English

by Wang Gang, Jane Weizhen Pan (Translator), Wang Gang

A captivating coming-of-age novel in the tradition of Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress

During the darkest days of the Cultural Revolution, a twelve-year-old boy named Love Liu wonders what life is like beyond the region of Xinjiang in China’s remote northwest. Here, conformity is valued above all else, and suspicion governs every exchange among neighbors, classmates, and even friends. Into this stifling atmosphere comes a tall, clean-shaven teacher from Shanghai, with an elegant gray wool jacket and an English dictionary tucked under his arm.

With the dictionary at his disposal, Love Liu throws himself into learning English, and a whole new world opens up for him. But in an atmosphere of accusation and recrimination, one in which the teacher is deemed morally suspect and mere innuendo can cost someone his life, Love Liu’s ideals face a test more challenging than any he’ll meet in the classroom.

A major bestseller in China, with rights sold around the world, English is a transcendent novel about a boy’s self-discovery, a country’s shame, and the transporting power of language.

REVIEW: “I loved this book and can’t stop talking about it. . . . Transcendent.”
—Carolyn See, The Washington Post

Genres: China, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Asia, Young Adult, Literature, Novels

320 pages, Hardcover

Published April 2, 2009

Reviews

[Repellent Boy · Rating 2 out of 5]

En "El profesor de inglés" nos encontramos como protagonista a Amor Liu, un niño de 12 años que vive en la China de los duros años de la Revolución Cultural. En esta edad de crecimiento y desarrollo, donde cualquier cosa despierta la curiosidad de los niños, Liu empieza a experimentar los cambios de su cuerpo y ve como la inocencia propia de la infancia va quedando atrás. Pese a que es un momento de grandes cambios para China, el pueblo donde vive Amor Liu aún no ha llegado a experimentar todo este horror que ya están viviendo muchas personas, y él pasa sus días del colegio a casa y de casa al colegio, contento en su ignorancia. Sin embargo, la llegada de un nuevo profesor a su colegio, lo cambiará todo. Segundo Premio Wang es un agradable profesor de inglés, un hombre educado, elegante y tan diferente a lo que Amor Liu está acostumbrado a ver en los adultos que conoce, que rápidamente provocará en él una gran admiración.

A pesar de esta premisa que prometía un contexto histórico del que siempre me gusta descubrir más cosas y grandes dosis de ternura, me he encontrado con un libro al que me ha costado pillarle el punto, que en muchas ocasiones se me quedaba corto y que ha acabado hasta cabreándome en varias ocasiones. Y me ha dado una rabia tremenda porque había muchas cosas interesantes en él, y a veces vislumbraba caminos que me hubieran gustado mucho, pero que rápidamente se perdían y no terminaban de ser explorados.

Como parte positiva lo que más me ha gustado es esa ternura que sí que florece en algunas escenas donde se muestra esa relación tan bonita que profesor y alumno forjan, y las conversaciones y reflexiones que mantienen ambos. Sobre todo, me han gustado las que hablaban del comportamiento del ser humano, de su egoísmo o de la hipocresía con la que se relacionaban unos con otros. Tanto esa parte tierna de la historia, como esa crítica a lo turbias que pueden llegar a ser las personas es lo que más me ha llegado.

¿Qué no me ha gustado entonces? Pues varias cosas. Para empezar, Amor Liu, nuestro protagonista de 12 años, a veces me resultaba realmente desagradable, no por su yo adolescente, que a veces tenía actitudes propias de su edad, por muy recriminables que fuesen, sino por culpa de su yo maduro del futuro que es el que cuenta la historia. Cuando leo literatura asiática y sobre todo basada en otra época sé que voy a encontrar roles de género marcados, porque no puedo moldear el mundo en función de lo que me gustaría que sea o que hubiese sido.

Ahora bien, una cosa es encontrarme ciertos comentarios o estilos de vida anticuados y acordes a la realidad de una época o a la cultura de un lugar o del propio autor, y otra muy distinta es que haya 2938481748127 comentarios por cada página de “lo que es el hombre” y “lo que es la mujer”. O peor aún, que las mujeres en esta historia (cuatro, no hay más) se presenten siempre como celosas, vengativas, seductoras, caprichosas o volubles, y siempre con la palabra “histérica” en la boca, mientras que los actos de ciertos personajes masculinos, aun siendo peores, siempre se justifican, o bien culpando a ellas de estos, o quedando en segundo plano. La voz narrativa es muy crítica con las mujeres, mucho. Y eso, me ha chafado absolutamente todo.

Si a eso le añadimos que entra poquísimo en hablar del comunismo, pese a ubicarse durante la Revolución Cultural China, y deja una “crítica”, por llamarla de alguna manera, muy velada del sistema y lo que hizo, pues apaga y vámonos. Y esto podría entenderlo ya que el autor explica en el epílogo, que le daba miedo hablar más directamente del tema por las represalias, pero claro muy crítico y sin tapujos para pintar a los personajes femeninos como los pinta y una opinión en segundo (o tercer) plano de lo que sí merecía ser expuesto. De verdad que lo he intentado con este libro hasta el mismísimo final, tratando de valorar lo que sí me gustaba por encima de lo que no, pero es que el autor ha conseguido ponerme de mala leche hasta con el epílogo donde nos habla de él, no de la historia. Me da rabia porque tenía mucho donde rascar. Primera decepción del año.

[Stephen Durrant · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would like to rate this coming-of-age novel more highly. The complex political world of the 1970s in the far western Chinese city of Urumchi is described here through the eyes of a young man who cannot quite understand the terrible, often cruel forces that swirl about him. For this young man, the study of English, guided by a teacher and mentor named Second Prize Wang, becomes an escape and provides a window on another world. Much of this is well done, and in some ways the horror of the cultural revolution is best portrayed in this rather muted fashion. The plot, however, is often contrived and muddled. For example, a murder that occurs halfway trough the novel, and would seem to involve two of the novel's central characters, is entirely dropped. Moreover, the young narrator's sexual fixations, expected of course in a novel of this type, become more than unbelievable in their fulfillment. I won't spoil the plot, should you care to breeze through this novel, but I am quite sure nothing quite the same happened in your life . . . it sure as hell didn't happen in mine. Too bad.

[Kerfe · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Oh dreammaker, you heartbreaker..."

The song "Moon River" will always now make me think of Love Liu and his English classes in China during the Cultural Revolution; its wistful longing is echoed in the unrealized dreams, the deep deep loss of possibility, for these generations of Chinese.

"Where does our cruelty come from? did it fall from the sky? Were we just born that way?" Anxious questions hover over, weave through, Love Liu's childhood and coming of age. Here is another world where trust is fleeting and rare, where self preservation demands detachment from and total disregard for others' lives. Truth and lies are of equal value.

All are guilty. All must confess.

In their confessions, the children are asked to do some soul-searching. What is a soul? they ask.

The adults do not know.

[Eveline Chao · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was hard to really find myself engrossed by this novel because there was something strangely far-removed and distant about the narrator's tone. Then again I find this with pretty much every single Chinese novel I have ever read in English, so maybe it's something about the translation. There were times, however, when the removed tone really suited the narrator's alienated state of mind and the novel would sort of strike just the right chord of hopelessness and teenage angst and became quite affecting.

[Un Moine Vexé]

Reasonably diverting.

[Xavier Guillaume · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was looking in the library for a good book, when this one caught my eye. On the back it mentioned how it was one of the top bestselling novels in China, so I knew it must be good.

I didn't know what to expect, knowing absolutely nothing about the book, but I quickly learned it takes place in a part of the world that I knew next to nothing about. It takes place in the village of Urumqi, which if you look on a map is located in Northwestern China, almost near Mongolia. To the West are the Tianshan Mountains, which the main character Love Liu talks about so often in the book. He refers to them so frequently and so poetically. The narrator has a knack for words and describing what he's feeling through symbols found in nature. It really is quite beautiful, which helps make English a remarkable book. For example, Love Liu's crush, Ahjitai has remarkably white skin, and when Love Liu sees her in the bathhouse, he describes her breasts as snow-covered mountains. For some reason I find this imagery so poetically beautiful. I suppose it has to do with how awe-inspiring snow-covered peaks are and to have skin so white, when the people of Urumqi are so dark, all of it just makes a remarkable image.

I suppose the main theme of the book is Love Liu discovering his love for English. It doesn't make sense to learn English in Urumqi as there are no foreigners that come there. The whole idea of it is really quite radical; however, throughout the rest of China, English has become required for students to learn, so Ahjitai, the Uyghur teacher (pronounced 'we-gur), loses her job, and Second Prize Wang from Peking comes to the school to teach English. It's kind of sad that Ahjitai loses her job. Uyghur is the ethnic-minority language of Urumqi. It's language is closer to Turkish than actual Chinese, but it shows how vastly different this part of China is from the rest. And so, Love Liu begins to learn English.

I didn't know what to expect. At first I thought the children would all be marveled by this amazing teacher and they all would become fascinated by English, but I discovered this was not the case. Most all of the students hate learning English. They find listening to the teacher and saying the radically unfamiliar words over and over quite boring. But there are two students, Love Liu and Sunrise Huang, who take a deep fascination in English, but it's hard to know if it is the language, or if it is there deep fascination with Second Prize Wang which is the trigger.

Second Prize Wang is very different from the people of Urumqi. He is a gentleman, which has a very interesting meaning to Love Liu as the story is also about Love Liu becoming like a gentleman. Remember, the people of Urumqi are very simple, and the fine requirements of a gentleman are considered extravagant and wasteful. Sadly, when Love Liu decides to spend his money on a pair of non-prescription glasses because he feels that it would make him look like a gentleman, his parents actually yell at him and hit him, shouting out things like "What is wrong with you?" and "Why can't you be like other children?" It's all very tragic, and there are times I despise Love Liu's parents, but there are other times I am amazed by their love.

I suppose it can't be helped that they are ignorant. These are very troubled times, where if anyone sticks out or does something he or she isn't supposed to do, it is very easy for that person to be sent away, or to jail, or even killed, as public executions are a very popular pastime for the people of Urumqi. Punishments seem extraordinarily harsh, which you will find if you read this book. It is because the communists want everyone to be obedient and behave, and if someone has to die to be made an example of, so the better, at least in their eyes.

Some have mentioned in other reviews of this book that Wang Gang does not make this book to be about the atrocities of this tumultuous time in history. No, there are already many other books on the subject. Rather, this is simply a book about a boy growing up in a certain time. So, we see the world as he sees it, through his eyes, and I feel the boy Love Liu mirrors Wang Gang's own life, as it feels so personal. I feel like Love Liu is a real person and is speaking to me of his real life. I'm not sure how true the story is to Wang Gang's, but I would not be surprised if it were like an auto-biography.

I could go on and talk about the obvious, how this story is a coming-of -age novel, where the boy sees the world, and finds himself, and his place in school and in his family, and in society, etc. He discovers his manhood when he comes to puberty, and he finds his love for women. This is all very obviously put in the book. But what I find most appealing in this book, is how multi-dimensional Love Liu is in his perspectives of the world. And I say perspectives plural because they are constantly changing so frequently that it is not that he has only one perspective of the world, it's like every which way he turns there is something new to see and experience that can change how he views it, sort of like how light and shadow can fall on an object and make it seem drastically different.

For example, how Love Liu views Urumqi, he hates it and he loves it. He hates never being able to see the ocean, but he loves the Uyghur music. He hates how close-minded the people of Urumqi are and how they cannot see what he is seeing, but he is quick to stand up for the town when Second Prize Wang says that it is not worthy of being called a city. It's these drastic changes in emotion from love to hate, that make the story so interesting. It's the same way about his family. I am actually quite astounded how often he says how much he hates his parents. It makes sense because his parents are often quite cruel to him, but they also love him very much. But so often you hear the narrator saying things like "I hate my mother," "I hate my father," and for so many reasons. Yet it's so obvious how much he needs and loves them.

All in all, it's a simple novel as it's written in the eyes of a young boy, but he sees so much, and the narrator's gift for words are so impressive, that the immensity of the story is so great. I knew next to nothing about Urumqi prior to reading this book, but afterwards, I've learned so much. And it was through the eyes of a young boy, which helps give the story so much depth as he can see things other adults can't. It's like they are blinded by all the rules and know no-nonsense attitudes, but for good reason I suppose, because the government controls everything and if you do not follow the correct, prescribed behavior, they can destroy your life in one quick swoop.

Would I recommend this book to others? I would as it is a very interesting story with many humorous parts and many sad parts, but it does not knock my socks off as some other books do. It has a much calmer flow to the story. The narrator weaves it, and we as readers flow on its poetic brilliance. Even when terrible events happened, it is not so earth shattering that it shocks the reader, but the reader can flow into the terrible events, which I think is because of how the story is written. The narrator is writing this story of when he was a boy, but afterwards when he is about 40 or so. So, even when he is in danger, or when other characters are in danger, you can read with a sense of ease because you know things will turn out okay because he survives, and you know also that Second Prize Wang survives also because the narrator mentions speaking to him much later in life.

I'm actually very surprised how low the other ratings are on here for this book. It seems others couldn't get used to the narrator's 'detached' style, but I wouldn't call it detached at all. It seems very obvious that Love Liu is very connected to his environment. How he describes the graveyard, and the trees, and the mountains, and the school, he sees something in them that others do not see. it's like he feels something in them that others do not experience. The darkness, the loneliness, the fear, and the exhilaration. I actually wonder if the other kids in the school feel the same way as Love Liu does about the school--that it is so dark and tomb-like, and what a remarkable school it is! Perhaps Love Liu feels this way because his father designed it, which causes it to feel even more tomb-like because it is his father who restricts him in his life at home, so when he steps into the school it is like an extension of that feeling. I suppose when it comes to death, however, Love Liu does have a very detached view concerning it. But perhaps it has to do with how prevalent death is in that community. After all, the people of Urumqi have no cinema to go to on a Saturday. Instead, they go to see public executions, so, of course Love Liu would have a very different way of talking about death as you and I might.

Anyway, I do strongly recommend reading English if you have the chance. It might not knock your socks off, but at the very least you'll learn something. And I want to say that you'll learn something about a people who are very different from you and I, but the people of Urumqi really aren't that different. When you boil these people down to their bare bones, you can find them in every culture. There are the people who love power, and aren't afraid to use power, but are afraid to lose it (The Principal and Director Fan). There are the people who want power, but are afraid of the people who have it, and are also afraid of losing what power they do have (Love Liu's parents). There are the people who don't want power, but they just want to be themselves and be happy, but since they don't want to use everything in their power they are easily stepped on (First Prize Wang). And finally, it's about people who have no power and aren't seeking power, but also, aren't afraid of the people who have it (Love Liu and Ahjitai). Looking at it this way, I feel like you get a good sense of who these people are, and why they do the things they do. Like I said, it's a very multi-faceted story, with so much involved, even though it is a very simple story of a young 12-year-old boy.

[Jim B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes you read a book in translation and feel that something was lost. This story left me with a feeling for the time, the place and the people. Of course, the author grew up with the same obsession for English as the student at the center of the story and he approved the translation, so it must convey what he wanted to communicate. Still, I wonder if I were Chinese, would I have better understood what he was hinting at in the complex relationship between Love Liu and his parents?

The author's "Afterword" contributes to my appreciation of what this book is. Gang tells about the cruel times he experienced as a child, when people were violent and enjoyed seeing violence. He explains about the book, "I chose not to overstate the cruelty of the era because it has already been recounted ad nauseum." In other words, this could have been the Chinese equivalent of a holocaust novel filled with Nazi cruelty. Instead, he has given us a story in which all the characters are completely human, and flawed in the range of ways we see among us. Because the story is told by a boy, we have an undependable narrator who doesn't always comprehend what he sees while he is young. For example, near the end of the book the student discovers that his teacher is a Christian from a Christian family. The boy doesn't probe this revelation, and readers are left to wonder how this integrates into the life we have witnessed.

Because this novel is also a coming of age story, a boy's sexual fantasies frequent the pages of this book.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is set in the Xinjiang region of China, around the time of the Cultural Revolution. The book focuses on the relationship between a young male student and his English teacher. The English teacher carries himself like a gentleman, and the student admires and respects his teacher and tries to become a gentleman as well. Of course this is difficult during that time period when anything seen as bourgeois is criticized. I read this book slowly because I'd read it at bus stops and during meals, but it was an engaging read. While the focus is not on the atrocities of the Cultural Revolution (the author addresses this topic in the afterword), the influence of Mao's reforms is evident as situations unfold.

Memorable quotation:

[The student's father had tried to take his English dictionary away from him. He tore a few pages out, but was unable to loosen the kid's grip and grab the dictionary away from him.:]

Father glared at me without saying a word. I could hear him puffing like an executioner, exhausted after finishing his job. Eventually he caught his breath. When he saw how upset I was, a hint of regret flashed in his eyes, but then he held his head up and marched out of my room. Mother followed him. Since that moment I realized that no one can hurt you more than your family. And it's always done in the name of love." (266)

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wanted to love this book. The author is an amazing writer (or so I assume—the English translation of this novel is wonderful). He did a great job giving depth to both the characters and the physical and political landscape. The narrator, Love Liu, is entertaining and complex. He's a middleschooler who is somewhat naive, yet is one of the few people to question the status quo during China's Cultural Revolution.

I found myself losing interest by the last third of the book. It feels unfair to say that there was no plot, since a lot of things happen throughout the novel (criminal activity, affairs, family drama, corruption, and unrequited love). It started to feel kind of like a soap opera where there's a lull until the next big scandal appears, yet nothing actually changes and you're just reading more of the same.

[Ndooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kalau tidak karena bagian cerita di bagian sebelun penutup, saya akan memberi satu bintang lagi.

Novel ini menceritakan persahabatan yang unik antara Love Liu dan guru bahasa Inggrisnya, Mr. Second Prize Wang.

Sebagai pecinta cerita dengan latar belakang sejarah, tentu novel ini akan sangat menarik.

Deskripsi latar tempat dan kehidupan masyarakat Cina pada rezim Pemimpin Mao sangat menarik.

Membaca buku ini mengingatkan bahwa setiap zaman punya kegilaannya masing-masing. Tapi setidaknya saya bersyukur bahwa generasi saya tidak perlu belajar secara diam-diam karena ancaman pembunuhan atau bayang-bayang ketidakadilan.

Saya merekomendasikan buku ini untuk dibaca oleh mereka yang suka sejarah, suka bahasa Inggris atau yang terobsesi pada proses pendewasaan (khusunya laki-laki).

[Mai Mamdouh · Rating 5 out of 5]

رواية إنجليش من أروع الروايات اللى قرأتها مترجمة عن اللغة الصينية ، وأول وأهم ما يميزها هو سلاسة الأسلوب واللي بيشعر القارىء من الوهلة الأولي انه أمام نص غير مترجم ، بالفعل كنت حاسة انى بقرأ رواية مكتوبة باللغة العربية بسبب براعة الترجمة ، بالنسبة لأحداث القصة فهي مشوقة للغاية ، بتتطرق لفترة مهمة جدا في تاريخ الصين ، وهى فترة الثورة الثقافية ، تناولتها من خلال نفسية طفل صيني في مراحل عمره المختلفة ، شعوره حيال اسرته، رؤيته لأبوه وأمه في كل مرحلة من مراحل حياته ، علاقته باللغة الانجليزية ، العالم الآخر اللي بيعيش فيه، مدرس اللغة الانجليزية قدوته وأكثر الأشخاص تأثيرا في شخصيته ، الرواية في مجملها بتجسد حقبة مهمة ،وهي بالغعل ممتعة للغاية، جديرة بالترجمة للغات عديدة ، والثناء على الترجمة العربية ضرورة لا يمكن اغفالها ...

[John Armstrong · Rating 5 out of 5]

Compelling read, pushed me out of my Western comfort zone.

[Ifa Inziati · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ketika baru membaca ini, jangan harap isinya seperti yang dipromosikan. Apalagi kalau sebelumnya pernah baca J-lit dengan premis serupa—hubungan guru-murid yang menghangatkan hati. Dibanding porsi fuzzy wuzzy-nya, cerita ini lebih kelam, gelap, brutal, jujur, tanpa ampun. Banyak adegan grafis yang menjelaskan keadaan perang saat itu, seperti tempeleng sana-sini di depan anak kecil, orang gantung diri dengan lidah terjulur, anak di bawah umur pegang senjata yang diletuskannya di depan muka temannya, bahkan sedikit nudity (sebenernya yang ini agak disayangkan sih karena nggak terlalu esensial). Tokohnya nyata, bahkan ketika dia seorang protagonis yang diharapkan berbudi luhur, kita juga bisa melihat kekurangannya sampai membuat saya bertanya, apa benar dia pengin jadi guru? Namun tak bisa dipungkiri, kehadiran Second Prize Wang memang berpengaruh dalam masa kanak-kanak hingga remaja seorang Love Liu di Urumichi.

Nah, literary coming-of-age sepertinya lebih tepat disematkan sebagai genre buku ini ketimbang feel-good contemporary. Kata penulisnya, marketing buku ini memang sengaja di-blur-kan karena kondisi politik di Tiongkok. Namun efeknya saya jadi salah berekspektasi, padahal saya suka banget kegamblangannya di sini, juga cara penulis menggambarkan kondisi emosional dan psikologis tokohnya. Saya suka mendapati banyak konflik (luar dan dalam) yang dikiaskan dengan indah, cocok banget buat pembaca yang lebih senang dengan penuturan cantik daripada alur rapi. Kalau dari awal saya udah tahu itu, kayaknya bakal klop banget sama yang saya rasakan hehe. Soalnya, meski suka, saya sempat merasa ada "gegar budaya" terutama dalam cara memandang tokoh Second Prize Wang.

Gelombang kejadian (frase 'gelombang [kata sifat] banyak ditemukan di buku ini) yang membuat Love Liu terombang-ambing selama dia akil balig tak dijelaskan runut dan padat, jadi terasa agak bergoyang di tengah-tengah. Persahabatan Love Liu dan Second Prize Wang juga bermula di awal sepertiga akhir, setelah guru itu mengalami serentetan kesialan—salah satu penyebab dragging-nya alur buat saya. Bagian paling tidak favorit saya adalah saat Love Liu dan Ahjitai terperangkap di bunker, itu halu banget fixed. Nggak tahu tujuan adegan itu apa, mungkin menggambarkan 'kepergian' Ahjitai dengan ketidakrelaan Love Liu, tapi asa gimana gitu. Yang ngintip lagi mandi juga nggak banget, dan adegan ngintipin orang ini nggak cuma sekali. Jadi saya merasa nggak nyaman.

Penikmat literary fiction dan hisfic, siap-siap dimanjakan dengan cerita yang no-filter ini. Mudah sekali untuk terbuai dengan serba-serbi kehidupan di pedesaan sebuah kaki pegunungan yang dingin dengan beragam kebudayaan mulai dari Tiongkok, Uyghur, sampai Amerika. Kalau pengin bisa lebih menikmati, coba nggak terlalu pikirin alurnya bagaimana, ikuti aja pergulatan menjadi-dewasa-nya Love Liu yang realistis. Satu catatan; saya suka terjemahan GPU yang ini. Lebih masuk daripada buku-buku terjemahannya yang terkini, entah bagaimana. Bahkan A Heart in a Body in the World yang saya suka banget aja sebetulnya terjemahannya nggak begitu mulus dibaca (buat saya), tapi karena saya pernah baca karya Deb Caletti sebelumnya, jadi terbayang konteksnya. 3.5 🌟

[Carmelinda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Escogí está novela porque me iba a ir de viaje de luna de miel a Beijing, y me interesó acercarme a la historia china (y en concreto a la época de la Revolución Cultural) de esta forma.

Ha sido una novela fácil de leer, pero, como he visto en otras reseñas, me deja con un gusto agridulce.

Al ser el protagonista un niño de 10 años y estar el guión centrado en su madurez y su relación con un profesor, rápidamente se convierte en una historia tierna. Acerca al lector a diferentes formas de violencia y coerción de la época, así como a los cambios de los valores y conciencia popular.

A pesar de eso, no me ha convencido mucho la forma tanto de escribir como de relatar. Son entre 15 y 20 capítulos, divididos continuamente por secciones que me parecen bastante aleatorias, ya que en ocasiones cambia de historia y en otras simplemente sigue exactamente en el momento en el que lo acaba de dejar. En cuanto al relato, cuenta mucho pero explica poco, deja muchísimos cabos abiertos y el final me ha resultado hasta decepcionante, ya que no recoge prácticamente ninguno.

Sinceramente, me esperaba más de un libro que fue la novela del año en su momento, me gustaría realmente saber qué les conmueve tanto a los lectores nacionales.


A destacar como crítica: el rol de las mujeres, que me molesta especialmente ya que en mi viaje a Pekín he tenido la sensación de que precisamente es una sociedad bastante patriarcal.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amor Liu empieza siendo un niño que solo conocía una realidad, en esta novela se ve cómo va conociendo nuevas perspectivas, su despertar sexual, nuevas aspiraciones y la realización de que como funcionaba la sociedad en la que vivía, la comparativa de la burbuja del pueblo donde se encontraba y el exterior.
Creo que hubieron algunos temas que se podrían haber profundizado, explotado más. La realidad de la violencia que había, que luego en el epílogo el tupé explica por qué no lo usó, la sexualidad en Amor Liu, y cuantas emociones fuertes reflejadas en los personajes, frustración profesional, personal e inclusive sexual, ninguno llegó a tener un clímax. Sin embargo la novela indeed tiene un buen relato, cautivador y ligero.
Segundo premio es un personaje frustrado, enamorado de una vida que no podía tener, queriendo una mujer que no le correspondía, pero viviendo una vida en soledad pero fiel a su amor por el occidente. Amanecer Huang, una vida llena de tragedia, y los padres de amor Liu, llenos de sueños sin poder comprender a su hijo y superándose en su única realidad.

[Mandewi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aku bahkan nggak bisa menemukan kekurangan penting dari buku ini. Satu-satunya yang masih jadi pertanyaan adalah kenapa nama tokohnya harus di-Inggris-kan; Love Liu, Second Prize Wang, Sunrise Huang, Garbage Li. Iya, Garbage. Hhh.

Selebihnya, hanya berupa kenyataan yang nggak sesuai ekspektasi. Ketika membaca blurb novel, aku kira ini cerita tentang anak kecil di desa terpencil yang belajar Bahasa Inggris lalu melanglang buana ke seluruh dunia. Nyatanya, buku ini adalah kisah seorang anak di usia remaja berlatar Revolusi Budaya di Cina di tahun 70an. Isu yang diangkat ya seputar kehidupan remaja. Bagus juga dibaca oleh para orang tua supaya bisa paham isi kepala anak remaja, karena ada disinggung juga soal proses akil balik yang bisa dianggap sebagai upaya membiasakan sex education. Yang paling penting, adalah soal menjadi anak yang berpikiran global meski hidup di antah berantah. 4,5 bintang.

[Truly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Saya ingat membeli beberapa buku ini saat ada obralan di Taman Tekno beberapa saat lalu. Benar-benar cara belanja buku yang ajaib! Dijatah waktu untuk memilih buku, padahal untuk bisa masuk saja harus ngantri sampai lumayan lama.

Awalnya kurang begitu tertarik, tapi dari pada pulang tangan kosong, beli,ah buku ini. Keputusan yang bijak ternyata he he he. Meski masuk timbunan dulu he he he.

Bagi Love Liu, kamus adalah segalanya, karena dengan kamus ia bisa pergi ke mana saja. "Mataku rabun jauh akibat membaca begitu banyak buku bahasa Inggris. Aku membeli kacamata tebal berbingkai hitam, dan dari balik kedua lensanya aku bertualang ke Amerika Serikat dan Eropa serta ke abad delapan belas, sembilan belas, dan dua puluh."

[Michael Haase · Rating 5 out of 5]

A tragicomedy about a clash of cultures; country meets city, east meets west, young meets old, boy meets girl. It's a story that's been told a thousand times but rarely with such clarity and poignancy as here. Wang Gang's anecdotes about life in the remote countryside of China gives us both a glimpse at distant world and the world within ourselves. It's a book peppered with moments of humor and sadness and flavored with the typical Chinese style: no pretenses, no melodrama — just ordinary people confronting the difficulties of life.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a coming-of-age story set in Urumqi at the time of the Cultural Revolution; a semi-autobiographical account of young Love Liu, his intellectual mother and father, some of his classmates and, particularly, his relationship with his sophisticated English teacher, Second Prize Wang. The paranoia of the times where every word was potential dynamite plus the incidental capriciousness of life are omnipresent as the rather irritating Love Liu grows up. It's an authentic-feeling narrative despite a penultimate fanciful encounter

[Sasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm of the opinion that having historically important time periods filtered through the perspective of a child instantly makes for a better story. No different for this book. While the focus is on Love Liu's school days and home life, at times details- often pertaining to politics in China under Mao- seep through that extend beyond his present understanding, but whose import are to be recognized by the reader.

[Shuting · Rating 5 out of 5]

I did not imagine this book to turn out to be so engaging and profound. Yes the translation is rough: and I wonder if part of it is because it needs to fit the identity of the narrator and it needs to preserve the Chinese-ness of the story. Despite the translation which leads to sometimes less than eloquent and native expression, the story itself is so “soul searching”. It has a primitive meaning to it, which is rare to find.

I wish more people knew about this book and gave it a chance.

[C. L. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish I could put 3.5 stars. The relationship between the main character and his English teacher is very moving. I learned some Chinese history by reading this novel, and even better, perhaps what it was like growing up in a remote area of China during the Cultural Revolution - - perhaps somewhat like the Old West in the U. S.

[Claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

J'ai eu beaucoup de mal à lire ce livre, notamment à cause du style d'écriture, mais je dois dire qu'une fois terminé il ne laisse pas indifférent.
Je ne connais rien de l'histoire de la Chine et encore moins de la région du Xinjiang. Ça m'a donné envie de m'éduquer sur la question.
Je ne recommande pas vraiment le livre pour le voyage, mais plutôt pour la destination.

[Myriam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I quite liked this book ! I read the french translation, having found this at random at the library. It's pace is slow, so for someone who likes fast-paced stories like me, it's kind of boring, but at the same time incredibly interesting. The situations are quite complex and I remember the characters being well written, but this was many years ago.

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh my, what a book! The author tells the story of the cultural revolution in China. Love Liu tries to understand what is happening. Into the midst of it all comes a teacher from Shanghai. Together they find hope in the sounds of English. This is a great book.

[Dewi Dps · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book introduced me to "Moon River".

I'm not good at reviewing books I just can say I recommend it or no. By the star I gave, of course I recommend it for people who like tea with someone's life journey flavor mixed with sweet old literature.

[Yixuan Liu]

最早在我爸订的连环画报的某一期最后几页知道了这本书，那几页现在想起来大概是描述的刘爱偷看阿吉泰洗澡的情节。这部小说像是一个杂糅着西西里的美丽传说与阳光灿烂的日子的故事，看到作者给冯小刚的电影做过编辑也大概就不奇怪了。前一大半都很不错，结尾仓促了些，整个故事就像是在讲述特殊年代懵懂少年对性的渴望突然转变成了对那个年代的痛斥而结束。大概最后几章才是作者真正想说的东西，特殊年代的人用特殊的方式活着。陈冲的电影拍完这么多年了仍上映遥遥无期，大概在现在这样又一个特殊的年代里也很难看到了。

[M. Agung Triwijaya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wang Gang berhasil menceritakan revolusi budaya dengan sudut pandang seorang anak kecil.

[Afifah · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 bintang

[Noelia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Violencia y represión son el transfondo de una historia de adolescencia, amor y admiración.