I had a really hard time getting into this title, the characters were confusing as well as their introductions. Unfortunately I found it hard to follow at it was a dnf for me at 10%. This is disappointing as I was really excited to read about pre and post Mao China and how a regular person lived and struggled during the time. I'm hoping to pick this back up at some point, because the messages of connection, family and loneliness are something I'd like to read about.

I had great difficulty with this book as it struggled with the slowness of it and the way that the characters were introduced. I wish it was for me but i just could not read through it and i wish i had enjoyed it more.

This one took me a while to read. I would start it, then my thoughts would drift elsewhere and I'd put it down for days at a time before picking it back up again. Finally around halfway through the story finally connected for me and I was able to finish it in one sitting. The story is a bit slow and tedious but the observations that Liu makes are done gently and with a subtly that mimics human experience.