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Do Not Say We Have Nothing

Madeleine Thien

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Oct 10, 2017 Louise rated it liked it · review of another edition

A complex, beautifully written but sometimes harrowing story about a country at complete odds with its people. Before, during and after China’s Cultural Revolution, it was often those gifted with talent in musical composition, performance and storytelling who incurred the wrath of China’s oppressive political regime. Do Not Say We Have Nothing is the story of three young people who, fearing for their lives during these tumultuous times must perform and compose in secret or abandon completely A complex, beautifully written but sometimes harrowing story about a country at complete odds with its people. Before, during and after China’s Cultural Revolution, it was often those gifted with talent in musical composition, performance and storytelling who incurred the wrath of China’s oppressive political regime. Do Not Say We Have Nothing is the story of three young people who, fearing for their lives during these tumultuous times must perform and compose in secret or abandon completely the music they have devoted their lives to. Like his cousin Zhuli, his friend Kai and many of the ‘counter-revolutionaries’ of the Chairman Mao era, the brilliant composer Sparrow has “music inside him”; without music, Sparrow and his contemporaries “have no idea how to make sense of the world” p 224.

A passion for and understanding of music on the part of many of the characters in the novel is a central theme of Do Not Say We Have Nothing; throughout the story there are bountiful references to famous composers such as Shostakovitch, Bach, Handel and Prokofiev. Although I knew the names of many of the composers mentioned I was not familiar with most of the more specific works cited and felt that this unfamiliarity hindered my appreciation of the novel.

On the other hand, my understanding of the reasons for the discontent of the Chinese students and their supporters, the hunger strikes, demonstrations and barricading of public places which took place throughout 1989 in response to the political suppression of so many Chinese citizens by their government has been strengthened markedly. The vivid, unflinching descriptions of the horrifying spectacle of the Tiananmen Square Massacre presented by Thien in Do Not Say We Have Nothing ensures that the disturbing and revelatory historical background to the novel is accessible; Thien's Booker Prize short-listed novel is a fine example of historical fiction being a valuable adjunct to our understanding of relatively recent world history. ...more

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