Yuhan
TW: racism, rape and pedophilia
Very uncomfortable read. I was just about to say its a product of its time, and searched it up and it was published in 1985??!! UHHHHH OKKK
It's got comically questionable depictions of minority ethnics and innntterresting ideas about rape (damn everyone loves it apparently. Raping AND being raped?). At this point I'd taken it as a product of its time (only to find out now that it's actually pretty recent), or maybe it's more to help build characters or setting the scene by showcasing viewpoints on matters rather than portraying as fact, and then BAM INCESTUOUS PEDOPHILIA. Maybe 14 year olds were considered more adult then??... Uhhh.. Nope ok she's in school uniform and uhhhh ok cool he's playing nursery games with her to get her to UHHHH OK nvm EWWW
My flavourite quote:
(in reference to two white people having sex for the first time on their honeymoon)
"he slipped his hand under the sheet and caresses her FLAT, STRAIGHT PUBIC HAIR: the PUBIC HAIR OF A JAPANESE"
Just checked my east asian pubes and they're definitely still curly LOL why does bro think we have an elvis presley hairdo down there I'm crying 😭
Contains spoilers
man is realllyyy bad with dealing with heat. then prison teaches him how to have feelings. character development consists of this man learning how to say more than three sentences at a time.
not entirely sure what I read but it was vaguely entertaining i guess. second worst excuse for murder only after sorry officer I tripped and fell 😭
Very interesting points and well organised with summaries and exercises! Doesn't baby you like a lot of English non fic does (I'm looking at you, atomic habits), which I appreciate, but does a wonderfully good job of making me feel lectured. That might be more a reflection on the fact that most similar teaching I got in Chinese (primary school) was actually in fact being lectured at me, and so it's likely a me problem and not a problem of this book.
Mrs Liu you still owe me therapy.
Contains spoilers
Eh. Picked up one of the most popular novels hoping for something actually good but was sorely disappointed. Easy to read but little more than just horny slop, with overused tropes and very obvious "inspirations" from other popular novels in the same category.
I've read more sophistication by teenage first-time writers on wattpad. Take away the overwheling amount of sex and its not much more than a children's novel. Characters are incredibly 1D (everyone is either an angel or the exact same flavour of arsehole and then they all die wow no one could have ever seen that coming), you can see any plot twists coming half a book away, everything has to have the threat of death for no sensible reason, main characters are incredibly unoriginal Xaden somehow decides to just pick up a whole new personality after fucking , if anyone "retorts" again I'm gonna throw up, and please for the love of everything NOBODY calls their relatives "cousin" and "younger sister"
"Hey younger sister"
What the frick
Contains spoilers
I am gobbledy smacked screaming crying throwing up, this book slaps you in all the unexpected ways that real life does.
Surprisingly this book is very different to the first in its series, but absolutely not in a bad way. It's grown organically to adapt to the new setting - given that the twist in the first book completely alters the fundamental environment that the book is set in, and yet somehow manages to slap in an equally mindbending revelation in this book. I've gushed loads in my review of the first book about how real the writing is, and I think that really excels in this book as well. I'm still marvelling at how well the sense of nothing you thought mattered matters anymore after 200 years of 'time travel', yet it's not even mentioned explicitly. Dude, like, I feel like I time travelled. also loved the not-so-subtle calls to classic Chinese sci-fi that I read growing up, very fun :)).
A note that I did read the original in Chinese, and while I thought the translation of the first book was kinda difficult to read, I had a quick peek at the tranlation of this second book, and actually thought it seemed pretty fab (and I don't often say that about translated works from Chinese ahaha. I know it's difficult to produce a translation that makes a native speaker happy!).
No frickin clue where the third book is going to go, from a quick look at the contents page, it appears to take on a completely different spin again and I'm all here for it. I guess that's part of the charm, and that is just how life goes.
Contains spoilers
The truly questionable decisions of characters will have you slamming your head at the wall. Entertaining read, and a somewhat satisfying conclusion to the trilogy? Seems though that this third book was not originally planned, and all (?) clues and pointers were only planted in this book. Lines of the big bad also sound comically extreme and unnatural, which I could not take seriously and kinda took me out of it (sorry). Wild idea but if you think you're being stalked to be murdered, maybe don't not tell your family who you live with? Maybe don't leave the house by yourself? Maybe don't tell the police who phoned you up to check if you were still being stalked that nahhh everything's fine dw about it anymore?who would have thought dude im screaaaaaaaaaaammmming
some very interesting ideas, and the best buy vs rent argument that I've heard. Tax efficiency is also something I haven't seen many other sources put as much of an emphasis on, so the details in this book were really valuable. The first half has very engaging story elements though the latter half starts to get a bit preachy. There are some arguments that just don't make sense, like 'inflation isn't real because they're local phenomena and you can just travel to cheaper places' - I get the sentiment but like..... you still will get priced out of places even if you have cheaper places to go?? Unless you can find somewhere with 0 or negative inflation to live for the rest of your life, prices do rise.
I also understand that 'communists are gonna kill my family' makes a good narrative, but as a first gen (ish, CN parents, GB -> CN -> GB) Chinese immigrant it does grate. I am tired and sick of misinformation that leeches into a negative cultural image surrounding my heritage. plsssssssssss the number of times I have people ask me about life and politics in China to then just not believe what I say because they read or watched some biased/outdated/very-much-watered-down content somewhere ((I gen love a discussion!! but why are people correcting me on my own culture and experiences 😭))
Buckle in these are my takes:
1. I appreciate that the China I grew up in is significantly different to the one that the author grew up in, given I am approx 15-20 years younger than her. However, presenting her experiences as current day fact - I know that this is probably where her impressions have still remained! - is while unintentional, harmful in many ways.
2. Given the young age at which she immigrated, her impressions are likely largely influenced by her parents experience. Since this seems mostly to refer to times like the cultural revolution (60s-70s) and the world was just a very different place back then (of course, famously, across the globe and especially in the western world, all people regardless of their background and political affiliation were treated with kindness, equality and respect). I don't think anyone looks back at those times and thinks it was a great experience at all, and criticisms and discussions happen fairly openly nowadays in China. But you would be insane to state that that's what China is now.
3. Again, given the young age she immigrated at, portions of her impressions that extend from her own personal experiences are unlikely to be the full picture. Having immigrated at the same age to her, and then later reconnecting with those regions, wow oh boy was I wrong. I thought British insurance could actually magically fix your car at the press of a button (thanks to that LV advert). I thought that African Giant Snails were really common pets (because my teacher had one). I once told someone in China with absolute certainty that 'fuck' was not a proper english word because I having lived in Britain had never heard of it. (though seriously, why do we shield swearing so much from kids, it's not that deep) I wasn't even aware of what racism was, and was later horrified to hear how my parents had been treated in workplace in Britain in the 90s and 00s, despite being highly skilled immigrants.
There is a corner of my brain that houses my seven year old impression of Britain, and it's a wonderful place filled with exclusively summer picnics, blackberries and dolls in your shoes - it's nice to visit sometimes but it is most definitely distinct from reality.
I even have to come to terms with the fact that the China in my twelve-year-old memories no longer exists - while I believe I was conscious and old enough to form a proper worldview by then(-ish), AND despite the fact that change and growth is nowhere near as explosive as it was back then, a lot has happened in ten years. Streets are safe and sparkling clean, kids these days don't get beat up in school (they'll never understand what we went through LOL), and my grandparents are no longer invincible. The entire citycenter/shopping district has also upped and moved literally right outside my door, so literally everywhere I loved to go as a kid no longer exists but at least life is horrifically convenient now.
Anyway, all I'm trying to say is contrary to what this book will have you believe about China, pensions exist, there is a state healthcare system, and fuck me it really boggles me that people believe this, but nobody wants to kill your family for no reason.
Contains spoilers
This book manages to make a whole ass plague boring. Or maybe plagues are meant to be boring, and this is actually a stroke of genius done so flawlessly that I didn't appreciate it. Either way, I fell asleep.
(idk I usually enjoy philosophical discussions. I fear my experience of this book might be victim of translation (it's kinda difficult to follow what's going on at a lot of points), and maybe the concept of a documentation of a plague was novel when it was published, but after covid, all it gives is the faint familiarity of boredom.)
((at the reveal at the end that Rieux is supposed to be the narrator, umh, I always thought that they were the same anyway from the beginning???? so turns out I was reading the whole book wrong. Goes to show that I don't think I followed a thing through the whole ass book LOL))
The title is clickbait lol. Medicine adjacent literature will always hold my interest but I was worried that this was going to present an overly dismissive argument of people's suffering (and honestly picked it up to expand my worldview - one of those books if you get me) but actually, it was very well written and presented some very interesting points.
The main argument presented was essentially - people are suffering, but if their suffering is not fully understood and the diagnosis does not actually provide any benefits in understanding or treatment, does it actually do more good overall to give them a diagnosis. A multitude of different perspectives are discussed in the book, but the one I found most interesting was the case where the biological underpinnings of a diagnosis have not been understood, and so the diagnosis itself is not much more than a collection of symptoms. For the subset of these diagnoses where it's commonly perceived to be an inherent difference or just simply not recoverable, despite no scientific consensus that this is actually the case, having the diagnosis pinned to a person's identity can affect how they perceive themselves and their relationship with potential recovery.
As someone diagnosed and being treated for ADHD, I SO understand the appeals of a biological explanation, and so kinda just accepted it without digging into it too much - and to be fair, it is very much often presented as truth. Finding out from literature (not even this book lol, but it is discussed) (and also just from personal experience where things didn't quite add up) that the reality was much more complicated did feel like a bit of mourning for a loss of identity. I realised that I was starting to use it as an excuse, and regardless of what the true mechanisms for the condition is, I'd reached the point of diminishing returns of my diagnosis and it was actively stunting my growth in other areas. Either way, I'm glad that I got the diagnosis and it's helped me in many ways, but I'm also glad that I've been able to look beyond it, and I see the worry that other people may be being harmed by a well-intended but ultimately not unequivocally good-resulting simplified explanation.
Gripes about the book (because ⭐necessary⭐): clickbait title is unappetising. missells what the book is about, or maybe it's a meta 5D chess move, idk lol. Also, from some of the interviews featured in the book, it's quite clear how the author feels about the conversation. I understand that as a practicing medical professional, it must be frustrating facing people who give out (from their point of view) misinformation and endorsing medical malpractitioners. After all, especiallyas a medical professional, active harm to people must be difficult to just sit with, buuuuuuuuuttttttt maybe a more neutral viewpoint would be better for a book. That's all!
Contains spoilers
Y'all if you plan on reading this book (and do, it's great) don't read up literally anything on it - any sort of content discussion would be a massive spoiler so I'll talk about something else instead.
Heads up - I read the original in Chinese, and I've heard that a lot of people think the translation is great, and I knowwwww that translation is a tough job, but man the translated text is dry (I read this as a buddy read with someone reading the english translation). I wish y'all could experience the original and the cultural contexts that come with it, the translation loses a couple of dimensions. The translation also shuffles some chapters around, which honestly I disagree with a lot of those decisions especially the flashback being taken to the very beginning of the novel - honestly I think this is probably the most confusing/dry part for any english readers not familiar with that part of history, but also changes the weighting of the different narritives of the book , but yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah
Frankly this book feels more real than my actual life LOL and for me that's what makes it shine. No exaggerated characters (well, one, but let's face it we kinda love him), no silly grand mission, no magical chosen ones, just real people going about their real lives and playing their piece. The horror at the beginning with the photos - ik this isn't even a big thing but it really stayed with me honestly made me 👀👀👀 DDDD:, I frickin love the VR segments it so doesn't take itself seriously it's almost serious I reaaaaaalllly appreciate the watertightness with plot holes and justifications.
Anyway I need to get back to work and will stop gushing about my million opinions on this book lol. I'm almost tempted to give it five stars but I'm currently reading the second book and that's EVEN MORE REAL and I LOVE THAT so I can't ceiling the scores just yet LOL ok right imma get back to writing my diss
Contains spoilers
Having suffered just through the moon and sixpence, imagine my disappointment when starting this book, finding it oddly familiar, and then reading the words "many years ago i wrote a book called the moon and sixpence"
So yeah, my expectations weren't high.
But? I'm happy to report that this was a much more engaging reading experience - we seem to have figured out how humans work (:'D) while some elements of the characters remain unrealistic, it happily blends into the rest of common fiction where the unrralostic traits of these characters seems to drive its story. The book doesn't set itself out to be a grand story, but much more like a casual observation through casual life, and there's something oddly engaging about that. I imagine it would not have been much at the the time of publication, but fifty+ years on, it's an intricate window into how it may have been. The author remarks that while the story does not have a conclusion, every character has their success in some ways. Each character also never truly gets what it wants, and while depressing, I guess it's a realistic message about life.
Though again, no razors nor edges in this book.
Man runs away from partner to go to paris to do something different with their life that their partner cannot understand AND is stubborn and cannot be convinced by anyone else that they should not do that... AGAIN? Can we not write about something else lol
A very convincing argument to try out the Zettlekasten! The only problem I have with it that the points do start getting a bit repetitive and stray somewhat from the point of the book, and seems more like a general essay on how to learn better rather than explaining how and why to use the zettlekasten. In fact, I'm still not entirely sure how to use it, but I'll figure it out and the book does give resources. Definitely worth reading and thinking about for anyone who does any amount of learning, especially essay oriented subjects.
Certainly made me think - I am persuaded that this is an issue that everyone should be made aware of. I do strongly believe that being more intentional with our time is one of the best ways to actually achieve happiness and any of its proxies - how do you advocate for something you want without knowing how to get there! I feel a good job was made of explaining and including different views, and that makes for an agreeable read. Despite thinking that I was decently caught up on the area, there were plenty of new points and discussions included that are sensible but just not mainstream. My only qualm is that in the introductory sections the writing was maybe a bit over-enthusiastic, but then again if someone feels passionate about something to write a whole ass book about it, maybe that would make sense AHAHAHAH
Not really the point of the book, but it has convinced me that I do actually in fact need to touch grass every now and then.
a pretty easy read for something designed to be informative! While this is definitely not a textbook lol, I think more of its value comes from getting to see things around you differently, and to challenge the assumptions and individual defaults we've made about decor choice. Consumption of this book definitely benefits from searching up images of the works mentioned!!
in terms of where the last star was docked for me, I found the narritive a bit beige, and so it doesn't quite dazzle in that way. It could have done with some summaries (I'm gonna have to go back through and make notes) as I'm struggling to recall many specific suggestions. Activity sheet included is a very nice interactive element though!
An interesting message! And for anyone who is not familiar with the concept, it's worth considering. It's probably not to be taken literally for most people, but it's certainly got its value.
The problem with this book is that it tries to tell you the same message 30 times. Sounded worryingly like my own Asian dad lecturing me about the same thing and going around in circles LOL geez dad ok i get it
An interesting read, and certainly widely recommended! I was suprised to find that most of the ideas in this book were not super revolutionary - though a friend pointed out that this book was published some time ago, and the ideas were very new back then.
It's certianly a very motivating read. Even if certain points are repeated many times, and it can feel a tiny condescending at times, it makes convincing points, and importantly, actually gives a sense of optimism that things can actually be changed if you make the right changes. No book is without its imperfections, but I think if we could push the narritive of this book, rather than the shaming and blaming we are used in media, the world would be a much better place.
Picked this up as a recommendation from 80,000 hours. Interesting read philosphilcally and theoretically, and for sure quite enlightening. It does get a bit soppy at points, but maybe people need big reasons to save the world y'know lol. (Personally, I don't share some of the sentiments, but it's always nice to read about someone so enthusiastic about something!)
Mostly interesting but a bit of a slog at some points. Valuable read for those into effective alturism though!
Contains spoilers
I am SO MAD at this book because the first half is so perfect and then it drives straight off a cliff. nyyyyyyoooooooooommmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
parts that I love/general comments: (and then I'll open fire on criticisms later)
- For context, I literally study at oxford am graduating this year. This book made my city come alive to me, persuaded me to touch grass and man reallllly made graduating and leaving way harder than it was gonna be lol. Thank you to this book for gifting my city to me again before I leave.
- For context, I'm a first gen Chinese immigrant. I've been obsessed with the differences between the two languages for yoinks and this book actually brought many flavours of what I love in Chinese/East Asian literature that's often lost in translations (reference not intended but I'll take it anyway thank you thank you). Thank you R F Kuang for letting the great reader base of English only peeps know what they're missing out on LOL. Understanding both languages also made this book amazing. This book wasn't written for me but it sure felt like it was B)
- Can't believe that no one complained that Oxford water tastes bad LOL I swear it's the only thing people talk about in freshers (I still don't get what is up with this y'all btw Bristol tastes even worse)
- Working you to the bone is real and true though. Could not be the maths dept actually not letting you to go fourth year without at least a 2.1, it gen might as well feel like being dragged out and thrown down a tower.
- Bro I never got oysters at a college ball I want my money back. Oh wait, I never paid cus I organised that shit LOL (lil side note just cus misinformation annoys me, we don't get any money from college and nor are we allowed to turn a profit, and we definitely would not be able to afford oysters)
- Griffin is SO REAL for missing being a student. I miss my first year room. New building st Peter’s will always have my heart
- secretly wished that the author had included some explanations of language using some more commonly misunderstood chinese terms. Just for personal satisfaction. Hearing people say the ‘Ying to my Yang’ I umh uh I ahahaha uhhh AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
criticisms:
I genuinely have few bad words to say about the first half, and I think that's why the whiplash of so many problems being in the second half has me so sad :((((
- lots of plotholes. loads.
- killing like everyone within in two chapters with not much reason really gave me wattpad fic flashbacks. I think they were meant to make me sad, but the whole situation was so fanatical and rushed I was more like uhhhh ok
- Not sure about the notion of violence being the only solution to everything. And even as a first gen chinese immigrant who’s had a fair share of marginalizing experiences (if anyone tries again to correct my own EXPERIENCES of a different political system I’m going to scream thx), I’m skeptical at the portrayal that all white people are imperialists and feel that that sterotype is harmful. I know this is the 1830s but my point still stands, it is written today for people today.
- again, I do believe that it is difficult to fundamentally understand the concept of different cultures without having actually fully experienced them, and this is something I sometimes struggle communicating to homegrown white brits, but most of them will try their best, and you can’t demonize people who never had that toolkit.
- Also not sure about the notion of innovation being fundamentally tied with oppression. The book does touch on the idea of a ‘freemarket’ being happily manipulated for benefits of certain groups, but did not factor it into its solution and just yelled technology bad.
- Nottt sure I’d consider the manipulation of the poor working class into fighting a cause that only has their interests as a byproduct and an afterthought as a resounding moral success.
- the working class are very 1D and portrayed as violent and stupid, to only attempt a save at the end with ‘it was never about the silver bars it was about the working conditions of our women and kids’ feels cheap and patronizing. Many of the 'problems of silver' presented such as wagons not coming off the tracks just ??? like is it better health and safety to have wagons flying off rails? surely you move the person and not the cart right. The book simultaneously tries to use silver to draw a parallel with ethical concerns with the industrial revolution, but also... highlights the fact that these problems have also existed since the industrial revolution (and somehow haven't been solved?). This undermines its own message about the problems that silver brings (if the problem existed before silver anyway, why are people only obsessed with getting rid of silver) and makes it very difficult to take the actions of the core group seriously.
anyway I've yapped enough I'm gonna go do sth else now.
Tell me you've never interacted with a woman without telling me you've never interacted with a woman. (I'm sorry some of the quotes in this reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee)
Would not recommend reading in public places, incredibly paranoia inducing that someone might look over your shoulder, read the contents on the page and take you for a horrible human LMAO
Maybe it's the point and I'm missing the point?? But I don't think one could make characters more realistic than those in this book. Nice proof to myself that I can finish just about anything. Remind me again why this is famous?
