many important details about various characters are revealed in pieces, leaving a number of surprises in each chapter.
I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 because:
1) Personally, I dislike a lot of mystical stuff -- she keeps hearing the voice of a dead childhood playmate.
2) Barratt fluffed over Grace's brief and successful career as a home rehabber. Grace, her family and friends, had 0 previous background in this or any business or investment venture and a result there should have been a huge learning curve on this for her, fraught with stress and struggle that should have significantly impacted her character development. The surge in popularity of home renovation (evidenced by publications, TV shows, new Home Depot stores, etc.) that came about around the time of the publication date of this book, 1991, indicates a strong readership interest in this topic. In this novel her venture was treated as if it were a mere phase engaging in a small scale hobby. In any case, anyone with a contractor in the family, or who purchased an investment home, or rehabbed and tried to sell their own home would know differently.
3) (Listed as spoiler at the end below.)
This is the 2nd book by this author I have read. I chose it, because the first book of hers which I read years ago, The Voyage of the Narwhal, is among my favorite fiction reads of all time.
May 23, 2019
The first Barrett book I've been disappointed in. It is an odd mix of voices, reality, science, travelogue and dysfunctional families and couples. The main character seems unable to learn from any life experiences and though by the end, she is supposed to be taking responsibility for her life, it once again appears driven by dream-characters of her own creation.
I did like the author choice to begin in 1989 in the terror and uncertainty of Tiananmen Square, and then go back in time through the rest of the novel. And I found several quotes that remain meaningful to me.
p 31. An arresting way of describing eating to fill emotional needs: "I unwrapped a Hershey bar and fed my heart."
p 144. Reminder to me of current political schism, of those who try so hard to idealize a past, blind to their privileges denied others: "Walter yearned for the past. He mourned for it, grieved for it. wept for a time when, in his eyes, the world was simpler, kinder, more at one with nature." Reminder, too, that we all read within the context of our time, and our beliefs.
p 153 (in embryology class) "When I said, 'How? But how does this happen?' my teacher...said...'you can't begin to ask how until you know the sequence of development as well as you know the alphabet. You're learning a language here. Vocabulary.' But I was stuck on grammar. He was trying to teach me 'what' and I wanted 'how' and 'why'...
p 234-5 "I hadn't understood until then that Zillah's life differed from mine. She was miserable at home and so was I, and I had thought our situations were equivalent. A false empathy: I imagined that my life was actually as bad as Zillah's. As if there were no difference between having no food I liked and having no food; between having a grandmother in a wheelchair who lived with us because my father wished it and having a grandmother who lived there because she had no place else to go."
p 278 title quote: "Time you spend in the past and the future is time you spend alone. But between them is a middle kingdom, both feet planted here."
I did like the author choice to begin in 1989 in the terror and uncertainty of Tiananmen Square, and then go back in time through the rest of the novel. And I found several quotes that remain meaningful to me.
p 31. An arresting way of describing eating to fill emotional needs: "I unwrapped a Hershey bar and fed my heart."
p 144. Reminder to me of current political schism, of those who try so hard to idealize a past, blind to their privileges denied others: "Walter yearned for the past. He mourned for it, grieved for it. wept for a time when, in his eyes, the world was simpler, kinder, more at one with nature." Reminder, too, that we all read within the context of our time, and our beliefs.
p 153 (in embryology class) "When I said, 'How? But how does this happen?' my teacher...said...'you can't begin to ask how until you know the sequence of development as well as you know the alphabet. You're learning a language here. Vocabulary.' But I was stuck on grammar. He was trying to teach me 'what' and I wanted 'how' and 'why'...
p 234-5 "I hadn't understood until then that Zillah's life differed from mine. She was miserable at home and so was I, and I had thought our situations were equivalent. A false empathy: I imagined that my life was actually as bad as Zillah's. As if there were no difference between having no food I liked and having no food; between having a grandmother in a wheelchair who lived with us because my father wished it and having a grandmother who lived there because she had no place else to go."
p 278 title quote: "Time you spend in the past and the future is time you spend alone. But between them is a middle kingdom, both feet planted here."
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 30, 2016
A lopsided book that, for one thing, needed an extra fifty pages. It begins during the protests of 1989, and then flashes back...and back...and a bit forward...but you never return to the present day, leaving you to wonder what the point of all that was. It's like getting the prologue and all the backstory but never a real resolution.
The other sections set in China are very much "white woman goes to Asia and finds enlightenment thanks to the sufferings/wisdom of the locals" while many of the American excerpts could have been summarised, rather than spelled out, without any loss to the narrative. I found the protagonist largely uninteresting and whiny.
The other sections set in China are very much "white woman goes to Asia and finds enlightenment thanks to the sufferings/wisdom of the locals" while many of the American excerpts could have been summarised, rather than spelled out, without any loss to the narrative. I found the protagonist largely uninteresting and whiny.
August 13, 2009
A novel set partly in China in the years leading up to the Tinanmen Square massacre. One of the blurbs praised its "delicately interlocking worlds of personal and public politics," but it didn't do so nearly as well as Bette Bao Lord's The Middle Heart. This one was far more interior, with a moral lesson about learning to know yourself & living not too much in the past or the future, but in "the middle kingdom" of the present. Perhaps the titles of the two books should be switched.
May 2, 2008
Okay, nobody is perfect. This novel of Andrea Barrett's falls a bit short, but only in comparison to her other works. The novel is well-written, and the plot is moderately interesting. The setting, in China is appropriately exotic for the plot to work. A bit cliche.
September 1, 2008
Andrea Barrett is such a thoughtful writer. She interweaves flashbacks of an American woman's life, overcoming a dysfunctional family, weight problems, and a stifling husband. So lovingly set in Beijing, it makes you want to travel there immediately.
June 30, 2016
American contemp....1970s-1980s New England and Beijing....aimless adult seems to find herself while in Beijing. Could not grasp this character, which may have been the point, but makes for a dull book.
January 4, 2014
The novel follows the life of Grace -- who is "a late bloomer!" She drifts through life , resisting, struggling to fit in, to be herself, to be loved. She eventually finds her life, her love, and herself in China on the eve of the Tiananmen incident. Well written. Sad. Hopeful.
July 1, 2014
An interesting novel with a very relatable, if troubled, protagonist. I was slightly disappointed that the book didn't utilise the context of China under Mao more consistently and effectively. It promised more than it delivered.
July 20, 2014
what annoyed me were the protagonist's negative thoughts - on her weight, her diet, her life, herself. i think it was because i wanted to leave reality behind but couldn't as she kept reminding me of it. it was very well written, i was sucked into her world.
July 13, 2015
Not what I was expecting. The characters never really come to life and although there were some interesting reflections, there was little insight into the country itself, nor the political and social backdrop. Rather forgettable, I'm afraid.
April 7, 2011
A quick, easy and entertaining read. I particularly enjoyed the Chinese setting.
Read
August 13, 2014A sort of disappointing book form one of my favorite authors - - mostly a flash back of a young woman's life aimlessly falling apart.
January 5, 2015
a depressed and drifting wife of US academic - in pre-Tiananmen-square China
January 23, 2015
I've owned this book for years but only just got around to reading it. It seems very dated and the characters didn't engage me at all.
Want to Read
March 20, 2021I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/13721752
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/13721752
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews