This Earth of Mankind

big fan of how this opens up, almost artfully, as a coming-of-age teenager romance kind of novel, before descending into a very involved criticism of europe and imperialism as a whole. the translation reads strangely, which is a little unfortunate, but i got used to it pretty quickly.

i'm surprised by everyone saying that this novel drags? things move pretty quickly, and it's not a very long book either. i also think a lot of the characters were very likable, and i liked toer's female cast a lot, particularly nyai ontosoroh, but also minke's mother, especially in the second half. i didn't expect to be as into this as i am, it was a really pleasant surprise.