Sara's reading log

I am a book hoarder and reader. My main genre is SF, but I also love magic realism, fantasy and general fiction. Favorite authors are Iain M. Banks, Ursula K. LeGuin, Haruki Murakami, José Saramago, Isaac Asimov, Ben Aaronovitch and more. My rating system is based on five stars. I rate books based on my expectations and what a books aims to be. This means that the brilliant 'Fahrenheit 451' gets five stars because I thought it would be good, people said it was good, and it was good, but 'A Closed and Common Orbit' also gets five stars because in its series, in its style, I really enjoyed it and was not disappointed.

Kinder Than Solitude by Yiyun Li

  • Started on: 2014-03-01
  • Finished on: 2014-03-02
  • Read in: English
  • Rating: ****-
  • Genre(s): General Fiction

Note: I received an Advance Reading Copy of this book through the You Review program of The American Book Centre. There were two things that grabbed me in the description of Yiyun Li’s ‘Kinder Than Solitude’. On the one hand there is a mystery at the heart of the story, and I like a nice mystery, especially when the book isn’t so much about who did it, but more about how did it affect those surrounding it, and on the other hand this is a story taking place in China, written by a Chinese/American (Li left China for the United States after earning her B.S. at Peking University), which in my mind means that the book is reminiscent of a different culture and a different way of looking at life. The book is divided into two parts, alternating between the two. In one storyline we read about the lives of Ruyu, Moran and Boyang as teenagers in Beijing. Moran and Boyang are best friends who live in the same housing square. Ruyu is an orphan who later moves to the square, to her ‘aunt and uncle’ (family of the two great-aunts that found her on their doorstep) and their older daughter Shaoai. Ruyu is a very analytical and unemotional girl, something which catches everyone who meets her of guard. During that time, because of Ruyu, an accident happens to Shaoai, an accident which keeps haunting them the rest of their lives. In the other story-line it is twenty years later and the accident in their youth has led to a conclusion only Boyang has to deal with in Beijing. Ruyu and Moran have both emigrated to the United States, Ruyu working for a family and their friends, without starting any personal attachments, and Moran is living by herself but still unable to let go of her ex-husband. All of them have trouble maintaining relationships with others and live in solitude. The new events with regards to the accident of Shaoai force them to look at their lives as they are, and deal with their solitude. I’m happy to say that the two expectations I had when requesting this book (the mystery and the different world view) were not disappointed. Li writes beautifully about daily life in Beijing for both common folk and rich people, for teenagers going to school, for teenagers protesting against those in charge and for their parents. She also writes (from experience I am assuming) about the culture shock experienced by Ruyu and Moran when they came to the United States. On top of that, you get the contemplations about how the mystery has affected Boyan, Ruyu and Moran each differently, but for each of them resulting in solitude. The result is a beautiful book. It took some getting used to the language used, which is very descriptive, but after a couple of pages the book had me hooked. I highly recommend this book for those who like to read about the effects of a traumatic event, about life in China for a couple of teenagers in the early nineties. For me, I give this book four out of five stars.

  • Started on: 2014-03-01
  • Finished on: 2014-03-02
  • Read in: English
  • Rating: ****-
  • Genre(s): General Fiction

Note: I received an Advance Reading Copy of this book through the You Review program of The American Book Centre. There were two things that grabbed me in the description of Yiyun Li’s ‘Kinder Than Solitude’. On the one hand there is a mystery at the heart of the story, and I like a nice mystery, especially when the book isn’t so much about who did it, but more about how did it affect those surrounding it, and on the other hand this is a story taking place in China, written by a Chinese/American (Li left China for the United States after earning her B.S. at Peking University), which in my mind means that the book is reminiscent of a different culture and a different way of looking at life. The book is divided into two parts, alternating between the two. In one storyline we read about the lives of Ruyu, Moran and Boyang as teenagers in Beijing. Moran and Boyang are best friends who live in the same housing square. Ruyu is an orphan who later moves to the square, to her ‘aunt and uncle’ (family of the two great-aunts that found her on their doorstep) and their older daughter Shaoai. Ruyu is a very analytical and unemotional girl, something which catches everyone who meets her of guard. During that time, because of Ruyu, an accident happens to Shaoai, an accident which keeps haunting them the rest of their lives. In the other story-line it is twenty years later and the accident in their youth has led to a conclusion only Boyang has to deal with in Beijing. Ruyu and Moran have both emigrated to the United States, Ruyu working for a family and their friends, without starting any personal attachments, and Moran is living by herself but still unable to let go of her ex-husband. All of them have trouble maintaining relationships with others and live in solitude. The new events with regards to the accident of Shaoai force them to look at their lives as they are, and deal with their solitude. I’m happy to say that the two expectations I had when requesting this book (the mystery and the different world view) were not disappointed. Li writes beautifully about daily life in Beijing for both common folk and rich people, for teenagers going to school, for teenagers protesting against those in charge and for their parents. She also writes (from experience I am assuming) about the culture shock experienced by Ruyu and Moran when they came to the United States. On top of that, you get the contemplations about how the mystery has affected Boyan, Ruyu and Moran each differently, but for each of them resulting in solitude. The result is a beautiful book. It took some getting used to the language used, which is very descriptive, but after a couple of pages the book had me hooked. I highly recommend this book for those who like to read about the effects of a traumatic event, about life in China for a couple of teenagers in the early nineties. For me, I give this book four out of five stars.